“People are hungry for meaning, hungry to belong, and hungry to be invited into a better story,” says Jared Williams, Senior Pastor of The Way Church planted in Pakenham just over 12 months ago. Between its official launch, to recently celebrating its first anniversary, the congregation has seen a lot of encouraging growth, both numerically and spiritually.
One of the joys of the church planting journey for Jared has been playing a part in people meeting Jesus, coming to know Him and learning to love Him as God works in people’s hearts, something he counts as a privilege. “I love being an under-shepherd of God’s flock and being able to preach as an ambassador to people who are hungry for God’s Word. Having the opportunity to lead people to place their faith in Christ and baptise them, I don’t think there’s anything better in this world!”
Jared said many opportunities to share Christ had opened up over the past year, agreeing with American theologian Tim Keller who said that “research shows one of the best ways to see more new Christians is to see new churches planted.” Jared said “We’ve seen people from atheist, agnostic, Islamic, orthodox and other backgrounds, young and old, turn to Christ. We’ve seen God working through families, where one person comes to faith and then they share this with others from their family, who place their trust in Jesus too. I believe God has worked that way since the beginning and He continues to do the same thing today.”
Other encouraging aspects of The Way’s first year were seeing people step up as church leaders for the first time, and seeing people grow as they follow Jesus’ ways in more and more aspects of life. “Being able to have a front-row seat in seeing people get victory over sin, making commitments, and growing as people of God has been a great thrill.”
Despite these wonderful aspects of church planting, there have also been challenges in the church’s first year, such as prioritising the essential aspects of running a church over non-essential aspects, as time and resources are not infinite. “We needed to prioritise spending time with people, encouraging their trust in Jesus, and things like preaching and prayer, administering the Lord’s table and baptisms… I feel like our church has been planted and birthed, but now we’re at a toddler stage – I don’t feel we have all systems and processes in place and running seamlessly yet. By God’s grace the organisation and scaffolding have been set up, and we are getting on top of that challenge. It has been a great blessing to have a team to work with, as well as our first elder John Price, who was onboarded late last year.”
To those feeling called to start a church plant, Jared said it was important not to go it alone. “Pray about it, get a team around you, and if you feel God is leading you then go for it. I’m very thankful for the way God has worked through the BUV and the Church Plant Learning Community to encourage and support us. The things we’ve learned through it, the connections made as a team and the brainstorming have all been a great blessing… Church planting is incredibly meaningful, encouraging work. Jesus said in John 4 that the fields are ready for harvest, and I believe that’s true. We just need to go out into the highways and the byways to partner in what God is doing.”