Mount Evelyn
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Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808 Inset: Appear in a member of g on stage Shaylee Bartho the Discover y on their feet. Church, had aulomeusz, diences
Church turns 70 Pastors Peter and Sandy Lusk at the church’s 70th celebrations, which attracted over 800 people. Pictures: JAMES TAYLOR
Bucking the trend By Derek Schlennstedt As the Mount Evelyn Discovery Church celebrated 70 years on Sunday, senior pastor Peter Lusk said the church was bucking a national trend and “thriving”. The data from the 2016 Census, released on Tuesday 27 June, pointed to a significant national increase of Australians ticking the ‘No religion’ box. In the Yarra Ranges, of the 148,760
people living in the area, 63,037 declared they followed no religion - a rise from 33.8 per cent in 2011 to 42.4 per cent in 2016. Pastor Lusk, who has been a member of the church for over 20 years, however said the Mount Evelyn Discovery Church continued to be highly active, with no real evidence of a decline in interest. “Since the founding of the church, we’ve always had that focus of serving
our neighbourhood,” he said. “If we are here to serve ourselves, then it’s more like a club, whereas Christianity has always looked to serve those in need and to serve others, and for me there is no greater gift than to serve someone else. “I think if we’re self-centred and self-focused, then it will continue to decline.” Pastor Lusk said the Discovery Church had gone through various
changes in its name and program to ensure that it did remain important with younger audiences. “We’ve always wanted to remain really relevant,” Pastor Lusk said. “We have to always be relevant to whomever we are speaking to today ... the message of Jesus remains the same, but the method of delivery always needs to change.” Meanwhile, The Australian Bureau of Statistics stated that 95.1 per cent
of people in Australia completed the survey, and data showed that in the Yarra Ranges population growth has increased since 2011, there are still more women than men, most people are aged either between 40 and 44, or 45 and 49, and slightly more than half are married. In the Mount Evelyn area, the median age is 37, one year younger than the national median.
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