“What does your city, state, region, country need?”
Professor Bob Logan posed this question during a church planting intensive course I attended at Fuller Theological Seminary in Los Angeles in October 1998. There were about twenty of us in the room. We were from Europe, Asia, New Zealand, the USA and Australia. Sue and I had been sent on study leave to research church planting possibilities for Holy Trinity Adelaide (now known as Trinity Church Adelaide).
Logan helpfully challenged my framework. I was attending the course to learn how Holy Trinity Adelaide could plant one church. He pushed me to think not about what might be possible for Holy Trinity Adelaide, but about the gospel need of Adelaide and South Australia. I remember my knee-jerk response – “Adelaide and South Australia need hundreds more healthy, evangelistic, Bible-teaching churches.”
When I returned to Adelaide in 1999, we began planning the first Network church plant at Aldgate. It was launched in 2001. Our desire was to plant churches that plant churches that plant churches. Since then, we have seen a total of 14 churches started.
There is so much to give thanks to God for. He has graciously drawn many into His eternal family and has been growing disciples to maturity.
Yet the spiritual need of our city and state remains so desperate. The fields are still white for harvest. What does our city and state need? Hundreds more churches to hold out the gospel of life to people whose greatest need is to have a relationship with Jesus.
The Burden: Our City Needs Jesus
We Plan for More Churches
The leadership of our Network and churches are asking God to go before us and make it possible to plant many more churches across our city and state in the coming decades, because with every new church come new opportunities for people to hear about Jesus for the first time and for many lives to be transformed by the gospel. In 2027, a new church is planned for Goolwa. Then, in 2028, the churches in our Northern region are working together to start a new church in the Gawler region, one of the state’s fastest-growing growth corridors.
But the reality is that almost every suburb and town in Adelaide and South Australia needs more churches. In the last 25 years, we have grown into a Network of 15 churches partnering to reach more people with the gospel. What if, by 2040, God grows us into a Network of 30 healthy, evangelistic, church-planting churches? Imagine the impact across Adelaide and South Australia if that many more opportunities were created for people to encounter Jesus, hear the Bible faithfully taught, and grow as disciple-making disciples! Imagine new generations of leaders equipped to serve, and churches working together to reach people who might otherwise never hear the good news of Jesus!
The Prayer: The Rapid Spread of the Gospel
Our Ambition is Dependent on God
In 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul asks his gospel partners in Thessalonica to pray for his team and their ministry. This is his request:
… pray for us that the message (literally ‘word’) of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured, just as it was with you.
2 Thessalonians 3:1
I love the way he asks his partners in the gospel to pray that the word of God might spread RAPIDLY.
It is a joy to see churches being planted! This year, Night Church started at Holden Hill in March. They have welcomed more than 100 guests to learn about Jesus. Trinity Church Unley has just moved to a larger venue to create more space for newcomers to explore the gospel. We are seeing people regularly put their trust in Jesus. Can I ask you to pray that more churches are planted? Can I ask you to pray that, in God’s kindness, more people will become followers of Jesus? Can I ask you to pray that it will happen RAPIDLY?
The Response: The Gospel Future Fund
Money in Service of the Rapid Spread of the Gospel
The Gospel Future Fund has been established to provide resources for the rapid spread of the gospel.
We expect that once site development is complete (estimated to finish in July 2028), surplus funds will be injected to give the Gospel Future Fund a significant boost. There will also be an opportunity for members of churches across the Network to give to this fund.
These funds will form the initial capital for the Gospel Future Fund. The aim is to invest the funds and use the income to support gospel growth across our city and state. Under God, we pray these resources will help us to:
- Plant More Bible-Teaching Churches – supporting church planting means reaching more gospel-poor communities.
- Raise Up and Equip More Leaders – if we are going to plant churches that are effective in gospel ministry, then we need to train both vocational and lay leaders.
- Encourage Evangelistic Initiatives – we want to encourage and create opportunities for imaginative, entrepreneurial evangelistic projects and ministries that help more people hear and respond to the gospel.
- Strengthen our Existing Network Churches – if we want to see the Network grow rapidly, we need to ensure that we resource and support all our churches so they can be as effective as possible in their ministries.
Investing Today in Tomorrow’s Gospel Growth
An Opportunity to Give to the Gospel Future Fund
In 2027, we will be inviting people to donate to the Gospel Future Fund. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to invest in gospel ministry for the sake of future generations, and we’re excited to see what God might do through the generosity of His people over the coming years. There will be an option to give and receive a tax deduction. This opportunity will be available only while the site development is taking place. Please be praying and planning now for how you might give.
You may want to start giving to the Gospel Future Fund now. Sue and I have made the Gospel Future Fund part of our regular giving plan. If you are keen to do this, here are the details:
Electronic Bank Transfer
BSB: 065000
Account Number: 11741091
Account Name: FRIENDS OF TRINITY TRUST – MASTER ACCOUNT
Reference: Gospel Future Fund
Alternatively, you can click here to give directly to the Gospel Future Fund by credit card. Please note: Gifts made directly to the Gospel Future Fund are not tax-deductible. If you need more information or would like to ask any questions, please contact Andrew Severin at andrew.severin@trinity.network.
Our Desperate Prayer
Longing for the RAPID Spread of the Word of the Lord!
I am very thankful for the insights I gained in 1998 in a classroom with Professor Logan and 20 aspiring church planters from around the globe. I felt the weight of the desperate spiritual poverty among people in Adelaide and South Australia. Those two weeks at Fuller were formative in shaping plans to start planting churches. It is a wonderful expression of God’s grace that He has grown the Trinity Network to 15 churches in 2026, and we are deeply thankful.
But if I am being honest, it doesn’t feel RAPID. I keep praying that God might cause His word to go out rapidly, that we might see Him glorified as many turn in repentance and faith, and that we might see hundreds of new churches start up. Will you join me in praying that God might do this? That God, in His kindness, might give us the privilege of continuing to partner with Him in meeting the desperate spiritual need of people in our city and state. I don’t know exactly what God will do over the next 14 years, but let’s pray boldly, prepare faithfully and be ready to respond to the opportunities He gives us. Our city and state need the gospel, and by God’s grace, we have the privileged burden of making it known.
Together, let’s pray that:
- God would draw many people across Adelaide and South Australia to repentance and faith in Jesus, and provide the people, resources and opportunities needed for the rapid spread of the gospel.
- God would raise up courageous, godly leaders to plant and strengthen churches.
- new churches would take root in gospel-poor communities, and our existing churches would grow in evangelistic confidence and see more people come to know Jesus.
- God would stir people to give generously to the Gospel Future Fund and burden them to pray for the rapid spread of the gospel across our city and state.