Introduction
"History helps you see not only the past more clearly, but today and tomorrow. Don't despise history. Those who do not learn from it will be compelled to repeat it." (Winkie Pratney)
Scripture also tells us of the importance of history. "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old."(Psalm 44:1) "what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done." (Psalm 78:3-4)
The teaching of History is an important and deliberate strategy the Lord employed for the instruction of His people. See for example Joshua 4:5ff "and [He] said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
The History of the Church is not any less important to the church than the History of Israel was to the Israelites. From it we can gain important insights into our own day and this can also give us a better perspective on tomorrow. History of the church is a big subject. The history of a nation includes the family histories of its people much of it unwritten and often lost with the passing of generations. In a similar way the history of a congregation is like a family history in the wider picture of Church history. When you look at your history you find an explanation for traditions and gain understanding of why and how things are done.
Frequently a church is founded for a particular reason, maybe in response to a set of needs or over some doctrinal issue. Nearly every group will make claims that they were built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus the Chief cornerstone. Often with the aim of being "more pure" than what previously existed. But there are more immediate issues that cause the group to form and be distinctive from any other group. These foundation stones are the basis on which the work is built and play a major role in its ultimate success and shape.
The following history is a personal account of the history of Encounter Christian Centre. It is personal rather than an official history written. It is written from my perspective as one that has been involved and therefore may lack the objectivity of an outsider. It is personal in viewpoint, because I take what I believe were the issues and the lessons learnt. My view may not be complete or the "official" view. But I want to show that there has been change and growth and that the process was not always comfortable.
Near the end of 1973 the Wayside Mission ceased to exist and the new name of Christian Fellowship was formally adopted. So the change from a Mission to a Church took another step forward. These were years of transition. I had made contact with them at the beginning of that year so from my early recollections and the stories we have been told I can tell you a little about the Wayside Mission.