Leading pastors at Crossway Boroondara Jessica and Timothy “T.K” Kristianto initiate a fortnightly fundraiser to raise money to build a new church.
The fundraiser, held every second Sunday after service finishes at 11:30 am, provides a sitdown lunch for those who pay for an order.
The fundraiser’s head organiser Lufee Wong said all proceeds go toward finding a new home property for the Crossway Boroondara community.
“Most people need to get lunch after church, so by catering and bringing the lunch here, then we provide the lunch and then we make it a fundraiser too, by making a small profit, and it gives people a forum to be able to get lunch, give, but at the same time fellowship,” Ms Wong said.
The pastor couple, Jessica and Timothy, who come from Indonesia, share the same vision for the small church congregation – one that provides a place of worship for second generation communities offering multilingual services.
“We have dreams, absolutely so many dreams,” Pastor Jessica says.
“I do hope that we can still do more languages, not just English, Cantonese and Mandarin.”
Pastor Jessica says she hopes for a space that that allows multiple big gatherings but also smaller spaces for kids and youth.”
Pastor Jessica’s husband and fellow church leader, Pastor Timothy, said accessibility and an inclusive culture were core to Crossway Boroondara’s mission.
“It’s this second-generation culture where people born in Australia with migrant families, they have that crisis of identity and faith,” he says.
“And so that’s something that has always been on my heart and on Jess’ heart.” Pastor Timothy said the couple started Crossway Boroondara with a hope of attracting second-generation people who had a crisis of identity.
As local community is at the heart of the fundraiser, Crossway Boroondara is collaborating with local businesses, specifically those that are Asian-owned.
“Like every good Asian, we love our food,” Pastor Jessica says.
Going out to lunch after church is such an important part of how we build community, how we build relationship in the community, she said.
“We thought, why don’t we piggyback that and at the same time, also build relationship with the local businesses, local restaurants around the area as well.”
Despite the cost of living crisis, Boroondara’s congregation remains continues its tradition of tithing, giving one tenth of their income to the church.
“Whether we’re in a recession, whether we’re in good financial times, it all belongs to God,” Pastor Timothy says.
“Our tithing should be reflective of that understanding that it belongs to God anyway.”
Crossway Boroondara has been operating for just two years by hiring St Hilary’s Anglican Church, a property in North Balwyn, for $90,000 a year for just one Sunday a week. Pastor Jessica says she is optimistic their community will find a home through giving in small amounts.
“Obviously, it’s not a whole heap, but it’s, it’s a start,” she says.
“More importantly, that’s the buy-in from the people in our community…to contribute a little bit by a little bit. That also shows that we’re serious about wanting to find our own home, that we’re also raising funds, our own funds.”
