By Garry Sanossian
After years of changing plans and meeting in temporary spaces, Engage Community Church has entered a new chapter with a permanent home in Rouse Hill, NSW.
The milestone is about more than a new church building. It tells the story of a church family learning to trust God, stay united and prepare for new opportunities to serve its community.
Board Chair John Bloomfield has been part of Engage since around 2015 and witnessed the challenges and perseverance that shaped the journey.
“God’s been faithful, but it hasn’t been a clean run,” John said.
The church had originally planned to sell their current property and build a new facility on land near Tallawong Metro Station. In the years following the land purchase, changing circumstances and prolonged approval difficulties created significant delays in the journey towards the original vision.
After leaving its previous site, the congregation began meeting at a local school in The Ponds, expecting it would be a temporary arrangement before moving into its new building in Tallawong. Instead, what was meant to be 12 months stretched into four years.
While grateful for the school’s generosity, the temporary facilities limited the ministries and community engagement the church hoped to develop. As the temporary arrangement stretched on, the congregation also had to adjust to a journey taking much longer than expected.
“People’s faith didn’t need readjusting, just people’s expectation of timeframe needed to be readjusted a number of times,” Engage’s Senior Pastor Troy said.
As the waiting continued, the congregation made the difficult but unanimous decision to sell the Tallawong land and embrace a new direction.
Troy shared what many were feeling at this time. “We need a new understanding of what God is calling us to be. We need to have a new faith for the new thing that God is going to do,” Troy said.
The sale of the land in November 2023 enabled Engage to pursue the converted warehouse units it now calls home.
“The sale of the land went through miraculously, and miraculously quickly, and we got a very favourable outcome from the sale of the land, which then allowed us to pursue the purchase of the warehouse units that we now are occupying,” Troy said.
Engage Community Church’s new permanent home in Rouse Hill marks a new chapter after years of meeting in temporary spaces.
Heidi, a member of Engage Church, reflected on the 4 years the congregation was meeting at the local school.
“God has been at work in the waiting – drawing us closer as a family and reminding us that He has gone before us and knows the way. As a family, we prayed for guidance and we followed where God was leading,” she said.
Looking back, one memory stands out for Heidi.
“One thing I’ll always remember is how much fun we had together in that season. We adapted to make the most of our temporary situation and we greeted challenges with a good dose of humour. A church family facing any challenge together is a beautiful thing! I’m grateful for the reminder that a church family and a church building are two very different things,” she said.
Members and visitors are welcomed into Engage Community Church’s new home during its opening celebrations.
That same sense of church as family was experienced by Marle and Wikus Dreyer and their two young children. Since joining Engage, Wikus has become a member of the church’s Board.
The family immigrated from South Africa in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While adjusting to a new country, they spent months searching for a church until an Easter flyer from Engage arrived in their letterbox in 2022.
“I believe in small miracles and know now it was all part of God’s plan,” Marle said.
That initial invitation developed into relationships marked by practical care. When Marle gave birth to her son, members of the church offered meals and helped care for her daughter.
“The Engage community showed us generous hospitality and care, welcomed us with open arms and it has been an absolute blessing to grow into and become part of this loving community.” Marle said.
Having experienced that hospitality herself, Marle believes the permanent home has given the congregation a renewed sense of ownership and purpose.
“We all wanted to be part of the open day because, while we’ve been so excited to have a permanent home for our church, we also wanted to open our doors to the wider community and share this beautiful place with them. We wanted to say, ‘This is Engage, this is our home, and you are welcome here to come, connect and be part of what God is doing,’” she said.
For Troy, the value of a permanent home lies in the opportunities it creates beyond Sunday services.
“Meeting in a temporary space meant we couldn’t be as outreach-focused as we would have liked,” he said.
The new home creates greater opportunities for children’s programs, connect groups, Mainly Music, women’s gatherings and other community activities. It also allows Engage to explore how it can support local families, reach young people and respond to loneliness across the rapidly growing north-west Sydney region.
Members of Engage Community Church share food and fellowship as they celebrate their new home.
For John, the new building does not complete Engage’s mission. Instead, it gives the church a place from which to continue it.
“The mission is to see North West Sydney transformed through the faith, hope and love of Jesus,” he said.
For Heidi, the church’s identity has never been defined by its address.
“We’ve moved house but we’re still the same family – people who show God’s love wherever we are. The only difference is we have somewhere to say, ‘Come on in, make yourself at home,’” she said.
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