History
The story so far…
The following is a slightly modified version of a history of the church which was prepared for the 25th
anniversary of the church in August 2004.
Beginnings
The booklet produced by the Lygon Street Church of Church, in 1979, “Celebrating 125 years of life and
service”, records that “a special meeting was convened on 12 th August this year (1979) in the Multi Purpose
Room of the Livingstone Primary School in Vermont South… the following Sunday the first services were held
in this room at 10am and 5pm”. The life and service of VSEC began, then, on 19 August 1979.
The work was initially regarded as a branch ministry of Lygon Street . Brian Harper was at that time
serving as pastor of Lygon Street , and continued in that capacity until the end of April 1981, as well
as serving the needs of the VSEC fellowship. Busy days indeed!
In 1980 the decision was taken at the Lygon Street annual general meeting that VSEC should become
independent from 1 January 1981 . The first general business meeting of Vermont South Christian Chapel
(as it was then known) was held on 14 December 1980 . At that meeting the decision was taken to call
Brian Harper as pastor of the church. The call was accepted, and Brian continued to serve as pastor
until 1 February 1986.
The constitution was adopted on 26 September 1982 , and the church was known as Vermont South
Evangelical Church from that time.
From the beginning, there was a deep sense of fellowship and commitment to the cause of the
gospel. In February 1983 Brian wrote “I have never felt more convinced of the rightness of our cause.
We are surrounded by compromise and confusion… we may have to stand alone, but in God's providence we
may be laying a foundation for others to build upon”.
There was also a strong passion for outreach and evangelism. Much effort was put in: door to door work,
children's holiday programs, the monthly Vermont South News article. Yet then, as now, there was little
growth from evangelism. As a small independent church we have faced intensely what the church throughout
the western world is facing. O how we need that the Lord would open hearts to respond to the message!
The responsibility to be a part of the missionary outreach of the church has always been taken seriously.
A regular missionary prayer meeting was held in the home of Austin and Joy Brown, and mission work was
supported financially.
The next stage
Following the resignation of Brian in 1986, Ian Bawden and Bernard Hawkins were elected as elders,
joining Don Langsford and Karl Lang in that position. A pastor's fund was established, for the purpose
of providing the resources for someone to pick up the work. The commitment was there to take up the
challenge of building on the foundation that had been laid.
On 15 March 1987 the decision was taken to invite David Reid to serve as “teaching elder” of the church,
and this ministry commenced in July of that year, and has continued to this day.
Prior to David's commencement, Don Langsford transferred his membership to Frankston-Forest Baptist
Church . Shortly afterwards, Karl Lang was involved in a serious car accident and went through a long
painful recovery process. Karl and Helen, along with David, subsequently transferred their membership to
Waverley Baptist Church to reduce the traveling time required for meetings.
Since that time the eldership has consisted of Ian, Bernard and David.
We have known our share of controversies over the years. We joined the Fellowship of Evangelical
Churches of Australia in 1989 and ran into a storm in 1995, which resulted in our withdrawing our membership.
The strength and the weakness of independency is that very independence. Vital gospel fellowship is essential,
a need that we feel keenly and seek to meet through informal fellowship.
1995 was also the year of another withdrawal – from Livingstone Primary School to our present venue at
Weeden Heights Primary School . The move was made for practical reasons – the building was becoming increasingly
unsuitable for Sunday meetings. We have from time to time considered a more permanent home, but the current
venue is acceptable, and provides an opportunity for three women members of the church to be involved
in RE classes.
For a time, while renovations were being carried out at the school in 2001 (though sadly not in the
multi-purpose room!) we relocated our meetings to the conference center of UAM Ministries in East Doncaster.
There have been many changes in our fellowship over the years. Some have gone to their reward:
others were with us for a time and have moved on to service in other places: and others are currently
preparing for service in gospel ministry.
The way ahead…
We are only too aware of the precarious nature of an independent gospel church. At the same time,
we are conscious of the Lord's keeping and sustaining: and that encourages us to believe that the vision
which led to the establishment of this church was not without purpose. We pray that the Lord will yet
fulfill his purpose in us.
Whatever our particular circumstances now as believers in the Lord, we are encouraged in Galatians
6:9 “Let us not become weary in well doing, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not
give up”. The unstated principle of the verse is that it is easy to start something with a fresh
enthusiasm. It is hard to keep going through all kinds of weather. Giving up is easy. You can do it
in an instant. Keeping going is hard. You have to stick with it. But the assurance is that we will
finish on a high note, which will hold for all eternity! Keep on!
David Reid
Pastor