Meet the evangelical ‘rock stars’ behind SA’s offbeat churches

Evangelical “rock stars” are pulling big crowds to their unorthodox churches around the state. But who are these new religious leaders?

They’re the faces of some of South Australia’s most modern Christian churches, leading enthusiastic crowds through hip hymns and stimulating sermons.

Over the past decade the movement has grown thanks to creative pastors like Hills Baptist Church’s Nick Van Ruth and Dave Shepherd who have more than quadrupled their fellowship in the last five years or Jake Toogood who opened a church in a coffee shop.

The men and women leading these organisations have been subject to intrigue largely thanks to the media coverage of the infamous Hillsong church.

But inside the walls of these places of worship, scattered across Adelaide in the most unlikely of places, are people looking to connect and pastors wanting to spread the word of Jesus in modern and exciting ways.

While these rock star pastors might do things a little differently, they maintain the message is very much the same.

Here are some of South Australia’s modern-day church pastors.

Jake Toogood, 24, SUNDAY

Nine years ago, Jack Toogood was an atheist. When he was 15 he went along “reluctantly” to a youth event at a church with a friend of his.

“I have never looked back since,” he said.

Mr Toogood is the lead pastor at SUNDAY church, which although only opened in March 2022 continues to see new faces each weekend.

The Mount Barker church also has a pop-up coffee cart every day of the week to bring people together. Mr Toogood signed a contract on Friday to open a permanent coffee shop which is scheduled to open in just a few weeks.

Jake Toogood, 24, Lead Pastor at Sunday church Picture Supplied

“This is important to us because people feel more comfortable inviting someone to a coffee house rather than a church and we want to break down any stigma around Christians or The Church.

“Our model brings church to the people instead of expecting people to come to a church building,” Mr Toogood said.

He did not want Sunday service to be “the be all and end all”.

“Our vision has been to run a coffee house throughout the week, where we can meet people and be in the community while still having our services and other various ministries running throughout the week,” he said.

Mr Toogood believes that there has been a “massive” shift in the way that the church has been encouraging people to worship.

“Church should be fun,” he said.

The latest cultural shift has seen people “crying out for truth” according to Mr Toogood.

“With the rise of social media, people are looking anywhere and everywhere for purpose,” he said.

“The current church needs to be willing and open to change their method to reach people but hold firm to the mission of the church which is to help people develop their understanding of Jesus through biblical teaching,” Mr Toogood said.

Lochie Hogarth, 26, Journey Church

Creative Pastor Lochie Hogarth at Journey Church

Creative Pastor Lochie Hogarth at Journey Church

Lochie Hogarth has been the Creative Pastor at Journey Church for the past three years and has served on the creative team since he was 13.

Journey Church has seen an increase in attendance over the last decade, which Mr Hogarth attributes to the integration of new technologies.

“It’s the same old gospel and message — it’s 2000 years old and hasn’t lost its potency, we just have more tools and avenues available to share it,” he said.

Mr Hogarth said that the church, since it’s inception, has constantly adapted.

“The rise of technology and the globalisation of the world has given the church more tools and more perspective on the sheer scope of our mission and the diversity of methods required to reach diverse people.

“Any church that is flourishing today will be communicating the message of the gospel in a way people can understand and appreciate.”

But despite online church, live music and unconventional places of worship, Mr Hogarth does not feel he has ‘modernised’ the church.

He says he has “intentionally” used what is at his disposal to “build bridges between our culture and the message of Jesus”.

“There is a great discipline in this,” he said, “because you can’t settle for what worked 20 years ago or even three years ago.

“We have embraced new technologies and we’ve sought as much resource as we can to upskill in our craft — especially creatively and in our production departments with online church.

“We live in a loud, distracted world with lots of bright and shiny things, so we want to meet that head on and use whatever we can to share the hope and grace of Jesus.”

Billy Hogarth, 23, Journey Church

Billy Hogarth, 23, Youth Pastor at Journey Church Picture: Supplied

Also at Journey Church is youth pastor, Billy Hogarth said that facilitating church gatherings in a modern way has increased their attendance, especially in young people.

