Metro Christian Church founder and pastor says understanding grace the key to finding peace and freedom

The man who has heard it all from thousands of Gold Coasters in the past 25 years reveals how people can find peace and freedom from their struggles.

Founder of Metro Christian Church, Garry McDonald, has a message of grace and love for the city.

PEOPLE on the Gold Coast need to understand grace and how much they are loved if they are to break free from addictions, brokenness and other struggles.

That’s the view of Garry McDonald, who has probably seen and heard it all from the thousands of people — many of them desperate — who have turned to him for help in his past 25 years as a pastor on the Coast.

His mission now is to get this message of grace through to locals, particularly young people.

The founder of Metro Christian Church — known to most as ‘Garry Mac’ — said he had seen tens of thousands of people find wholeness when they understood they were forgiven and loved by God

Founder of Metro Christian Church, Garry McDonald, has seen the Gold Coast’s population double in the past 25 years and with that had come a doubling of social issues.

“I am convinced that this is the key to people finding peace — no matter what they are going through or what they have done,” he said

“If they can understand the message of grace — that they are loved exactly where they are — they will find freedom.”

Garry clearly walks his talk and carries a tangible sense of calm and wholeness, which must hold him in good stead when he’s approached by people in distress.

“It’s interesting. The central message of love and grace always strips away fear,” he said. “I’ve lost count of how many people have started to open up and speak about their stuff for the first time because of it.”

WHY MILLENNIALS ON THE GOLD COAST ARE GOING BACK TO CHURCH:

Garry and has been pastoring on the Gold Coast since 1993 and he and his wife, Kasey, founded Metro Church in 2006.

The church is known for its vibey music, strong sense of community and it resonates with locals seeking meaning and not ‘religion’. It recently moved from Bundall to Varsity Lakes to accommodate more people.

Metro’s calm, humble leader has a passion for the Gold Coast and its people, believing that the city has matured in the past 25 years and that it has a great future.

Founder of Metro Christian Church, Garry McDonald, has seen the Gold Coast’s population double in the past 25 years and with that had come a doubling of social issues.

“The Gold Coast has grown up, become more economically sound and stopped being as fast and loose as it was,” he said. “We still have our specific culture as a tourism destination and this makes it a lovely place of refreshing.”

Garry has also seen the city’s population double in the past 25 years and he said with that had come a doubling of social issues — something that he doesn’t shy away from.

He and his team choose to tackle some of these through pastoral care and by working with a trusted, broad network of social services on the Gold Coast.

“In the past 25 years, I’ve also seen a proliferation of churches on the Gold Coast, as part of the global growth of charismatic or Pentecostal Christianity,” he said.

“I’m excited by the stats which show that about 52 per cent of the Australian population identify as Christians and that although 30 per cent say they are non-religious, they are not God haters.”

It’s these people and others that Garry would like to reach with the message that they don’t have to meet certain criteria or to perform to find God and peace.

“My mission in life is to get this monkey of performance off people’s backs and for them to know they are loved by Him — no matter what,” he said.