We as Avenue church have the vision to be a younger generation of God-driven influencers who enhance the Advent message; awakened by the Holy Spirit to make the love of Jesus tangible to the unchurched.
In October last year, the dream of Avenue church was placed on my heart, this vision was so far beyond my competency that the thought of it scared me. I realised that if this was supposed to happen then God would have to plant opportunities and make ways that would permit this to happen. Little did I know, but God was and had been at work in the community that I was immersed in. Avenue as a community (not a church yet) launched in April where we conversed on topics not normally communicated in church. We hosted worship services accompanied by discussion in my friend Jack Stott’s backyard.
I wasn’t sure how the original Avenue Monday Night group would react when I shared the vision with them, but I am thankful that the response was positive.
Following the initial burden that I felt, conversations with people (who became the core team) arose and the picture of the church came together with clarity and direction. It felt as though I was just floating in the current of God’s will and he was bringing the team together who would become instrumental in getting us to where we are today. The team emerged from
past connections that I have had through a highschool ministry called Re:VIBE, and other connections with people I have served with in the past. I had realised that all these past ministries that I had served and led in were, in fact, the springboard for Avenue Church to happen.
God had been stirring revival in the community that I was part of, and was leading us to a point where Avenue Church became the next step. A couple of months after, the conference approved us as a group within the Victorian Conference and an opportunity came for us to be resourced with this church plant. Everything seemed to be on track for us to launch in June 2020, but then COVID-19 hit.
The pandemic evoked a sense of frustration and we wondered why God’s timing had led us only to find ourselves stuck.
When the reality of the virus kicked in, we realised that perhaps it was time to reimagine the model of church that had for so long been ingrained in our minds. That’s when the idea of a multisite house church network arose. This model involved our community meeting in multiple houses while still being connected via technology; this will also get broadcasted to
our social media platforms too. The idea is to create a feeling of one larger church in many locations. Currently, we are waiting for Victorian restrictions to ease so that we can launch this model.
We are unsure of what the future holds in this time of uncertainty but we trust that God’s will and purpose will triumph.
If you would like to find out more about what we’re doing, get in touch on our platforms.
Instagram: @avenuemission
Facebook: facebook.com/avenuemission
Website: avenuemission.com
Email: [email protected]
Jeremy Choo