On the 24th of April 1980, All Saints’ Greensborough took a bold step of faith and opened the Greensborough Christian Bookshop and Turning Point Coffee Lounge—the first establishment of its kind within the Anglican Church of Australia.

Just two years prior, Greensborough had experienced a drastic shift from semi-rural community to bustling suburb when the Greensborough Plaza opened. Perceptive of the changing demographics and needs of Greensborough, Vicar Jack Shilton stated, “We felt there was a need for a quiet, relaxed place where shoppers and businesspeople could enjoy a cup of coffee.” With businesses and carparks on all sides, the new church space filled this need and offered a “refuge from the rat race.”

The location of the Bookshop and Coffee Lounge also expanded the church’s bridging and hospitality capacity. Previously, All Saints’ had only been open on Sundays but after 1980 there was a warm, welcoming environment for people to visit any day of the week. Indeed, for nearly forty-five years staff and volunteers faithfully provided the Greensborough community with friendly conversation, home-cooked food and high-quality Christian books and merchandise, furthering the Kingdom of God in our neighbourhood.

As we at All Saints’ find ourselves at our next major turning point, we can derive courage from the big decisions that have come before. In encouraging the church forty-five years ago to respond to God’s guidance and open the bookshop, Shilton said: “God has placed us in this strategic position, and he has given us a vision of a great work which can be accomplished for his kingdom and for the people he loves. It will require adventurous faith, deep commitment and practical support if we are going to fulfill this vision.” Today, looking back we can see how very good God has been to our church; how he rewards those who trust in him; how he has used the bookshop ministry to bless more lives than can be known.

In 1980 when the Greensborough Christian Bookshop and Turning Point Coffee Lounge was commissioned, Archbishop Dann preached on John 20:21: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” May Jesus’ call again fill us with courage and would we as a church seek to live as faithfully by these words as those that came before us. Would we accept Jesus’ blessing of peace and faithfully go where he sends us.

 

By Megan Anderson who attends the 6pm service