Our Stories
EFC - Empowered Faith Community
Firstly, what does EFC stand for? I hear you ask.
It is a term that has been used in Western churches in recent decades to describe a community of people who come together in fellowship as an intentional church plant into a community. Often, it doesn’t look like a conventional ‘Church’ community. Still, it involves Christian leadership/volunteers who volunteer/work and live among unsaved people and, through their lives, invite people into meaningful conversations and relationships. Eventually, that often leads to spiritual conversations.
The group started up an informal time to read the Bible together and talk about what God is saying through the scriptures, and this led to an exploration of the Christian faith in a peer and community setting. People sitting around the discussion are all on different journeys towards discovering God. Some find Him quickly; others take their time as they observe how the Christians behave and react and assess the integrity and truth of the community. They often ask themselves such questions as “do these people really care about me”? Do these people really love each other as much as they say? Are these people really in it for the money or power? What’s in this for me?
Over time, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, people are added to the number in the EFC community setting. People find new life, are baptised, join the EFC, continue growing in their newfound faith, and, importantly, become the bearers of good news to their peers in the community, who then start their journey toward faith.
A Spiritual Parent is a mature Christian who helps form the community by working alongside other mature Christians to mentor and volunteer in the EFC. In our EFC community, all our Spiritual Parents (SP’s) receive training through a mentoring process with reference to materials prepared by Christian Pastor and Social worker Mark Matthews, a 45+ year veteran in this space.
Our first group of SPs underwent 18 months of mentoring beginning in 2022. We have just commenced our second round of training, which includes some experienced SPs and new SPs. We meet once a fortnight on Zoom for one hour as we pray together, watch a 5-15minute clip on different EFC formations, and then discuss this material together, relating it back to our coalface experience volunteering at the Lounge Tuesday morning community breakfasts and Monday evening Community meals, at our EFC premises in Truro St, Torquay. (StreetWorks).
There are also four face-to-face workshops that SPs are invited to attend with Mark Matthews during the 12-month period, consolidating the teaching and principles behind building empowered faith communities. The material is heavily centred around Jesus's life—the words, works, and ways—as He established and built the first Christian communities on earth with His disciples watching what He did.
If this piques your interest, you may want to know more about EFCs or consider joining us on mission. Please get in touch with (StreetWorks) admin@kindnessworks.com.au or speak to John Dearden or Jo Lambden.
It is a term that has been used in Western churches in recent decades to describe a community of people who come together in fellowship as an intentional church plant into a community. Often, it doesn’t look like a conventional ‘Church’ community. Still, it involves Christian leadership/volunteers who volunteer/work and live among unsaved people and, through their lives, invite people into meaningful conversations and relationships. Eventually, that often leads to spiritual conversations.
The group started up an informal time to read the Bible together and talk about what God is saying through the scriptures, and this led to an exploration of the Christian faith in a peer and community setting. People sitting around the discussion are all on different journeys towards discovering God. Some find Him quickly; others take their time as they observe how the Christians behave and react and assess the integrity and truth of the community. They often ask themselves such questions as “do these people really care about me”? Do these people really love each other as much as they say? Are these people really in it for the money or power? What’s in this for me?
Over time, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, people are added to the number in the EFC community setting. People find new life, are baptised, join the EFC, continue growing in their newfound faith, and, importantly, become the bearers of good news to their peers in the community, who then start their journey toward faith.
A Spiritual Parent is a mature Christian who helps form the community by working alongside other mature Christians to mentor and volunteer in the EFC. In our EFC community, all our Spiritual Parents (SP’s) receive training through a mentoring process with reference to materials prepared by Christian Pastor and Social worker Mark Matthews, a 45+ year veteran in this space.
Our first group of SPs underwent 18 months of mentoring beginning in 2022. We have just commenced our second round of training, which includes some experienced SPs and new SPs. We meet once a fortnight on Zoom for one hour as we pray together, watch a 5-15minute clip on different EFC formations, and then discuss this material together, relating it back to our coalface experience volunteering at the Lounge Tuesday morning community breakfasts and Monday evening Community meals, at our EFC premises in Truro St, Torquay. (StreetWorks).
There are also four face-to-face workshops that SPs are invited to attend with Mark Matthews during the 12-month period, consolidating the teaching and principles behind building empowered faith communities. The material is heavily centred around Jesus's life—the words, works, and ways—as He established and built the first Christian communities on earth with His disciples watching what He did.
If this piques your interest, you may want to know more about EFCs or consider joining us on mission. Please get in touch with (StreetWorks) admin@kindnessworks.com.au or speak to John Dearden or Jo Lambden.