Churches Taking to Streets in New Zealand

|TOP|A new movement is growing in New Zealand which is taking the Gospel message out of the church and onto the streets right to where the people are.

The Revolution Street Church Movement has gone from strength to strength since it was founded in 2001, proving the church is more than capable of changing with the times.

The Revolution Street Church Movement started out as a small church house network by former Salvation Army officers Ron and Rachael Schepers and works by bringing the church onto the streets where people meet in homes or public places, reports Assist News.

The movement is part of Lifeway Church in Snells Beach, Warkworth, New Zealand. One of the street church groups was set up at The Warehouse in Snells Beach by young people who meet each week to pray for their workplace and to find ways of reaching out to other employees.

Another street church was set up at Waihi Beach by Steve and Teresa Osbourne to reach out in particular to the surfing community. Many of the members that attend the church, which gathers in the Osbournes’ home, are into surfing and are members of the local surfing club.

“We played with them, held a hangi with them - many of whom were not Christian - and more. The team ended up taking out the competition and it gave many opportunities for the church to reach out to people who would not normally come to a traditional church meeting,” said Mr. Schepers.

He said that while they were still in the army they felt God was calling them to do something different.

|AD|“We didn’t know where we would live and what our income was going to be,” said Mr. Schepers, who at the time had three children all under 3. “But there was this passion in our heart and the sense of calling was strong.”

A few months after starting up a house church in their lounge, the Schepers were invited to lead the Lifeway Church.

“We were a little bit resistant to it at first because we were starting a house church network and were now being called to lead a traditional church,” said Mr. Schepers.

“At that stage we didn’t really understand how or why those would work together. Now, although we are leading a traditional church we’ve worked within that to try to change the infrastructure so it aligns itself more closely with the house church model.”

The Schepers decided to adopt the name “street church” when they joined Lifeway Church in 2002.

“Part of our established church culture is to send people from the church out into the mission field. But what about sending the church itself as a mission? This is the essence of being a ‘missional church.’

“It is the difference between going out from a fortress and bringing people back, to going out and dwelling where the people are.

“It’s a church willing to adapt its practices to effectively reach those it is ministering to. While this is difficult, if nearly impossible for large congregational churches to do, it is something micro-churches or street churches are ideally set up for.

“We’re producing training materials, books and resources to provide for them and to help them in their growth. We’re also training people here locally.

“We’re linked with Lifeway training college and people can come here and get trained. Our desire is to send more and more people out to start a street church and as that grows then obviously the network increases and we will be able to have an impact on more lives.”