By Aaron Cordy
FAITH and fellowship can build a community, making it a place not only where people live, but feel truly at home. The Goulburn Valley Christian Fellowship (GVCF), the Church on Pine, has been making people from all over the world feel right at home in Shepparton for 50 years.
GVCF celebrated its 50th birthday on Sunday, November 16, with friends and patrons old and new. The celebration was made extra special with the wonderful array of food provided by the church’s vast multicultural community.
The church was founded in 1975 when Keith and Deenie Rensford moved to Shepparton and began meetings in Knight Street, Shepparton, with a small congregation. As the church grew, public meetings were held at various rented premises for 25 years before they built the church on Pine Road.
In his rousing sermon, Senior Minister Jeremy Rensford talked about GVCF’s humble beginnings and looked forward to what the next 50 years would bring.
“We want to joyously embrace the heritage we’ve inherited. We want to joyfully embrace that. Thank you, God, and thank you those humans in the room that have passed it on to us. We’re very grateful. We want to enthusiastically pass on that legacy to others,” said Jeremy.
