New life at Hamley Bridge

By Tom Mitchard
New Times Intern

Posted Nov 30, 2016 in Faith

In December 2013, Hamley Bridge Uniting Church closed its doors. Numbers were dwindling and engaging the congregation on a Sunday became harder. Minister Rev Phil Marshall entered the church one Sunday to preach, only to find that no-one else was there. After a meeting with the remaining church members, they agreed to close the church.

However, one of the congregation members suggested that they continue meeting in their homes. The five remaining members of the church then began to meet on a Tuesday evening, to share in a meal and in fellowship. Soon, their numbers increased to 14 members. More people were willing to invite others, and some who had left the church before had returned.

“Faith was re-fired in that kind of home setting,” Phil recalls.

However, they soon outgrew the lounge room, and Hamley Bridge Uniting Church re-opened its doors in 2015. Now, the community offers a very different style of church.

Instead of the traditional Sunday service, they open their doors on a fortnightly basis for a meal-based service on Tuesday evenings. The church is set up with a lounge area and a large table to meet around, and Phil’s preaching is slightly shorter and more interactive.

“The big change has been the sense of not having to conduct a Sunday service, which was, for our very small group, becoming a bit of a chore,” Phil explains.

“We’ve set it up more for food and fellowship, than we have for a preacher and hymns. It’s really drawn people together in a way that’s really surprised me.”

The 25 people who regularly attend the Tuesday night church are diverse in age – very different to the mostly senior-aged congregation that used to meet at Hamley Bridge.

The church has now started to rebuild their leadership team with “a heart for a new season of mission within the community”. This year’s emphasis has been on reaching out to those affected by the Pinery bushfires, but Phil says next year will focus on connecting with young families.

While the new style of service has greatly benefited the community at Hamley Bridge Uniting Church, Phil says that he never planned to go this way.

“As a last appeal from one of our members, to maintain some kind of Christian fellowship, she said ‘Come and meet in my home’, and it started from that,” Phil says.

“It’s been quite a death and resurrection of the Hamley Bridge Uniting Church.”

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