Creating Community Connections

Connecting with Care and Compassion

LifeHouse Care Op Shops, Pantries & Community Care | Playgroup

LifeHouse Care is a practical, Monday to Saturday expression of the heart of our church to seek the peace and wellbeing of the people in our communities. Thousands of moments of connection are made possible every week through Op Shops, Pantries, Community Care and Playgroups. 

Our six Op Shops continue to provide a strong foundation for all of LifeHouse Care’s work. An average of 117 volunteers every week enable our stores to receive over  20,000 donations and process more than 99,000 transactions across the year. 

Many volunteers come through partnerships with employment programs and correctional services, creating opportunities for people to rebuild confidence, develop skills, re-engage with the community and find work. 

Across our seven Pantry locations, over 70 volunteers are providing access every week to low cost grocery items, free bread and fresh produce to 440 households experiencing financial stress.

“I like to think of it as inviting people into our home, making our spaces as welcoming as possible” Pantry Leader Kellie says. 

For many, the pressure is constant.

“It’s not just about food,” Kellie explains. “People are making really difficult choices — will you buy nappies or petrol? The stress level can be overwhelming.” 

Our Pantries help ease the burden in practical ways, while offering emotional support, without judgement. 

Pantries are one of many referral channels into LifeHouse Community Care. In 2025, our Case Workers collaborated with more than 50 local partners and services in order to support over 470 households during a time of crisis. The team are passionate about not only meeting immediate needs but also walking alongside people—strengthening dignity, encouraging personal responsibility, and supporting lasting transformation.

In collaboration with the Neighbourhood Centre in Urunga, families can now ‘sip, shop, and play’ through access to Playgroup with two Early Childhood workers, free coffee, and the Pantry, further expanding the church-based hub of community connection and relationship. 

Playgroup in Coffs, hosted at the PlayHouse, continues to create a welcoming space for parents, carers, and grandparents to connect over the realities of parenthood and the highs and lows of life. Ash says her motivation and inspiration for saying yes to hosting Playgroup was to ‘inject God colours into the world’. “The main focus is on connection and getting to know people,” she explains. “It’s not always neat or perfect, but showing up and being real is what matters. That’s what keeps people coming back.”

LifeHouse Urunga Generations Project

A welcoming, safe space lays the foundation for hospitality and meaningful connection, the kind of connection that can ultimately be life-changing for individuals and families.

At LifeHouse Urunga, we will invest in fencing and air conditioning in the space that is used for church on Sunday and Pantry and Playgroup during the week. 

This is about more than just facility improvements, this is creating an environment where people want to linger, relationships can deepen, children can play safely, and the community feels welcomed and valued. The practical upgrades help LifeHouse Urunga to be a place where connection, care, and faith intersect, leaving a generational impact.

More Than a Pantry

At first glance, the Urunga Pantry might look like a place to pick up low-cost groceries. Step inside, and you’ll find something deeper.

You hear it before you see it—conversation, laughter, the hum of people connecting. This is more than a pantry. It’s a place of belonging.

What began as a practical response to need, and could’ve been transactional, has become deeply relational. It’s not just about what people take home. It’s about creating a space where people feel known. For some, this is the only place in their week where they find connection with others. One woman shared, “If I didn’t come here, the only person I’d speak to all week is my husband.”

So the team have shaped the space intentionally - a free café, unhurried conversation, and volunteers who notice. As Mike, LifeHouse Urunga Pastor, says, “If someone’s sitting by themselves, someone will go and sit with them.”

There’s no pressure or agenda, just genuine care. “We don’t force conversations about faith,” Mike explains. “We let people bring it up when they’re ready.” And they do.

For many, it’s their first step back into church in years—not because they were invited to a service, but because they experienced warmth, welcome, and relationship.

One woman in her 80s came simply wanting to help wash dishes. She stayed to talk. Returned the next week. Soon after, she found herself in church for the first time in years.

This is how trust grows—not rushed, not from a platform, but across a table.

“It’s the difference between looking and really seeing people,” Mike says. “It’s about the one.”

And as simple as it seems, that’s where transformation begins.

