In September 2026, Grace Presbyterian Church in Launceston celebrates five years since we began weekly public worship. I’ve been looking back at photos of my children from that time, and they’ve grown up alot over those five years. My wife and I had a child about the same time that the church began, and now they’re running around playing Auskick. While five years is not a long time in the life of Christ’s church over history, a lot can happen and has happened. It’s long enough to look back and see many reasons to thank God for his work in and through our church.

We are not celebrating a survival story, and that we’re still around (though I’m thankful that we are!). We are celebrating the kindness of our gracious Lord. People have been gathered to hear his Word – the word that he promises will not return empty (Isaiah 55:11). God has answered prayers in many ways. Christians have grown in faith and new believers now have the hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2). The story of Grace Church is tiny part of God’s much bigger story of grace in Christ, and we’re so thankful for his grace.

Why did Grace Church begin?

In 2019, Presbyterian churches across northern Tasmania began praying and working towards a new congregation that could serve south-west Launceston, the Meander Valley and the Northern Midlands. I (Nathan) had been studying at Christ College in Sydney for pastoral ministry, and we were brought back to our homeland of Tasmania by the Presbytery to plant a church in our old hometown, Launceston. Our family has always had a desire to serve the people of Tasmania (we quickly found out in Sydney we were not city kids). In God’s providence we headed back to a place we knew and loved. We arrived back with the hope, and with lots of prayer, that God would establish a local church where people from our area could meet Christians, hear the good news of Jesus and be saved, and be welcomed into the life of his people.

I’m very thankful that Grace Church was not a private adventure or a solo enterprise. We were prayed for, sent and supported by other Presbyterian congregations in northern Tasmania. That connection has been innumerable in its benefits and blessings. It is a constant reminder for me that Christ’s church is larger than one congregation, that the New Testament church is connectional, and that Christian mission is a shared commission given to the whole church. New churches need the wisdom, accountability and generosity of established churches to get off the ground.

Weekly worship began in a lounge room on 31 January 2021. There was nothing spectacular about those early Sundays, in fact quite the opposite. We began with a group (about 10 adults and a few kids) that is smaller than many Bible study groups. And yet, we started with the conviction that, no matter the size of a church, Christians need the word of God, we need to pray, sing, and hear biblical preaching. We are created to exalt and glorify God, and so that’s what we did on Sunday – trialing various times of the day. A lounge room church is comfortable, it was enjoyable, but it’s quite limiting. If we were to have more people join us, we needed a larger space. After some time searching for a suitable place, in September 2021 Grace began its regular public services in Hadspen.

The Commission of our King

Matthew’s account of the Great Commission helps us understand both why a church is planted and how it can keep going. When the eleven disciples meet the risen Jesus in Galilee, they worship him, yet some doubt. Jesus does not look for a larger, or more self-assured group. He comes to his disciples and says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

It’s important to realise that the declaration of Jesus’ authority comes prior to the imperative command to make disciples. The church’s mission begins with the authority of the risen Christ. Jesus reigns over all things, including the lives of people, so he sends his disciples to make disciples among all nations, baptising them and teaching them to obey everything he has commanded. His commission wasn’t a call to set up a mission team and then call it a day. The great commission is the church’s marching orders, to evangelise, win the lost, baptise them into the family of God, teach them over their lifetime, and bring people into worshipping, God glorifying, Christian congregations.

All authority is given to King Jesus, and that gives us confidence in this task. It also keeps us humble, because the fruit of gospel ministry comes about because King Jesus does it from start to finish, not because we’re the ones who accomplish the mission. We’re simply to be humble servants of the King. Our confidence is therefore in the authority and presence of Christ with us his people.

The Grace of God

For five years, that conviction has led us stick to the ordinary means Christ gives his church. Sunday by Sunday, we gather for prayer, singing, Scripture, preaching and the sacraments. The means of grace that God has promised to bless. During the week, people learn God’s word in their homes and with others, pray together, care for one another and look for opportunities to speak about Jesus. Gospel Training, community groups, youth ministry and prayer meetings are all part of letting the word of Christ dwell richly in us.

Church planting has been tiring, slow, and it seems sometimes that it’s like climbing a mountain at snail pace, a snail who is unfit and carrying too large a shell. I’ve had to counter my own discouragement, and I’ve needed reminding of God’s grace in these seasons. We’ve gone through changes, loss, tragedy, and periods of uncertainty. There are always the pressures and temptations of sin and this world. Yet God has been kind. From a handful of people in a lounge room, he has gathered a church family of around 45 people. We have seen people begin following Jesus, believers grow through hardship, friendships begun, and children being raised in the faith.

All these things are reasons to praise the God of grace. We have planted and watered, often haphazardly and definitely imperfectly, but God gives the growth. The church is built through the gospel of Christ as the Holy Spirit works through the Word, prayer and sacraments. That is why we want Grace to remain a Bible-teaching, Jesus-preaching church. We remain firmly convinced church that the gospel is the power for salvation and growth in the Christian life.

Looking forward with confidence

Five years does not mean that Grace Church is all that it could be. We remain a small congregation. There are many people around Hadspen, south-west Launceston and the surrounding districts who do not know Jesus or belong to a church. They will not necessarily walk into a Sunday service on their own. It’s been a big challenge to make ourselves known in the town. We didn’t arrive in Hadspen with people knocking down the door waiting to join us. We also want to keep growing as disciples ourselves. Our prayer is that God will make us mature in faith as we seek to grow together as his people. We’ve got work to do, by God’s grace and help.

The final words of Matthew’s Gospel give us the promise: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NIV). The one who sends his church reminds us that we’re not alone in this gospel work. And this is good news!

So, at five years, we give thanks for everyone who has prayed, given, served, encouraged and shared this work. I give thanks for all the people who’ve dropped in on a Sunday to encourage us. To the guest preachers, thank you. To the other Presybterian in our Presbytery, I’m so thankful. To the other reformed churches in Launceston, I’m thankful for you. Above all, we give thanks to God. Five years is good time to stop, reflect and pray. It’s been good to remember his grace to his church. He deserves all glory and honour, for the church is his precious blood bought people. So whether in God’s providence Grace Church lasts another 5 years or 100. Whatever happens in the future, all praise and glory be to the name of Jesus.

You are warmly invited to our five-year celebration on Sunday 20 September at 3 pm at Hadspen Memorial Centre, or to join us on any Sunday.

God bless.

Nathan