Paradise Community Church
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Paradise Community Church is a megachurch based in Paradise, a north eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is one of the largest churches in Australia with an active membership of over 6000. It is pastored by Ashley and Jane Evans. Evans is the state director of the AOG in South Australia. He is also a member of the National executive of the AOG in Australia, which oversights more than 1100 churches. Jane Evans is an international author and a national board member of Compassion Australia.
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[edit] Influence
The founding pastor was Andrew Evans, currently a Family First member of the South Australian Legislative Council (or Upper House). Andrea Mason, Director of Family First is also a member. In 2001, Evans co-founded political party Family First. This secular family values based party built on Christian ethics has 3 current senators serving in parliaments around Australia.
In 2003 Paradise worship singer Guy Sebastian became the inaugural Australian idol. Sebastian features on the 2 latest Paradise recordings "adore" and "Set me Free".
The Church has been featured on national programs such as A Current Affair and Compass and appeared in publications like The Australian newspaper, The Age. The church is considered a major influence on Adelaide's Christian pop culture[citation needed].
In 2004 the first "Influencers Conference" was held. Some of the world's most influential Christians such as Joyce Meyer, Bishop TD Jakes, Jentezen Franklin Hollywood film director Matt Crouch and Australian idol Guy Sebastian have featured at the conference. The conference is similar to Hillsong's annual conference.
[edit] Media
The church has a TV program which screens in different countries. Paradise utilies different forms of media in order to give people a clearer understanding of what the church offers.
Paradise community church is known for its' significant community programs including Adelaide's biggest Easter egg hunt and city wide Christmas carols. Crowds in excess of 25,000 attend these events each year.
Paradise Community Church also has an extensive community services arm (PCS) which in 2006 serviced more than 10,000 clients. PCS also feeds and clothes thousands of people each year.
[edit] BU Conference
bU is a womens conference especially designed to empower women of all ages. Conferences and events are held each year, including the now famous BU fashion parade which runs seasonally. This is thought to be the largest fashion parade in Australia with as many as 3000 of women attending each year.
