Taken from: http://c3churchthirroul.com
Our first public meetings began in 1987 under the leadership of Peter Madden. The church first met in Thirroul Senior Citizens Hall, then to the Vista Theatre at Woonona. Prior to that time there was a small prayer group that prayed for the church for a number of years. Kevin Wilcock took over the leadership of the church, which was known as Christian Worship Centre and in 1990, the church moved to it’s present location in Thirroul where we were blessed by a great increase in numbers.
The church was pentecostal in style and chararcterized by prayer, giving and evangelism. A strong leadership structure was formed during these years and the church was one of the first to host a conference on Small Groups. We had our own ministry training college, did outreaches with a circus tent around Australia and oversighted a rehabilitation facility called the ‘House of Hope’.
Kevin handed the leadership of the Thirroul church to Joel & Julia A’Bell and commenced to plant other congregations in Wollongong. The new congregations were Wollongong Central in 1997 and Shellharbour in 1999.
In 1999, Peter & Marie Starr took over the leadership of the Thirroul congregation. The church became known as South Coast City Church Thirroul and over $200,000 was raised for a deposit for our current facility, which we soon purchased. We are now officially a part of the C3 Church movement, becoming known as C3 Church Thirroul in 2011 to reflect that association whilst maintaining our relationship with Ozreach (oversighted by Kevin Wilcock).
C3 Church Thirroul has raised and released ministers and missionaries who have left Wollongong and done great exploits for God throughout many parts of the world. We continue to see people transformed by the power of God on regular basis. We value all people because we believe that if lost people matter to God then they should also matter to the church. Our church has gained a good name through being culturally relevant and yet being in touch with God at the same time.