What can you expect when you visit All Nations?
Our worship service on Sunday mornings is where the church family meets to praise God, encourage each other and learn from God’s Word – the Bible. A service leader will explain what is going on at each point in the service. There will be singing, with a mixture of traditional hymns and more contemporary Christian songs. There will be a few prayers as we talk to our loving Father. An offering is taken to support the work of the church and for missions. The Bible is read and the preacher explains what the Bible passage means and how it affects how we think about God and how we live our lives. After the formal worship time is finished there is an informal time of enjoying each other’s company over morning tea.
What kind of people usually attend All Nations?
All Nations was set up to be a multi-ethnic church and God has blessed us so that we are made up of people from many different cultural backgrounds. We have people from well over 15 countries currently attending our church, from Australian to Asian, South American to European. Wherever you come from you are most welcome to join with us.
All of our services and ministries are in English, for it is the local language and the only language all of us have in common. If you are new to Australia, or if your English is not very strong, that is fine! See how we can help you.
What does that word ‘Presbyterian’ mean?
Most who visit us for the first time have no idea what ‘Presbyterian’ means. It comes from the Greek word ‘presbyteroi’ which simply means ‘elders’. Literally then, it means that we are a church led by elders. The members of our church choose mature and godly men to be their elders and pastors and these men are responsible for the teaching and pastoral care of the church.
We are part of a family of churches called Westminster Presbyterian Church, which has 9 churches in Western Australia and several in the Eastern States. Each church is governed by its own elders and pastor but we support our sister churches in various ways.
Do you take the Bible seriously?
We would proudly accept being called a Bible-believing church, or an evangelical church (a church based on the gospel, the good news about Jesus). We try to base all that we do on the Bible, which we believe is the living word of the living God. This means that the sermons at All Nations always closely follow a Biblical text and our usual practice is to work our way through an entire Bible book rather than choosing topics.
If you are interested in our other beliefs which are taken from the Bible, click here.
The Bible translation we commonly use is the English Standard Version (ESV), though any mainstream Bible translation is perfectly acceptable. If you want to find out why we do not use the King James Version (KJV) exclusively, the articles here might interest you.
What is your stance on baptism?
We hold to infant baptism, believing that the children of believers should receive the sign of the family of God. But we are happy for you to hold to believer’s baptism and still be a part of our church. Baptism is so often something that needlessly divides Christians and All Nations is happy to accept those who in good conscience have a differing view from our official belief.
Do I need to become a member if I attend All Nations?
We never force anyone to become a member of our church. However, if you have been part of our church for a while and this is your regular family of believers, why not become a member? The Bible tells us church is important and commitment to the church is encouraged. We hold regular membership classes which explain what membership is and what we stand for as a church.
Why are you based in the middle of the city?
Being in the city means a little inconvenience compared to being a suburban church, such as having no parking lot of our own. But we are a church trying to connect with migrants and international students, and the CBD is the place where you find the greatest diversity of culture in Perth. We are easily accessible by train or bus for those without their own car.