Epsom Community Church in North-East Bendigo is a church that has essentially been around for 150 years. Having started as a Methodist church that was planted during the Gold Rush period in the outskirts of Bendigo, the church has always been known for its pioneering and resilient spirit. 

During its most trialling period, the church was nearly at its end with only 20 people left in the congregation who were generally much older. But despite the discouragement they faced, the members trusted in God to bring about something new – and God did! 

Situated in a numerically growing area in Bendigo meant that lots of new people were coming into the community, allowing the church to reach out and grow in number. 

By 2017, under the leadership of Rev Mark Wilkinson, one of the BUV Support Hub’s church health consultants, Epsom Church began their Vision workshop where they spent the next few years praying and seeking God’s vision for their church and looking into what was feasible and could be acted upon. 

During the early COVID period in 2020, the congregation took a step of faith and was rewarded with a fresh renewal. Pastor Dave Gillet became the church’s senior pastor and along with their faithful leadership team, the church began to flourish across all its ministries numerically, spiritually  and personally.

With renewed hope and vigour, the church is now looking into what it might mean to step into the mission field and reach their community for Christ. The church, which began with a pioneering spirit and held on with resilient faith, is now seeing the fruit of God’s faithfulness as they continue to flourish and move forward together on mission.  

Please continue to uplift the pastor, leadership team and congregation of Epsom Church as they continue on this journey of faith in their community in North-East Bendigo.