Newcomers

18 January 2026

By Pastor John Macindoe - Senior Pastor

Pastor John-Jo walked into my office the other day with a big wad of newcomer cards from 2025 – 121 in all. That’s a lot of newcomers! But there’s more to say… not every visitor wants to fill out a contact card, but they are willing to register and receive a nametag at the welcome desk. How many last year? 371! But that’s not all… many visitors want to stay anonymous. John-Jo estimates that International hosted between 500-600 visitors and newcomers over the past year.

That’s an overwhelming number of people. And that’s just International! How do we keep up. It’s tough!

So, how do we do it? One person at a time, with warmth and sincerity, expressing the love of Jesus as each part of the body does its work - that’s how.

I’d like to share a letter we received recently. Jeanine is just one of those 1000 or more people who visited our church last year. She’s a short-term visitor to Australia and has been exploring faith.

Jeanine will be baptised in our church next Sunday and fly home to the Netherlands that evening. One person at a time with love and sincerity.

Keep at it, Central.