5:17 church

5:17 church: our story

Hopefully you’ve seen from our homepage and the FAQ page what we’re on about as a church.  But here’s a bit about where we’ve come from.

5:17 church is like an outpost or franchise of the Chinese Christian Church Brisbane’s (CCCB) St Lucia English-speaking congregation.

To continue with the franchise metaphor, in 2008 we decided we wanted to find a new way to market or package our product.  The product is the good news about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and rule, and the new package is a new night church.  We believe wholeheartedly in the product and there’s nothing we want to or should change about it (especially since it’s been around for more than 2000 years!).  And it’s because we believe in it so much that we wanted to find new ways to bring it to new people.

CCCB has been bringing the product to Chinese people in Brisbane for over 30 years and it’s true that St Lucia has its fair share of Chinese residents.  But St Lucia and the surrounding suburbs are also full of people from many other nationalities – not least Aussies – and we wanted to see if we could adopt a marketing approach that would cater for them too.  Hence, a completely new name and new time slot which we hope will appeal to all kinds of people.

5:17 church launched on Sunday, February 8 2009 with a mix of aussies and asians – different people unified by a common belief in a common Saviour.  If you’d like to find out more about him or us, you could read more here or just come along any Sunday night.

Steve Nation: our Pastor

Steve is the Pastor of 5:17 church, helping to oversee the church through Bible teaching, prayer and spiritual direction.

“Like many Aussies, I grew up going to church, but stopped going in my teen years (except for typical Christmas and Easter visits). I still called myself a Christian, but saw church as a waste of time, stopping me from Sunday cricket or soccer.

After a rough time with Chronic Fatigue and depression, everything changed when I was 21. I was at a friend’s 21st having a big night out, when another friend challenged my lifestyle and its effects on others. But mostly, she challenged my identification as a Christian, saying I claimed to be a Christian, but ignored the Christ I say I follow.

In some ways, they were brutal comments, but it wasn’t hard to see they were valid. The next day, I was invited to a church that proclaimed the good news of Jesus (see the Discovering God section of this website). What I learnt was that in space, time and history, God entered the world He made, was born in a manger, lived the perfect life that we should have lived, healed the sick and raised the dead, taught with authority, died a sin-bearing death, and that He rose again, triumphing over sin and death.  And I was told that this has implications in my life – that my sin can be forgiven, that I can know my Maker as Father, have a new identity, and be sent on mission with this God who is on mission.

For this, I am infinitely thankful. And I’m grateful for the opportunity to love and serve the people of 5:17 church. As well as being a pastor, I’m married to Keiyeng (a Brisbane-ite who brought me from Sydney to Brisbane) and we have a son named Jakey. When not at work, I’m hanging out with the family, reading, gardening, or checking out local games of AFL.”