Gold Coast Church Directory

Gold Coast 2

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AN INTERESTING WORLD RESEARCH STUDY OF EVERY CHURCH IN ONE SAMPLE CITY and further abroad by 2 hours, FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SEE INFORMATION ABOUT CHURCH.

*** - Three asterisks means it's the most important sentence to read.
** - Means it's quite important.
* - Means it's interesting.

Gold Coast, What are the churches like on Australia's biggest beach destination?

10am. CHRISTIAN HOPE CENTRE.
***(or JESUS TENT OF MIRACLES) 2nd Floor (At the western end next to Medical Centre) Oasis Shopping Centre (on the Broadbeach Mall)
Victoria Avenue, Broadbeach, Gold Coast. (Updated 2008)
(Used to be in 1st floor "Surfers International" Troccadero 9 Trickett St, Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast.)
*1. Number of people: Approx: 40 -70. 2. Number of chairs: Approx 200. Room for 500 chairs. 3. Type of person: -. 4. Socio-Economic Status: -. 5. Amount of kids: Approx: Ten. 6. Ages of people: 10yo-50yo. 7. 50% are men.
***8. Weekly offering published: One lady in Toowoomba gave $35,000. She may have received a healing. 9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
**10. Any other interesting information: This church had Sunday morning meetings in Toowoomba until they closed. However each Thursday night at the corner of Hume and Perth Sts, these Gold Coast people came up or some other preacher. They regularly have a large white tent in Queens Pk for days at a time. This movement believes absolutely in the Toronto Blessing. (See FAQ's.) They also have ministered in Brisbane each Friday night at the show grounds Mt Gravatt. Also in Caboolture. 11. Time there AND date of visit: 2000. 2hours. 12. Length of service: 2hrs. 13. This and other service times: 10am; 8.45am- 9.45am; 6pm.
***14. Preacher: Ps Peter Willis. Peter once had a Christian Cafe used for evangelism on Cavill Av. Peter was an associate Pastor with Dr Sasha Alexander's "House of Praise" church until Peter went on his own.
***15. Feeling of building: It's in a modern night club. 16. Estimate style of belief: Toronto Blessing. 17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Casual to smart.

9.30am KINGS CHRISTIAN CENTRE. Pacific Hwy near Reedy Ck exit. Gold Coast.
*1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 285.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: 388.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: -.
5. Amount of kids: 40.
6. Ages of people: Mostly were young families, 30 were 60 +
7. 50% are men. -.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
*10. Any other interesting information: There is another "Kings" AOG church in Buderim, Sunshine Coast with Ps Steve Penny. Kindah had invited their youth Pastor to speak and he said from the pulpit "But WE were the original Kings church!"
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 26 Jan 2003 10am- 12.10pm.
12. Length of service: 1 Hr 45m.
13. This and other service times: 9.30am; 8am (under the sails outside) 6.30pm.
**14. Preacher: Kindah Greening. He pioneered for many years in Invercargill New Zealand where he employed Ps Nigel McNeil as an Associate Pastor (Nigel pioneered Toowoomba Christian Outreach Centre.) The Invercargill church became the largest church in the city. He has been at "King's Christian Centre" prior to 1983. Les Holmes and Kindah Greening have worked very closely together in India.
15. Feeling of building: Expensive seating and building. Air conditioned.
16. Estimate style of belief: Charismatic (free praise a little, hands raised).
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Very casual to not too formal.
18. How to get there: Travel along the Pacific Hwy and before Reedy Ck it's on the western side of the highway. Take the roundabout and take the parallel road to the highway going north, go past Reedy Ck Baptist and the church is on the left some 200 meters further.

