Garden City Christian Church

Garden City Christian Church (formerly Mt. Gravatt Assembly of God) is a Pentecostal Christian church affiliated with Australian Christian Churches, the Assemblies of God in Australia. The church is under the leadership of Senior Pastor Bruce Hills. Sunday services are held at 8:00am, 10:30am, and 6:00pm. It also features a prominent Deaf Ministry, one of the pioneering Deaf Ministries of Australia [http://www.gardencity.org.au/default.asp?contentID=647] .

History

The church was established in 1955 as Mt. Gravatt Assembly of God by Pastor Garnett Budge. In the 1980s, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Dr. Reginald Klimionok [http://klimionok.com/Files/ministry.htm] , the church experienced a revival, with a second new church building being constructed and opened, adjacent to its Rover Street site, seating over 2,000 persons, and membership soared to over 3,500 persons. [ [http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/digitaltheses/public/adt-acuvp25092005.71/02whole.pdf Clifton, S. J., (2005), "An Analysis of the Developing Ecclesiology of the Assemblies of God in Australia", PhD thesis Australian Catholic University] , p. 216 (accessed 25 August 2006)] It's name changed to Garden City Christian Church, it quickly became Australia's first megachurch. Today the church is attended by over 3,000 people, has approximately 50 staff, and is one of Australia's leading Churches of the Assembly of God denomination. Fact|date=February 2007

Focus

The church has a strong pentecostal focus, focussing on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and its administration, including inclusive prayer and counselling, the laying on of hands, and speaking in tongues. Contemporary songs of praise and worship feature an important part of the service, which includes a 40-minute liturgy. The Church also has a considerable diverse Ministry from youth to seniors, multicultural groups and home prayer groups, a worldwide Missionary presence, links with other national and international Assembly of God denomination Churches, and corresponding Guest Speaker program. Services are recorded on audio tape for personal use and reflection, and a Television Ministry program 'Choices' can also be seen on the Channel 7 Network and the Australian Christian Channel.

Garden City College of Ministries

The church operates the Garden City College of Ministries, a bible college associated with the Australian College of Theology.

ee also

*Australian Christian Churches
*List of the largest churches in Australia
*Churches affiliated with Australian Christian Churches
*Royal Rangers

References

External links

* [http://www.gardencity.org.au/ Garden City Christian Church Website]
* [http://www.aogaustralia.com.au/ Assemblies of God in Australia]