The Billabong Community Centre has been a long term project for Billabong Uniting Church. Hard work has finally paid off, as the centre officially opened its doors on Sunday 4 October.
The congregation celebrated with an opening worship service and a Grand Opening Community Festival, a family friendly community event complete with a petting zoo, bouncy castle, face painting and plenty of games for young and old alike.
The Billabong Community Centre has been built with the local community in mind. The centre has purpose built function rooms which can be booked out by various community groups, including a main kitchen, upstairs and downstairs rooms, a meeting room, a resource library and a large outdoor grassed area. There is also a playgroup room which has its own kitchen and outside playground area which is perfect for children’s birthday parties. Kids clubs, exercise classes and conferences have already started taking place at the centre.
One of the first events to be held in the centre was a wedding ceremony and reception, taking place just three days after opening.
A site has also been built for a café, which the congregation hopes will be up and running early in the new year. The café will provide a community meeting spot for local people in a Christian environment.
The congregation meets regularly for worship in one of the main function rooms and in reception there is also an office and a prayer room, which is available for people to book and use as needed.
Francis David, a member of the leadership team at Billabong Uniting Church and the building construction co-ordinator for the project, said that there are lots of exciting ideas for what can take place at the centre, but now it is time to discern the next step. “We’ve come to the point where we’ve made a conscious decision to rest with God and not rush,” she said. “It’s been a really busy time getting the building up and running with all the bookings happening, so we don’t want to rush into anything. We just want to take the time to spend with God and know what it is he wants us to do as a community and as individuals and as the groups within the Billabong.”
To find out more about Billabong Uniting Church, and how to book a room at the Billabong Community Centre, visit http://www.thebillabong.org.au.