G'day,
welcome to my Brethos website.
This site
has sprung out of the simple need for people, churched and
non-churched, to be able to find relevant and timely information on
the Christian Brethren (CB) churches here in Western Australia. I have
been waiting many years for someone to do an 'official' WA CB
website, but sadly it has not eventuated. If it does, I would
probably close this site down if no longer needed. It is widely
recognised that people are using the internet as their main source
for info today, and are indeed unimpressed that a group or business
would not have an effective presence on the net. So... welcome to my
humble offering!
I know
the Brethren are a suspicious mob and rightly so, taking the stance of
the Berean church described in Acts 17:11, "These were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those
things were so." We all need to be sure that people are
who they say they are, and indeed, that what they are saying is the
truth. Even trusted preachers need to be brought to account if they
stray from the plain truth of God's Word. So it falls to me to
introduce myself so you can see where it is that I am coming from in
the production of this website. I take comfort that even Paul had to
explain himself on more than one occasion. I will aim to keep it
brief. Just the facts...
A brief history of our 30+ years with the Christian Brethren in WA - presented in order, but the dates are getting a little harder to
pin down with age. I have added the names of some of the people that Ann & I were involved with at each stage
of our christian journey for reference:
Bedford Park Gospel
Chapel: Graham Mitchie, Dave Turner, Bob Adair, Les Gunn, Graham Taylor,
John Prince, Ab Phoenix, John Wearne. (First church, baptised by
Les Gunn,
married by Charles Springer, Every Boys Rally & Youth Group)
Kurrawang Aboriginal
Christian Centre: Grenville Compton, Robert Smith. (Various
working bees, relieving house-parents for 8 months)
CYC Lake Cooloongup:
Graham Mitchie, Ab Phoenix, Geoff Brown, John LeStrange. (Various
working bees, manager/caretakers for 2.5 yrs)
Hamilton Hill Gospel
Chapel: attended while caretakers at CYC Lake Cooloongup.
North Balga
Christian Fellowship: attended while living in Koondoola.
Swan Christian
Fellowship: Arthur Rowcliffe, Allan Campbell, Peter Whitcomb,
Bill Grosser.
Midland Christian
School: Bill & Joan Grosser, Allan & Val Campbell, Arthur Rowcliffe. (We
were founding members of Swan Christian Education Association [SCEA])
Bellevue Baptist
Church: Ray Brown, George & Glynis Turpin.
Midland Christian
Centre Bookshop and Resource Centre: Peter & Sue Miles. (Ann &
I founded and managed MCC for 14 years)
Sawyers Valley
Christian Fellowship: Peter Taylor, Bruce Blanchard, John Wearne, Kim Tester,
Brian Fernie.
(7 years - Deacon & Eldership roles)
Rivervale Church of
Christ: Stuart Templeton, Shaun Espenlaub, Tim Flewers, Carl
Carmody, John
Fabry. (9 years - home group leader, audio system operator & website admin.)
Growing Families
Australia: Bill & Joan Grosser. (5 years - Ann was office
& accounts manager, I was website admin. & desktop
publishing)
Lynwood Christian
Church: Mark Medhurst, Charles Jubb, Ray Bathurst. (Our home church
from 20th September 2009)
I have created and managed several websites for various church and
para-church groups over recent years, plus a few of my own,
namely:
Growing Families Australia – www.gfi.org.au
– working with Bill & Joan Grosser for 5 years – no current
involvement.
Ruma Abedona Hospice in India –
www.rumahospice.org.in – my website for them has been
superseded.
Camp Wattle Grove Keswick – www.campwattlegrove.com.au – no current involvement.
Rivervale Church of Christ – www.rivcc.org.au
– no current involvement.
FuelUp – www.fuelup.rivcc.org.au
– no current involvement.
Lynwood Christian Church –
www.lynwoodchristianchurch.org.au – current.
My photo hobby website –
www.spiritland.net – current.
My business website
–
www.spiritland.com.au – current.
...and this
website
–
www.ihs-wa.net – current.
In time I would like to
see established a committee to manage and developed this site,
with the view of handing it over completely to come under the
control of the Combined Elders Meeting of WA. But I feel the need
to establish the site first before making any official approach, so
I have this as a long-term option for this website at the moment.
God willing!
Stay tuned for further
updates.
Cheers and blessings,
Max.
