Colac’s new discipleship experience the way to go
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
BY LERISSE SMITH
It was an epic treasure hunt with a big difference.
The clues? The Bible. The prize? A fresh way of seeing church.
At Colac Corps in Victoria, a group of people set out to discover the different places and circumstances in which the Gospel was preached, taught and experienced.
But the imaginative activity wasn’t just another church event. It was part of a bold step to reimagine a new monthly Sunday program, a significant shift in the way the corps understands and does church, a change that is opening exciting new possibilities for faith, community and mission.
Since launching in January, the afternoon gathering, The Way Collective* – a “discipleship experience” – has drawn people who wouldn’t typically walk into a church, those with histories of addiction, incarceration, trauma, illiteracy and long-term social instability.
“They are loving it,” says Josiah Van Niekerk, Colac Corps Leader. “All sorts of life issues prevent them from being able to swallow what most churches are handing out. So, for us, it’s a really great way to say: let’s talk about things like speaking in tongues, or combating gossip, or pornography, or whatever we need to talk about in a way that is consumable and applicable to their lives.”
The deliberately chosen name echoes the earliest description of the Christian movement. More than a program, it’s a discipleship experience designed to help people learn and live the way of Jesus in everyday life.
“We’re a Christian movement that’s here to build faith pathways, to build healthy communities, fight for justice and care for people,” reflects Josiah, as he talks about the new initiative. “That’s our scope.”
Rather than following a fixed format, the monthly gathering is designed around what people attending can engage with and experience.
And at the most recent gathering, the Corps Leader chose a treasure hunt.
Different settings were explored in which the Gospel appears in the Gospels and Letters. Of seven settings he identified, only one was the kind of religious environment Christians today might immediately recognise – a synagogue. The others included the road to Emmaus in the marketplace, being with family and friends and shared meals.
“Most of the times that we hear about the Gospel being spoken or being lived isn’t in the synagogue,” Josiah explains. “There’s a place for that. But there’s a place for the others too. It’s understanding where that sits within your context and within your picture.”
And that discovery has become a picture for Colac Corps – that church is not confined to a particular day, program, or building.
It’s very transient how the week rolls with what programs are on, the Corps Leader says, adding that some are completely locked in and some are being tweaked and experimented with to see what works and where it ultimately leads.
During the week, people from different churches gather at the corps for prayer at 8am each morning. There are also Bible studies, worship, breakfast ministry, and connections with schools. Salvos seminars are also being explored.
A key driver for the emerging model is centred around ‘the priesthood of all believers’ – people from different churches bringing their gifts, interests, and ideas to the corps.
One group is developing an art group with a strong discipleship focus, using Discovery Bible Studies to explore Scripture together. Another group is bringing worshippers from different churches together for Wednesday morning worship.
It’s an exciting time for all those involved – especially not being stuck in religiosity.
“God has just flung all the doors open,” Josiah says.
“And all the different believers from different expressions that are just eager to be able to express the kingdom of God and to have a medium to express it through here at the corps. We’ve got five churches that we’re partnered with and working with them to help them be energised in similar ways and for them to find their scope and for them to find the community that they’re supposed to minister to … so, that’s been really cool.”
The biggest confirmation of this new direction, however, came during prayer and a special vision given to the Corps Leader.
The vision was of churches, Christian missions and other gatherings of believers travelling along a highway at night. Each was represented by a car, its headlights shining into the darkness. Occasionally, the cars encountered someone on the road. But beyond the highway were vast desert dunes filled with millions of people.
“You can’t see them, you can’t hear them, because you’re flogging along on the highway,” Josiah reflects. “And over these last 18 months, I’ve been trying to bring us towards the shoulder of this highway … We all felt like we needed to grab the wheel and yank us off into the desert dunes. There are too many people out there lost.”
In the vision, a few other cars were already out among the desert dunes – churches and Christian communities willing to leave the familiar road and go where people were located. The image was reminiscent of William Booth’s lighthouse imagery for Josiah, becoming a powerful confirmation of where he was heading for the monthly gathering.
That change has also altered how he sees his own role.
Colac Corps has been embracing the A.P.E.S.T framework (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers), helping him step more fully into an apostolic role of seeing the bigger picture and creating space for others to lead.
And one of the most exciting things, he adds, is watching new believers step up.
He recently heard about three new Christians with a big heart for evangelism who want to walk the local streets wearing t-shirts with the following slogan on the back ‘touch my shoulder if you want to be prayed for’. The idea is not to shout at or pressure people, but simply to be “amazing, kind Christians” who are approachable and ready to pray, the Corps Leader adds. They are looking to be called The Hope Team.
And the significance is bigger than one evangelism project.
“It just gives new and growing believers an opportunity to mature,” Josiah explains.
“Oftentimes we need to give them a chance to mature … The big thing is seeing new believers coming in and making public declarations of their faith and then seeing them actually being able to develop and grow as a leader in their skilling and the gifts that God’s given them. And for us as other leaders to be able to say, that they can do that. I don’t need to do that.”
Ultimately, the journey of The Way Collective has brought people back to Scripture, he adds, and to the example of the early church and its engagement with local communities.
“The whole crux of who we are is trying to do those early church expressions of faith - not the Western way that it’s been done,” the Corps Leader says.
“A lot of the people that The Salvation Army works with, the Western Way (of doing work in a formulaic structured approach) doesn’t work because they are extremely complex and oftentimes are extremely broken. They need touch points – and The Way Collective gives them that.”
*The Way Collective is a different program to the The Way, the Australia Territory’s spiritual focus for 2026
