SGC Australia: Together 2026
An update from Riley Spring, Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Parramatta (Sydney, Australia) and National Leader for Sovereign Grace Churches Australia…
It’s not every year you get to have a ‘Pastor’s Conference’ like experience in your own church for a day! But this year Sovereign Grace Churches Australia had the privilege of having not only the Leadership Team (Mark Prater, Jeff Purswell, Jared Mellinger, Jon Payne and our very own Dave Taylor) but also the Global Leaders all with us for our combined church conference, ‘Together 2026’!
It was an incredible day as we gathered with over 400 people from our two churches, Sovereign Grace Church Wahroonga and Sovereign Grace Church Parramatta, under the banner of Spurgeon’s famous line, ‘The Church, the Dearest Place on Earth.’
We had three powerful sessions with Jeff, Jon and Jared preaching for us around this theme, you can listen to their messages here. We also had a chance for each of the Global Leaders who were here for the Global Leaders Retreat to briefly share about their region of the world where the Lord is at work through Sovereign Grace (Mexico, Europe, Philippines, Africa, and the US).
Our people were freshly stirred with a vision for God’s passionate and particular love for his people. His plan that has been in place before the beginning of the world which has now been revealed, that God will gather all the world under one head, under Christ (Eph 1). The Lord helped us see that what is taking place in very ordinary ways Sunday to Sunday is anything but ordinary! As Jesus walks amongst his lampstands (Rev 1), as we partake in the Heavenly gathering (Heb 12), we anticipate the glorious reunion of the Bride and her Husband.
The implication is well summarised by Stott, “‘If the church is central to God’s purpose as seen in both history and the gospel it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously, how dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the center?’ (John Stott).
It was a pure joy for me to see our churches here interacting with the Leadership Team and the Global Leaders. It was a joy to be able to publicly thank Mark Prater on behalf of SG Australia for his contribution, service, and sacrifice for us here and for all of Sovereign Grace. And it was a joy for this Aussie, to be able to host these dear brothers here in Sydney, to show them our city, to invite them into our story, and for them to revisit old friends and make new ones.
It’s significant for us as we build Sovereign Grace Churches here in Australia that we build relationally together. We are not just an institution, a network, or a co-op, but a family! And so it’s very fitting that our two churches would come together for the day to worship, to pray, to sit under God’s word, to meet with our friends, to connect with our broader SGC Leaders and Partners….and to eat lots of Lebanese Chicken together! A taste of heaven.
We very much feel the smile of the Lord on us and the words of Deuteronomy 7:6:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has
chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Please pray for Sovereign Grace Churches here in Australia, that we would be able to grow in love for the Lord and each other, that we would make many new disciples, and that the Lord would raise up future Pastors and Planters to take the gospel further across this great land!
