OUR JOURNEY SO FAR

We retrace our history as a Church. Not just to retell the story of our history, but also to bear witness to God’s provision in terms of people, leadership, and locations. We praise God for where we have been. And we are excited about where He will take us!

Newspaper advertisement promoting NCC Sunday morning services at Morella House.

MORELLA HOUSE, PARAFIELD GARDENS (November 2001 – February 2005)

New Community Church traces its origins back to a home group started by US missionary Dr Bob Vajko in October 1999. Dr Vajko felt the need to establish a church in the northern suburbs of Adelaide after visiting Calvary Baptist Church, Elizabeth South; it was then that he felt led to establish a sister church in the Parafield Gardens area. The small group of 12 people met every week for nearly a year till it grew into a group of about 20 families who needed a larger space to start a church. The Lord provided a place at Morella House at an incredibly low cost, and the first worship service was held on Sunday, 10 September 2000. About 130 people attended the service, with around 80 people from other churches. The congregation continued with Dr Vajko doing most of the preaching with assistance from a few other men. The congregation was named “New Community Church” on 2 November 2001 and continued with Dr Vajko at the helm, till Geoff Hohneck was appointed Pastor in November 2003. It wasn’t long before the church moved to its next location.

PARAFIELD GARDENS HIGH SCHOOL (February 2005 – September 2013)

With the congregation growing, the Church now moved to the Drama Room at the Parafield Gardens High School (PGHS). The new space was much larger and allowed the congregation to fit comfortably and also store all its equipment. The School also graciously allowed NCC to use its gym facility in the evenings for Youth Group meetings. Ladies Ministry also began around this time, along with the first church camp at Victor Harbor in May 2005. NCC sponsored a cash award (Good Samaritan Award) for the most helpful student at Parafield Gardens High School (PGHS) in a particular year. NCC began its annual Bible conference (InStep) in 2009 with the event being hosted at the Adelaide College of Ministries.

Parking lot at Parafield Gardens High School

Fellowship meal in the school’s drama room where the church used to meet.

Pictures in the park: On the school grounds

Pastor Geoff Hohneck with NCC member

Chris Mueller at the first InStep Bible Conference

Baptism service at the school

Speaker’s view of the school’s drama room where the church used to meet

Chris Mueller at InStep Bible Conference, 2010

The church building at Montague Road, Modbury North.

Phil Johnson (Grace Community Church) preaches at InStep 2014 via Skype

InStep 2014 Q&A session

Continuing our tradition of sharing a meal at Thanksgiving

Chris Mueller and Pastor Geoff Hohneck at InStep 2014

Pastor Chad Coley’s commissioning with NCC leadership

The NCC Family

MONTAGUE ROAD, MODBURY NORTH (September 2013 – May 2019)

The next stop for NCC was a Christian Missionary Alliance church building that was not being used. The congregation was grateful for a permanent location as this meant there was no need for weekly set up of chairs and equipment! Nevertheless, the move necessitated a significant increase in the church’s budget; but as always the Lord provided marvellously! Having a permanent location meant the Church could now undertake outreach programs such as the Ladies’s Craft Ministry as well as Christmas Carols at the local shops. Having our own premises meant that the InStep Bible Conference could now be hosted in-house. Praise God for five conferences (2014-2018) where we were ministered to by godly preachers: twice by Chris Mueller, and then Jerry Wragg, John Glass, and Steve Lawson. The church also started a tradition of Thanksgiving Fellowship meals in November of 2017. Geoff Hohneck, the church’s first pastor retired in January 2019 after more than 15 years of faithful service; but not before putting together a Pastoral Search Team. A six-month search saw the Lord provide Chad Coley, our current Pastor, all the way from Los Angeles.

FLORINA HOUSE, INGLE FARM (June 2019 - March 2020)

Moving from a church building to a community hall was a challenge, nevertheless the congregation stepped out in faith, trusting in the Lord’s sovereign will. Whilst the space at Florina Hall was fairly large, the lack of storage space meant that a lot of the church’s equipment and furniture had to be placed in semi-permanent storage. We praise God for His provision of this space that served us well for almost a year. We were able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving Meal, a Quiz Nite, and even a movie nite thanks to the space available. It was a blessed time of fellowship around the Word as Pastor Chad took us through series in Colossians and James.

Sunday morning setup

Fellowship meal setup at Florina Hall

Gathered for a meal

Speaker’s view of the congregation at Florina Hall

Livestream setup at Florina Hall

Pastor Chad preaching opening the Livestream service

Praise and worship continued during the lockdown via livestream

Pastor Chad brings the Word via livestream

Sunday morning service with the saints

Working bee to prepare the church for in-person meetings

BOTTRELL AVENUE, INGLE FARM (March 2020 - Present)

The property was acquired after an earlier attempt at purchasing fell through with the original owners. In the providence and perfect timing of the Lord, the new owners placed the property on the market within about 6 months of buying it. The church placed an offer in December of 2018 which was finally accepted in February 2020. However, before the church had the opportunity to move in, COVID-19 hit. Whilst government regulations prevented us from meeting in person, we are grateful that we were able to use the premises to livestream our Sunday service. Today, we continue to livestream our service even though we are able to meet in person. We praise God for His amazing provision through the incredible generosity of His saints and look forward to a blessed time of ministry amidst the surrounding community.