A strategic church plant is about to begin in Canterbury to reach out to a city filled with cultural depth but increasingly ignorant of the gospel.

Fourth-year Moore College student Jonathan Howes and his wife Elise are working to put together a team that will launch the church plant next year " after he completes his studies.

"We've had a long-standing interest in mission and cross-cultural ministry, so last year we started talking to people like Archie Poulos and Peter Tasker about the way forward," Mr Howes says. "Peter asked us to consider Canterbury. A little research revealed an area of incredible ethnic diversity, largely unreached with the gospel of Jesus. We committed to Canterbury soon afterwards."

Since then, a fellow fourth-year from Moore, Christian Anderson, has joined them as co-worker.

Photo: Jonathan Howes (right) with Christian Anderson at College

Between the 2001 and 2006 census there was a 20 per cent drop in Anglican affiliation in Canterbury but, Mr Howes says, "what's driving this is demographic change. We are now dealing with a massive, cross-cultural mission field, right here in the heart of Sydney. Traditional congregational models are not working there. We need to try new things and take much more of a missional approach."

Working in partnership with St Paul's, Canterbury the church plant will be self-funded, multi-ethnic and team-based " Mr Howes is looking for 15-20 adults with a heart for mission and openness to cultural change to make up the team. "If our gospel is going to make sense to non-Anglos, we'll need to learn different ways of expressing and living it. That's an exciting challenge, and a great expression of God's love."

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