Members of a new Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tullamarine are meeting in a local motel for their weekly worship services. The minister of the church says it is all part of a plan to connect with the community.

The convention room at the Ciloms Airport Lodge on Melrose Drive is Northpoint Adventist Church. “We even have our name on the room, on sandwich boards in the car park, and on a sign on the front fence,” says Loren Pratt, pastor of the church.

The motel has given the church 24-hour, seven-days-a-week access to the room for three years and is charging just $100 Australian per week (approximately $66 U.S.). Pratt describes the deal as an answer to prayer.

Pratt and his congregation meet at 3:30 on Saturday afternoons, as opposed to the Adventist Church’s traditional 9:30 a.m. meeting time. Pratt says, “Tullamarine is a soccer-mad suburb.” He explains that many play soccer on Saturday mornings, so they hold services in the afternoon to give those wanting to visit the church the opportunity.

Six of the 21 people regularly attending the church are not Adventists. “Some have taken three months, others six, before they feel comfortable attending,” says Pratt.

He and his assistant, Greg Evans, place cards advertising Bible studies in letter boxes at people’s homes. They also deliver videos, explaining the signs of Christ’s return, to those who respond to television advertisements placed by the Adventist Church in Victoria.

“Earning the friendship of those in the community is crucial,” says Pratt. “Showing up at their door each week to deliver a video and to say ‘g’day’ builds trust.”

Pratt divides his time between ministering to the church and serving as a departmental director for the church in Victoria, and as the minister of another local Adventist Church in Greenvale. “I’m focused,” he says. “From 1 p.m. each day I’m visiting the friends I’ve made in the community. Greg is doing a lot of the hard [work] with me.”

Pratt has applied successfully for more than $70,000 Australian (approximately $46,000 U.S.) in Global Mission funding from the Adventist Church. Global Mission is an initiative to establish new Adventist churches in areas where there are none. “We could not have set up the church without the money,” says Pratt.