19. ACCEPTANCE IN CHURCH AS A VISITOR: There is a visitors lounge of some 50 chairs and 15 tables which is attended immediately after the service.
20. People who talked to me after the service: A lady spotted me as a potential visitor and bought me to the lounge. Also Ps Kindah said hello.
21. Length of time they talked: 30 mins.
22. How soon do visitors get talked to after service?: Not very quickly.
23. HOW MUCH CHURCH IS OPEN TO WIDER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: -.
24. Unusual things about worship: -.
*25. EMPHASIS OF MINISTRY: From A to F is a good example of typical programs which large churches run-
A. They run the school from the same grounds "Kings Christian College" there from childcare to Yr 12.
B. VSM couselling service with a psychologist.
C. Community Support Agency.
D. "Women with Purpose" Thursdays 9.30am-11.30am.
E. Life Groups (meeting in homes)
F. "After School Care & K'nexion Youth Holiday Program" (10- 16 years)
26. Famous business people: -.
27. Famous people: -.
28. KNOWABLE SONGS: Well known.
29. Quality of sound system/ loudness: Expensive.
30. Quality of preaching generally: Kindah is humorous and works hard.
31. Meaningfulness/ depth of preaching: -.
32. Enjoyment/ lightness of preaching: -.
33. Impact/ deepness/ enjoyment of worship: -.
34. Amount of home groups: Many.
35. How to access home groups: They have a Pastor which looks after only home groups.
36. Friendliness of home groups: -.
*37. Intention to build: In Jan 2003 Kindah talked of putting a $100,000 cafe/ kitchen in a separate building to run Hospitality courses.
38. Estimate percentage church owned / rented?: They would own their buildings or be paying them off.
39. Estimate age of building: Current building prob 3yo.
40. Dowdiness of building outside: Contruction was going on.
41. Inside?: Perfect.
*42. Have sister churches where? This church is with "Australian Christian Churches" which is the second largest denomination in Australia.
43. Sunday School availability: Children's Sunday Ministry-
44. Ages availability: Children's Sunday Ministry- Toddlerworx 1-2years. Miniworx 3-7years. Kidzworx 3-5yo. X-roads 6-7yo. Then there are groups for older youth on non- Sundays called "K'nexion Youth" with "Ignite" for Grades 8-9 then "Tribal Life" for Grades 10-12 then "Sagene" for young adults 18+.
45. % kids attend: 50% due to holidays.
46. Noise of kids at back: Quite good.
47. Where is bible college? -.
48. Where do kids school? At their churches school called "Kings Christian College."
49. How many missionaries do they support: -.
50. What cost?
51. What is average they give to missions: .
52. What is average they give to local poor? -.
53. International poor?
54. Other emphasis on giving: -.
55. Per head total giving: -.
56. Extent of other church programs: There are many programs.
57. Pastor receive stipend? Yes.
58. How much? -.
59. Qualifications of Pastor: -.
60. Estimated of parishioners complaints: -.
61. Estimated ability to resolve parishioners complaints: -.

RHEEMA CHURCH. Opposite Bond University on Bermuda St.
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: ?.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: ?.
3. Type of person: .
*4. Socio-Economic Status: A wealthy property developer sat under Kenneth Hagan's ministry. Other property developers as well go to this same church.
5. Amount of kids: ?.
6. Ages of people: ?.
7. % are men. ?
8. Weekly offering published: ?.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: ?.
10. Any other interesting information: ?.
*11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: Have not been there. This church started being built early 2003.
12. Length of service: ?.
13. This and other service times: ?.
14. Preacher: ?.
***15. Feeling of building: This church cost 28 million dollars to build. Began being built in 2003.
*16. Estimate style of belief: In 2003 there has been a TV teacher called Kenneth Copeland. He originally came out of Kenneth Hagan ministries. Which is where this new denomination comes from.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: ?.
18. How to get there: ?

9.30am SURFCITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. ASSEMBLEY OF GOD.(Main auditorium at Monaco and Gold Coast Hwy)
**From March 2006 rents Hoyts Theatre complex Surfers Paradise. (Between Gold Coast Highway, Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Clifford Street or diagonally across from Q1 tower.)
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 267.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: 280.
3. Type of person: .
4. Socio-Economic Status: .
5. Amount of kids: 70.
6. Ages of people: 5 WERE 60+.
7. 50% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: .
9. Lateness of people getting to church: .
*10. Any other interesting information: They had a French group.
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 2 Feb 03 11.15am- noon.
12. Length of service: 2 hrs.
13. This and other service times: 8am, 10am and 6pm at Monaco Street Auditorium. High Schoolers 7pm Fridays at the Monaco Street Auditorium, Young Adults at the New SURFCiTY Centre 7pm Fridays and Explosion which is Grades 6-8 on Sunday mornings from 10am. There are Japanese, Filipino, Hispanic, Messianic & Services (At date of main report 2 Feb 03, was 9.30am and 6pm at Monaco Street.)
**14. Preacher: Snr Ps Richard Nugent. (Ps Reg Klimionok was an Associate Pastor here, he was the former Pastor of Garden City AOG Brisbane and in 2005 has Pastored another church in south Brisbane.)
***15. Feeling of building: Generally ok. They rent the old Hoyts Cinema complex in downtown Surfers Paradise which has 1000 seats, renovations were supposed to take place early 2003 but began March 2006.
16. Estimate style of belief: Charismatic. A bible college is attached called "Surfcity International Training College". In Nov 2006, church sought $2,000,000 for the purchase of Monaco St building for Transformation headquarters, emergency accommodation, community centre and Crisis care centre. As well as $1,000,000 for set up of a community centre.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Casual to smart. Casual to slight formal.
18. How to get there: Surfcity at Monaco and Gold Coast Hwy.

