Outline of our History
The story of North End Church is the story of a gracious God using ordinary people to see the good news of Jesus Christ go out into Te Awamutu and surrounding areas.
Rosetown Community Church was established by ACTS Churches NZ (formerly The Apostolic Church Movement of New Zealand) in 1985 when astor Brian & Hannah Tamaki came from Tokoroa to minister in Te Awamutu. After holding church meetings in various local venues, the church grew to a size that required our current facility to be built in 1988 to serve the needs of the church & the local community. Out of this community focus, a Counselling Centre was also established at this location.
In 2002 in response to a conviction that God was redirecting their ministry, Pastor Andrew and Judy Vossen agreed to come & pastor the church. They moved with their family from Taranaki where they had spent 10 years planting churches in Stratford & Hawera.
In 2004 & again in 2005 the leaders of this church made a bold decision to unite with two other local churches & to begin working together from this location in closer association & unity. (Liberty Fellowship an Independent Church led by Pastor Terry & Gloria Donovan) & (The Church @ Te Awamutu ex New Life Church led by Pastor Gary & Leigh Veale) The motivation for this move was the desire to be more effective as a church in our community through the pursuit of the prayer for unity that Jesus prayed prior to his crucifixion…
John 17:21 I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you & you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.
This decision created huge benefits for the three churches & the ministries we are involved in locally & internationally. We were able to accomplish many things together that we never could have achieved as individual churches.
It also created many challenges that required a lot of patience, understanding & adjustment from our members, teams & leaders. Although the journey has had its struggles, we are glad to have walked together in this way & we remain committed to & excited about where God is taking us in the future. We feel very privileged to have been used by God to accomplish something quite unique in Te Awamutu and New Zealand.
Our Senior Pastor Andrew Vossen continues his long & valued association with ACTS Churches NZ www.apostolic.org.nz/ & the church also links closely with Pastor Nick Klinkenberg (Vision Churches International) http://www.visionchurches.com/
Our Assistant Pastor, Anthony Campbell was commissioned as a pastor with ACTS Churches NZ in October 2008 & also works locally at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
Gary Veale is no longer involved in church leadership but remains an active member of this church & ministers through preaching & mostly in areas of local evangelism.
Terry Donovan has recently chosen to end his association with North End Church.