At smallboatbigsea we have a reputation for “doing church differently” but that’s not how we see it. In fact, we don’t think we “do church” at all, let alone differently. We are simply a community of Jesus-followers who prefer people to programs, and worship-in-action to worship-in-a-building. We’re a tight knit bunch, deeply committed to working together in God’s mission in Christ to bring peace and hope and love to the world – including our own world in Manly as well as the whole world out there.
They call it being missional, but actually we think it’s being church as it was intended, with less focus on maintaining institutional religion and all our effort on both announcing and demonstrating the universal reign of God in Christ. Sounds grand eh? Well, it works itself out in both big ways (advocating for the poor) and small ways (an act of kindness to the old lady down the street), in spoken ways (helping someone understand Jesus’ message of hope) and unspoken ways (street chaplaincy in the wee small hours).
Being missional together means we exemplify good community by looking after each other and extending care to our local and international neighbours. We devote time together each week to meet over a big meal, to celebrate the goodness of God, to understand the scriptures, and pray together.
Generosity, hospitality, faith, sacrifice, teaching, service, worship, prayer, laughter, justice-seeking, family, love, grace etc. You can’t really do that stuff “differently”. You just have to do it, right?
Come along and join our table. There’s plenty of room in our small boat.
An overview of the community church small boat big sea, the people and activities we are part of.
Collide
Collide is a gathering of various missional churches for a night of music, teaching and story driven by the question - what is church supposed to be doing in the space between. The space between the world of here and now and the world yet to come.
Looking for ideas? Here's a guide to leading our lounge liturgy with lots of examples and tips. The guide is a compilation, some simple repeatable classics and collection of all time favourites. Check it out.
Stations of the Cross 2010 brought together 15 professional artists to depict one of history's most recognised events. Stations of the Cross continues to be an exhibition like no other.
Take a virtual tour of this year's exhibit. Click-and-drag in the image to navigate around the Williams Street Studios. (Apple Quicktime required)