UNITING CHURCH. ROBINA- SURFERS PARADISE UNITING CHURCH. 4 Greenwhich Crt Robina.
*1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 269 at 8am. (Church quote: 289.) (I counted 312 people at 10am.) (Apparently about 90 people at 6pm service said one staff member.)
***This church is well known to be the largest Uniting Church in Australia.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: 392. (Church said 450)
3. Type of person: .
4. Socio-Economic Status: .
5. Amount of kids: 27.
6. Ages of people: 40% were 60+.
7. 30% are men. (In a too small sample group, counted 18 women and 9 men.)
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
***10. Any other interesting information: The world's tallest building, 80 story "Q1" is being built on where this Uniting church had their original church. They sold it for 6 million. 1 million got put into all sorts of church needs. 5 million paid for the current church.
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 2 Feb 2003 8am- 10.40am.
12. Length of service: 1hr 30 m. (8am-9.30am) Cup of tea follows.
*13. This and other service times: 8am; 10am; 6.30pm. Other churches include the Korean Church 11am in the hall. Chinese 1pm. Indonesian 4pm. (Only the Korean church is a part of the Robina church, the others are separate.)
14. Preacher: Ken Anderson (Senior Minister). (An Associate Pastor spoke this morning as Ken was away.)
15. Feeling of building: Expensive building with many rooms other than the auditorium. Have fans, no air conditioning.
*16. Estimate style of belief: Have some 6 staff doing outreach/ addiction / family counselling alone. Like many churches, they follow closely the book "A Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Nicely casual to mildly formal.
18. How to get there: Go west along Mataki, go past Bermuda, turn left.

19. ACCEPTANCE IN CHURCH AS A VISITOR: Yes, good.
20. People who talked to me after the service: Many.
21. Length of time they talked: 30 mins.
22. How soon do visitors get talked to after service?: 5 mins.
23. HOW MUCH CHURCH IS OPEN TO WIDER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: Very.
24. Unusual things about worship: Nothing. Like most Uniting churches, there was no formal worship order of sheets of paper to follow.
*25. EMPHASIS OF MINISTRY: Counselling/ addiction ministry called "New Life Care" by John Tully.
*26. Famous business people: I met an accountant for all the high rises.
**27. Famous people: Rev Lew Born also serves the church here. (Lew formed many churches together to make one 1 big church in Redcliffe. Lew worked at Rangeville Uniting before Ps Herman Ruyters.)
*28. KNOWABLE SONGS: Yes, excellent.
29. Quality of sound system/ loudness: Good.
30. Quality of preaching generally: OK.
31. Meaningfulness/ depth of preaching: OK.
32. Enjoyment/ lightness of preaching: OK.
33. Impact/ deepness/ enjoyment of worship: Good.
34. Amount of home groups: Many.
35. How to access home groups: -.
*36. Friendliness of home groups: All Uniting church home groups tend to be difficult to get into, difficult to change to another group and difficult to leave as you get quite close.
*37. Intention to build: Yes. On same property, a larger church.
38. Estimate percentage church owned / rented?: Estimated at almost 100% owned.
39. Estimate age of building: Approx 2000.
40. Dowdiness of building outside: No .
41. Inside?: Good.
42. Have sister churches where? Nationally. (Example, in Canada, the formation of the Presbyterian and Methodist and Congregationalist churches are called "United".)
43. Sunday School availability: Yes. 27 in Sunday school at 8am.
44. Ages availability: Pre-school and up.
45. % kids attend: -.
46. Noise of kids at back: None.
47. Where is bible college? -.
48. Where do kids school? -.
49. How many missionaries do they support: -.
50. What cost? -.
51. What is average they give to missions: -.
52. What is average they give to local poor? Like many Uniting churches they have a "Food Parcel Donation" program.
53. International poor? -.
54. Other emphasis on giving: They ask each person to donate $50 a year for "New Life Care."
55. Per head total giving: -.
56. Extent of other church programs: -.
57. Pastor receive stipend? Yes.
58. How much? -.
59. Qualifications of Pastor: -.
60. Estimated of parishioners complaints. -.
61. Estimated ability to resolve parishioners complaints: -.

