Church by the Bay in Portarlington has been organising monthly services in nearby St Leonards recently, spurred on by prayer walks and strong interest within the community. Here, Associate Pastor Michael Curtis shares the journey of how God led the church to start this exciting new endeavour.
On January 12th, 2025, Church by the Bay hosted a holiday church service in the St Leonards Memorial Hall while the church building in Portarlington was housing a summer mission team. In anticipation of a small gathering, about 30 chairs were set up. As the service got underway, every chair that could be found in the hall was brought out and camp chairs were emerging from cars to accommodate around 100 people that turned up comprising Church by the Bay regulars, St Leonards locals and others from the region.
St Leonards is a small town on the eastern edge of the Bellarine Peninsula, best known as a filming location for the TV show Sea Change in the late 1990s. After a challenging history, the town’s population has grown by around 40% over the past five years, primarily with retirees and young families moving to the area. There are currently Catholic and Anglican congregations in the town, neither of which meet on a Sunday morning.
Church by the Bay in Portarlington, about 10km away, began sending people to pray for St Leonards 25 years ago and between 2013-2022 intentionally prayer-walked and doorknocked in the town, seeking a move of God. In recent years a number of passionate Christians, including some with ministry experience, moved to the town and connected with Church by the Bay. This prompted the service in January 2025. Following the strong turnout and interest in seeing another church established in St Leonards, a trial of monthly services and a weekly prayer meeting were initiated from March.
Monthly services in the St Leonards Memorial Hall since March have attracted 30-50 attendees of people from Church by the Bay, Central Baptist Church in Drysdale and St Leonards locals who were not connected with a church. It has been encouraging for Christians in St Leonards to connect with one another and express a shared desire to serve the community and see a church established. These services have also provided new opportunities for people to preach, lead worship and share their testimonies for the very first time. Importantly, people in the community have recognised these services taking place and curiosity is being stirred up.
What God is leading us to in St Leonards has also provided opportunities for unity among different churches – a strong focus on the Bellarine Peninsula in 2025 – as the St Leonards Catholic Church has generously opened their foyer for the use of a weekly prayer meeting and hosting an Alpha course. We long to see the light of Jesus become known in St Leonards and see people enter into his kingdom. To that end, the hope is that we will see services occur more frequently, life groups established and undertake community engagement.