Burleigh Heads Church of Christ

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE

 

BURLEIGH HEADS CHURCH OF CHRIST

 

In 1974 a group of members from the Southport Church of Christ met to organise a branch of the Church closer to their homes in the Burleigh Heads area. This group met in the home of Alistair and Zelma Stevens at Palm Beach. Al Stevens was appointed as an Elder, Zelma Stevens and Joy Forbes as Deaconesses and John Forbes as Secretary/Treasurer.

 

As the group grew in numbers it was decided to approach the Principal of the Burleigh Heads State School to negotiate the hire of the school hall for Sundays.

 

After discussions with Pastor Noel Newton of the Southport Church of Christ, it was arranged to hold the first service at the school in October 1974. The service was a great success and many members from the Southport church attended. This was a weekly event each Sunday from then on. Pastor Noel Newton and Queensland Churches of Christ Conference Headquarters arranged speakers.

 

In early 1975 the new Burleigh Heads Church appointed Jack Elsey as its Secretary and John Forbes as Treasurer. After these appointments the Board then began the search for a suitable pastor to lead the Church.

 

There were regular Prayer and Bible studies at the homes of Florence Page, Al and Zelma Stevens, Arthur and Edna Coombs, Jack and Jean Elsey. Graham Hyman was approached by the Board and was inducted as the Church Pastor.

 

Graham Hyman was a gifted youth worker and began a youth group on Friday and Saturday nights. Graham required an office because the Church did not own its own building and so an office was hired in the Old Burleigh Theatre (now demolished) where the Church also ran a bookstore selling Christian books and resources. Volunteers from the Church ladies staffed the shop. The shop was on the third floor and the only access was by climbing several flights of stairs and as a result the shop eventually closed due to the lack of customers willing to accept the climbing challenge.

 

Around this time the Church was looking for a suitable block of land to build on. Land that was used for growing pumpkins became available at 174 West Burleigh Road. The price was $30,000 and a loan was negotiated with the Queensland Churches of Christ Conference. The Church borrowed the $30,000 for 4 years with no interest. The payment was $145 per week, a large amount of extra money for the church to come up with at that time. The initial building required much faith by the Church to enable it to go forward. In the first 12months the land was cleared and levelled by volunteers and plans for the first stage of the Church building were drawn up.

 

Maurice Murfett a Church member, who was a builder, agreed to manage the project and went ahead, with the assistance of members from Southport and our own members to dig the footings ready for the foundation. This took more time than expected because of rain and the footings were filled with water causing the sides to fall in. After draining them, they were dug out again so they were now twice the width needed and used twice the amount of concrete.

 

Finally we could see things were moving when the steel frame was in place. Concrete workers from Southport came and the floor was poured in one day. Further progress was made when a church member who was a bricklayer bricked up the walls. A team from the Southport Church came and installed the insulation and roofing sheets.

 

 Now we were almost at lockup stage. Jim Simpson one of our members and a team of volunteers arrived and put up ceiling plaster in very quick time. With opening day fast approaching volunteers were very busy erecting the office walls and the platform. On the Saturday before the opening service on the Sunday, the electrician, who was also a church member and his helpers were fitting the lights at 5am in the morning.

 

The building was opened in October 1982. There were still many things to finish such as the car park that needed to be rolled. Jack Elsey sat on the roller for two days the next week, rolling the ground ready for the bitumen being laid by a friend of a friend from the Southport church. There were still many jobs that needed to be done such as: the inside painting of the Church, plumbing, finishing of the kitchen etc. 

 

We didn't have the baptistery at this stage so baptisms were held in member's swimming pools or in Tallebudgera creek. Arthur Coombs was our first baptism, a great experience for us all after so much hard work, followed by several more baptisms. At a later date Maurice designed and built a baptistery.

 

Following the resignation of Graham Hyman as Pastor and Miles Kau Kau who returned to New Zealand with his family, Allan Cunningham stepped into the Pastoral position. During this time the Church loan was paid off and plans were made to extend the building. Allan had a great heart for the work of missions and it was during his ministry that a Missions Committee was formed and several missionaries were supported by Church offerings. This program still continues today.

 

[Following Allan's retirement, Pastor Noel Newton commenced ministry, with the assistance of Shaun Kelly as Youth Pastor.

After this ministry Pastor Jim Newton was then appointed.

During Pastor Jim's ministry Pastor Chris Gribble was appointed as the Families Pastor on a part time basis.

With Pastor Jim leaving, Chris continued on in a full time role continuing to work with the younger families but with the responsibility for the whole Church. Chris left us in January 2007. 

Pastor Neil Warner was appointed as the new Pastor in March 2007.

 

For many years’ Burleigh Heads Church of Christ Board Members have served on the Gold Coast CARE Regional Committee. Jack Elsey was first appointed followed by Harry Davies, Fred Sharp and Grahame Strickland. Fred Sharp was appointed Chairman with Jack Elsey as Deputy Chairman. On the death of Fred Sharp, Jack Elsey was appointed Chairman with Grahame Strickland as Deputy Chairman.

 

This committee was the governing arm of the CARE resources on the Gold Coast on behalf of the Queensland Churches of Christ Conference. This continued until 2000 when local CARE boards were disbanded. A central governing board now administers all CARE operations.