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Light-bearers Bringing God’s Love into Real-life Situations

Chaplaincy

Chaplains were mobilised in five new areas across 2025, and within the LifeHouse Chaplaincy Network, people are now actively serving in: corrections, police, ambulance, sport, hospital, aged care, retail, courthouses, LifeHouse Care, The PlayHouse, and primary and high schools.

The bold goal of 100 chaplains across the North Coast is quickly coming within reach. Building on the 25 Chaplains at the end of 2025, there were 15 new enrolments in the Certificate IV in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care for the March 2026 intake, 10 chaplains completed their training in May, and 18 people attended Court Chaplain training in April. 

Opportunities are everywhere. Five chaplains graduating in February were placed before completing their training, and the team is exploring new spaces—from additional schools and courthouses to retirement villages, LifeHouse Care spaces, shopping centres, and even online gaming communities. 

Chaplains are light-bearers, bringing God’s love into real-life situations. Nathalie, a LifeHouse Chaplain, shares one powerful example: 

I have witnessed the power of connected ministry. It began with Prison Chaplaincy while a man was incarcerated, continued when we crossed paths at the Care House when he reached out for practical support upon his release, and extended to Court Chaplaincy, where we met again and I was able to walk alongside him. While he initially saw this as coincidental, by the time his charges were officially dropped, he and his family were moved to tears with gratitude and praised God publicly. Seeing these ministries come together to support him was inspiring—a vivid reminder of how God uses chaplaincy to bring hope, dignity, and care in times when it’s needed most". 

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A Community that Transforms

Sherwood Cliffs

The power of community is demonstrated clearly at Sherwood Cliffs, a Christian residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for those experiencing substance abuse and mental health issues.

Established in 1978 and located north-west of Coffs, Sherwood has a long and rich history of seeing lives changed and futures reclaimed. 

As a therapeutic community, the focus is on the whole person and lasting lifestyle change, with the community itself serving as the primary context for transformation. 

Led by Chantal and Colin, Sherwood welcomes people from all walks of life into a safe place designed to help them grow, learn new ways of coping, and take responsibility for their recovery. Here, those struggling with addiction can refresh, refocus, and rebuild their lives. 

We are excited about a new partnership with Sherwood and looking forward to exploring the many different opportunities for our communities to engage. 

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A Seat at the Table for Everyone

Alpha

Alpha is an opportunity for our church to extend an open invitation for anyone from the community to come and explore questions of life, faith, and meaning.

Over a shared meal, we’ll create safe and honest spaces where people can ask life’s big questions without judgement, pressure, or expectation.

Alpha is a proven, powerful approach to extending hospitality and creating opportunities for more people to encounter the hope of the Gospel outside of our Sunday services. Each of us can play a part—whether by inviting or hosting—in welcoming people into spaces where meaningful conversations are sparked, relationships are formed, and lives can be transformed.

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When Passion and Mission Align

Christian Surfers

In high school, Lillie had two loves: surfing and Jesus. She got involved in Christian Surfers, not knowing she would one day lead it at a regional level alongside her husband, Juda.

Christian Surfers exists so that every surfer in every surfing community has the opportunity to know and follow Jesus. “Surfers are adventurous by nature, willing to explore, take on the extreme, and be real and authentic in doing so,” Lillie explains. “If you connect with a surfer in the water, they’re probably not going to walk into a church, but they might come to Christian Surfers.”

Around 40 people gather weekly, meeting in the surf, sharing a meal and a devotional together. They host skate nights, regional camps, a Surfathon raising funds for free Surfers Bibles, and provide courses and training to support discipleship and leadership development.

A highlight of 2025 was the Christian Surfers National Gathering on the Coffs Coast, where 450 surfers formed a cross in the ocean during the Easter Sunday dawn paddle-out, remembering and reflecting on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

“It’s not a Christian social club, it’s a mission, an outreach,” Lillie explains. One young person facing significant challenges in their life connected with a couple of Christian Surfers members. Over time, barriers were broken down, and they took a bold step by coming to church and made a commitment to follow Jesus. “There’s a groundswell,” she says, “People are being activated to go and share. We’re seeing revival.” 

“When I felt called to be a leader, I was uncertain,” Lillie shares. “But God reminded me that He doesn’t call the qualified, He equips the called. That means He’ll get all the glory. Living life on mission for Him and doing what you love, it’s pretty cool.”