10am Saturdays. WORLD WIDE CHURCH OF GOD. BURLEIGH CHURCH OF GOD. Ambassador Dv Burleigh, Gold Coast.
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 28.
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: 32.
3. Type of person: Non-Charismatic, evangelical Christians.
4. Socio-Economic Status: -.
5. Amount of kids: 0.
6. Ages of people: 1 35YO; 26 50+.
7. 50% are men. 7 out of 14 were men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
**10. Any other interesting information: They used to believe in Herbert W Armstrong and would distribute the "Plain Truth" magazine for free to newsagents. The WWCG were considered to be a cult by other denominations. In 1995 they walked away from their strong Jewish law based stance and embraced normal Christian doctrine. The wider church accepted them into the body of Christ. Many books from both sides have been written about this. Yet many people left the church and formed splinter groups such as the "United Church of God." This Burleigh WWCG church is the National headquarters for the WWCG movement. The land area could fit 20- 30 houses and is quite large with offices and bible college type rooms that amount to 10 houses already built circa 1980.
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 25 Jan 03 10.10am- approx 11.30am.
12. Length of service: Approx 1 hr 30 min.
13. This and other service times: 10am Saturdays.
14. Preacher: Keith McLean. (Pastoral team member)
15. Feeling of building: OK. It's not a purpose built church, only a large room in the set of buildings.
16. Estimate style of belief: Are open to reaching into the wider Christian community.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Casual to smart. 2 older ladies had long hair pinned up to their crown.
18. How to get there: Travel along the Pacif Hwy, turn off at Reedy Ck, take first right or south turn into Ambassador Drive, turn right again, park inside church property.
19. ACCEPTANCE IN CHURCH AS A VISITOR: Good.
20. People who talked to me after the service: Several over cups of tea.
21. Length of time they talked: 3- 7 mins.
22. How soon do visitors get talked to after service?: Straight away.
23. HOW MUCH CHURCH IS OPEN TO WIDER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: Very open but do not get asked to participate.
24. Unusual things about worship: Nothing. Songs are by CD (no live musicians)
25. EMPHASIS OF MINISTRY: It used to be very media focused with much radio play.
26. Famous business people: -.
27. Famous people: -.
28. KNOWABLE SONGS: -.
29. Quality of sound system/ loudness: -.
30. Quality of preaching generally: -.
31. Meaningfulness/ depth of preaching: -.
32. Enjoyment/ lightness of preaching: -.
33. Impact/ deepness/ enjoyment of worship: Not bad.
34. Amount of home groups: Some.
35. How to access home groups: See bulletin.
36. Friendliness of home groups: -.
37. Intention to build: Probably not.
38. Estimate percentage church owned / rented?: Probably all owned.
39. Estimate age of building: Circa 1980.
40. Dowdiness of building outside: It's quite good.
41. Inside?: Quite good.
42. Have sister churches where? All through out Western world. Several churches in Qld.
43. Sunday School availability: -.
44. Ages availability: -.
45. % kids attend: -.
46. Noise of kids at back: -.
47. Where is bible college? In this building will soon come "Pacific College."
48. Where do kids school? -.
49. How many missionaries do they support: -.
50. What cost? -.
51. What is average they give to missions: -.
*52. What is average they give to local poor? Interestingly the bulletin was asking for items like long life milk for a "Woman's Refuge Outreach."
53. International poor? -.
54. Other emphasis on giving: -.
55. Per head total giving: -.
56. Extent of other church programs: -.
57. Pastor receive stipend? Yes.
58. How much? McLean sometimes administers the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for $50.
59. Qualifications of Pastor: -.
60. Estimated of parishioners complaints. On a deeper side, it may be that the denomination needs another vision or direction.
61. Estimated ability to resolve parishioners complaints: Probably lost most of their former members not by a change of direction but by a lack of new vision or enterprise perhaps.

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