Kirribilli pastor Paul Dale knew something had to be done when he noticed people walking past the church building were attracted to the music, but intimidated by the lack of spare seats.

So the British church planter decided to start a second congregation of Church by the Bridge, creating a new chapter in the life of one of the North Shore's newest evening congregations.

Hard work, generosity and prayer from two neighbouring parishes have enabled Church by the Bridge, part of St Thomas', North Sydney, to thrive in its home at St John's, Kirribilli.

The new church plant, which began a month ago, comes less than 18 months after the launch of the original plant in February 2005.

The church aims to reach the young professionals who live and work in the harbourside suburb by teaching the Bible faithfully and growing new disciples of Christ.

Starting with a core group of 42 people, the original vision was to have 200 members in church by the end of 2006.

As Paul Dale recalls, "the idea of planting another service was just overwhelming'.

But it soon became a necessity, with several factors contributing to the timely decision to plant another congregation.

The first was the extraordinary growth the church experienced in January.

About 400 people " many times more than expected " attended carols under the Harbour Bridge in Bradfield Park at Christmas.  In January a dozen local people from the area joined the church.

Meanwhile, word of mouth meant people who were seeking a new church or hadn't been in a church in years came through the doors over the summer holidays.

At the end of January membership stood at 140 " filling the capacity of the building.

But the clincher came on the church's first anniversary, when Paul noticed a local couple passing by who stopped to listen to the music.

They went to walk in, but remarked that the church was too full and walked out again.

Paul recalls thinking "we've got to do something' to ensure more people didn't turn away.

"Once you get over 100, you can't know everyone," he says, "so it made me think about the big church/small church model."

The new service at 5pm is still small and is targeted at locals, especially young families who find it easier to attend church at an earlier time.

The time was chosen partly because St John's already has a morning congregation, and also to serve couples from the church who had recently had children.

To cater for this "biological growth' the church has begun its first foray into children's ministry by starting a crèche at the new service.

The church has also sought to take advantage of the tight turnaround between the services, with both congregations aiming to meet together for refreshments at 6.15pm to build relationships between the two groups.

The later service has moved back 15 minutes to 6.30pm.

"We worked really hard to make it the one church," Paul says.

Sacrificing time with friends for the gospel

The 5pm service began with a core team of 25 people on May 28 and now averages around 50.

Daniel Schipper and his wife Cara are two of those who have sacrificed time with friends to be part of the new service.

"[The original service] grew fairly rapidly, from 50-60 people to 140," Daniel says.

"We were just full, with no ability for people to walk in off the street and find a seat " it was pretty intimidating."

Daniel says the first few weeks have been a challenge in going from a church of 140 to joining one of only two dozen.

He says the upbeat atmosphere of over a hundred people singing and clapping is somewhat missing in the new service " "it's difficult to get that in a half-empty building," he laughs " but is optimistic about the future.

"We felt really welcomed at the 6.15pm service so made the decision to move down and welcome others," Daniel says.

"We're doing it to grow it - and it is happening."

Paul Dale says the generosity and graciousness of the minister of St John's, Ernest Chau, has enabled the church to thrive over the past 18 months.

Another key factor in the growth is the strong relationships that have formed within the church community as they share their lives together.

The church offers seminars on "hot topics' at a local café that range from "the arrogance of Christians' through to depression and sexuality.

Another important part of the fellowship is the time spent having dinner together at a local pub or restaurant after church.

Paul says despite the growth, there remain thousands of non-believers in Kirribilli, and the church remains focused on winning them to Christ.

He encourages church members to live in the area or to visit the area socially and be salt and light to the community.

"[We're about] keeping our vision to win the lost and grow mature disciples, not just shallow Christians," he says.

"We didn't expect to grow so fast " we understand God's goodness."

Photos courtesy Simon Mossman