Church reaches out to the west
For pastor Scott Case west Auckland is a special place. Six years ago the C3 Church leader was invited speak at a function in the Genesis Room at the Trusts Arena.
‘‘I had said ‘I feel like I am home’, and now it truly has become home to our church, I had almost prophesied what would happen down the road,’’ he says.
C3 is starting its west Auckland chapter on August 21 and devotees will meet every Sunday morning in the Genesis Room, which has a capacity of about 300 people.
The church’s top initiative, Case says, is to help the community. One of these is by distributing care packs amongst deserving families in the area.
‘‘We call them scaffolding packs because they support people get through a difficult time.’’
The Glen Eden resident says the parcels contain ‘‘premium items’’.
‘‘It is stuff that people will enjoy unwrapping. None of the $1 bread type of stuff. There are fruit
‘‘Prosperity is about inner happiness’’
and vegetables, pasta sauces, biscuits and chips.’’
It is not necessary for the recipients to be C3 members to qualify for a pack.
The church also hosts free school parties. The first one out west is scheduled for November at South Henderson School.
‘‘We ring up a school and say have a party on us. There could be anywhere up to 1000 people at the party. Nothing quite looking at the student and staff’s happy faces,’’ Case says.
The church relies on donations from its supporters to fund these initiatives.
‘‘We encourage people to be generous, everything comes from them. But there is no pressure on them to donate,’’ he says.
Case says around 200 people are expected to attend on Sunday. C3 is known for its grand scale church services, which create an impressive atmosphere complete with lighting and a band. However, the first service is going to be ‘‘slightly smaller scale’’ than usual.
‘‘We won’t have the light show, but there is going to be a band,’’ Case says
C3 is a global church, which was established in Australia by Phil Pringle in 1980. It has been criticised in the past for prosperity preaching.
‘‘Prosperity is about inner happiness. About a great marriage, relationships, children. Material prosperity is a by-product of a sense of prosperity inside,’’ Case says.