By Garry Sanossian
Nearly 120 years since Kingsford Church of Christ first opened its doors, its local context has changed dramatically. Today, the ageing church building sits between affordable and student housing blocks, just a few minutes’ walk from the University of New South Wales.
With a vision to meet the needs of its local community, Kingsford Church of Christ is preparing for a new chapter through a major redevelopment undertaken with a developer and the Churches of Christ Property Trust.
This redevelopment is designed to better serve the local community, including a growing number of international students, as the church seeks to expand its ministry and outreach in the years ahead.
For Senior Pastor Victor Tee, it all started with the question, “What is God doing here?”
“With this new development, we’ll have students living above us,” Victor said. “We’ll have students living on either side of the church space as well as above the church space.”
Victor Tee, Senior Pastor of Kingsford Church of Christ.
The redevelopment emerged after two developers approached the church in 2024 with different proposals for the site. One option would redevelop the church’s existing land, while the other would combine it with neighbouring properties to create a larger development.
The church chose to explore the larger proposal, which will provide new worship and ministry spaces with student accommodation above and around the church.
For Kingsford Church, that means the mission field will be on its doorstep.
For Greg Won, who has been connected to Kingsford Church since childhood and now serves as church secretary and maintenance officer, the development sits within a much longer story.
“I first came to Kingsford Church as a kid when my father brought me along,” Greg said.
Over the years, Greg has seen Kingsford adapt with its community, from serving local families and children to welcoming university students from around the world.
“In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, we had many students from various countries, mainly from Southeast Asia,” Greg said.
Church secretary and maintenance officer Greg Won has been part of Kingsford Church since childhood and has witnessed its ministry evolve alongside the local community.
That history continues to shape the church’s future. As Kingsford continues to welcome students, the new building offers an opportunity to renew a ministry that has long been part of its story.
During an almost year-long process of prayerful discernment, the church explored development options while asking what God was calling it to become.
A rendering of what Kingsford Church’s future home may look like.
One question changed the conversation.
“Which development plan will cause you to trust God more?” Victor recalled.
The question clarified the purpose of this development for the church: to meet the greatest needs of their closest neighbours: housing and community.
“If God is sending the nations to us, to Australia, specifically to Kingsford and the surrounding areas, then what is the role of Kingsford Church?” Victor said.
For Kingsford, the answer is not simply to build a larger congregation. It is to create a place where students can find community, be supported and encounter the love of Christ, whether they arrive with faith or are exploring it for the first time.
“What if our role is to plant the seed for those who are not yet Christians?” he said. “What if the role is to strengthen and encourage those who might be Christians here?”
Associate Pastor Jasmine Capell understands the needs of international students personally. She has been an international student in Japan, China, Taiwan and the United States.
“For students coming here to Sydney, I really feel for them because I’ve experienced that dislocation and the lack of community,” Jasmine said.
Students are often adjusting to a new culture, language, academic expectations and the pressure of being far from family.
“So much change,” Jasmine said.
Through Kingsford’s student ministry, Jasmine helps create spaces where students can practise English, build friendships and explore questions of life and faith.
“They might come for the English practice,” Jasmine said. “The reason they stay is really for the community and the chance to discuss deeper questions about life and faith.”
Prayer remains central to Kingsford Church’s life as the congregation seeks God’s guidance for its future ministry.
“I wanted to be that kind of presence for students that I was fortunate enough to have when I was in their shoes,” she said.
The new facilities will give Kingsford Church more than extra room. With flexible rooms, dining areas and a commercial kitchen, the church hopes to welcome students, host community programs and serve the wider neighbourhood.
Greg said the church hopes the new auditorium and movable partitions will provide a flexible space “for not just church use, but for other uses as well.”
For Victor, the redevelopment is about how the church uses the opportunity it has been given.
“How do we steward this new facility so that it becomes a place of blessing for not only those who come, but also the neighbourhood around us?” he said.
The redevelopment aims to provide flexible spaces that serve both the church and the wider Kingsford community.
That question reaches beyond the opening of a new building.
“What will we leave for not just the next generation, but three or four generations down the track?” Victor said.
As Kingsford prepares for transition, the church is giving thanks for those who served before, while stepping into a new season of mission. The building will be new, but the heart remains the same: to know Christ and make him known.
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