Friday 24th February 2023 marks the 10th Anniversary of the merger of two churches into one church, which is now known as Burnside Family Church. The two were: Grace Community Church, meeting in a rented school hall in Kensington, and planted in 2001 by Pastor Alf and Alison Chehade and Nev and Bron Langman; and Burnside Christian Church, which had opened its doors on Christmas Day, 1864 in the old church opposite our present red brick building. 

The merger took place principally because the two churches were both operating in a limited capacity due to certain events that diminished their effectiveness. They were functioning reasonably well, but some felt both could have been doing better. In mid 2012, one of the Elders from Burnside, John Foley, made an appointment to see me at my house. There, he floated the idea that if the two churches merged, their effectiveness in the community might lift significantly. An interesting proposition. A bold idea.

There would be much to consider and pray about. Grace was a Pentecostal church, whereas Burnside was regarded as Evangelical. Could their doctrinal stances be aligned?

Constitutionally, each church had different forms of governance, and each form was dear to the heart of each congregation. A merger would mean Grace would have to close its doors and “move in” with Burnside. Both churches had significant Missionary Giving programs. What do we do with those programs? And most importantly, what was the mind of God on this merger issue? If we missed His will on this, it would mean the death of Grace Community Church and a backward step in the witness of Burnside Christian Church.

The idea was passed on to the leadership of both churches and it was agreed that we would meet and discuss the concept. The Elderships of both churches began to meet to explore these significant issues, where we would be looking for red lights. Both leaderships consulted respected colleagues and were advised that most church mergers notoriously “failed”. Would this one be any different?

Both Leaderships began to inform their respective congregations about the discussions and to keep them up to date on the various issues. One significant thing working in our favour was that we had been acting together for some time on combined events such as monthly prayer breakfasts, the annual Norwood Pageant, and school outreaches. These had given us an opportunity to observe each other playing out our Christian witness. We continued to meet as Elderships, looking for those red lights, and seeking the mind of God on this most important move. The lights seemed to be green rather than red. We began to feel increasingly, that any issues of doctrine and practice could be met and addressed by love and goodwill.

It was proposed that Grace personnel might conduct and take the lead on 7 Sunday services at Burnside, a fortnight apart, giving everyone an opportunity to see what the future might look like. Each congregation was looking for that red light. It did not come. We seemed to have received the message from God that the proposed merger was His will. Both church bodies sensed that we should go ahead.

Grace conducted its final service on what was its 12th Anniversary. We packed up our goods and equipment on a hot Sunday afternoon and moved it all up to storage in the old original Burnside church.

In a reasonably short time, we sensed that we were no longer two, but had become one. Grace, love, goodwill, and a sense of common purpose permeated the air. The issue of what to name the new church had been a small bump in the road, but in the end, was easily and smoothly resolved.

Since then, as one church ‘family’, Burnside Family Church has enjoyed many special times, made further positive impacts on its surrounding community, and developed many strong relationships. It has supported several local and overseas missions and partnered with other churches in regular prayer events. It has seen the launch of some specialty community activities, such as GoodGames, Burn’xercise, Conversation English, Korean, French and Tamil Services, and BFPlaygroup to name just a few. We have celebrated together, camped together, prayed together and been ‘socially distant’ together. It has been a wonderful place to come to church and as many have said in recent times, the best is yet to come.

Happy 10th Birthday to Burnside Family Church.