“I attribute it (the increase in attendance) to a deep desire in mankind to find meaning and purpose, partnered with churches globally responding to the need to reach people,” he said.

Mr Hogarth became a youth pastor because he didn’t want to neglect any opportunity he had to be part of someone’s journey with Jesus.

Like Lochie Hogarth, Mr Hogarth “absolutely” thinks there has been a shift towards modern ways of worship.

“Time is always changing the way people engage with content,” he said.

“What is now considered traditional was once considered modern and exciting — time is always changing what’s relevant.”

Mr Hogarth said that they (Journey Church) are always “trying to encourage people to engage in a way that’s relevant and achievable for them.”

While Mr Hogarth doesn’t believe he is intentionally “modernising Church” he is focused on making the message of Jesus accessible for all people.

“If that ends up looking modern, then great — but our context is to always find ways to give people an opportunity to follow Jesus.”

He sees this especially when it comes to the introduction of social media in worship.

“Social media made a huge impact on churches globally,” he said.

“It opened a door to present the love of Jesus in creative and relevant ways. It opened more opportunities for people to collaborate in spreading the gospel than ever before.”

Andrew Begley, 28, Lifepoint Church

Andrew Begley, 28, Youth and Young Adults Pastor at Lifepoint Church Picture: Supplied

Andrew Begley is the youth and young adult pastor at Lifepoint Church.

He was inspired to become a pastor after watching pastors before him make inspirational change in other peoples lives.

Mr Begley said that the way in which churches worship, including their style of music and presentation, is “ever evolving to make it relevant to the current culture”.

“The church has modernised by holding firm to our message, rather than holding firm to our traditions,” Mr Begley said.

“Our message of hope hasn’t changed since the beginning of the church but we don’t hold on too firmly to the various traditions held onto by the church throughout the centuries.”

That being said, Mr Begley has tried to make his services as “down to earth” as possible. He makes the worship at Lifepoint as relevant to real life as possible including its visual presentation and also by the clothes he wears.

“We don’t have many ‘sacred traditions’ but the message of the gospel hasn’t changed,” he said.

He said that the songs sung at Lifepoint “you might find in the Top 10 charts today”.

Seth Behn, 29, Influencers Church

Seth Behn, 29, Youth Pastor at Influencers Church Paradise Campus Picture: Supplied

With a driven desire to help people, Seth Behn became the youth pastor at Influencers Church at Paradise.

“I want to show people that life is worth living, that they have a purpose in this world and that there is a God who passionately loves and cares about them,” he said.

Influencers Church shifted their church model in 2011 and has since seen an explosion of growth, opening six locations and an online church in 2020.

While Mr Behn believes each generation brings their own expression and interpretation of worship, he said that the message has stayed the same.

“We have taken the same powerful message and truths of the message of Jesus and presented it in a way that is relevant and applicable to the next generation and the things they are facing.

“We have done this through creating visual media, digital platforms, music and art that sounds, looks and feels like this generation.

“We have also created modern spaces, facilities and programs for all generations, cultures and seasons of life,” he said.

This shift has seen a “significant growth” in the last few years among the youth.

“There is a great sense of teenagers desiring in person connection and engagement,” Mr Behn said.

Nick Van Ruth, 31, Hills Baptist Church (Aldgate)

Pastor Nick Van Ruth at Hills Baptist Church Aldgate

Nick Van Ruth is the campus pastor at Hills Baptist Church at Aldgate. He was inspired to become a pastor after being the subject of ridicule at high school for being a Christian.

He said the isolation he felt lead him to investigate whether all “this bible stuff” was true.

Now, Mr Van Ruth has “been passionate about helping Christians live out their faith in whatever space they find themselves in — not just in church”.

Hills Baptist Church has seen a rise in attendees from 300 to 1500 over the last five years.

Despite the increasing number of people identifying with “no religion” in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, the pastor doesn’t attribute the astronomical rise in church attendees to any sort of ‘modernisation’ of the church, but rather to “prayer”.

“God (is) working in the lives of people as we’ve prayed for revival in the hills and beyond,” he said.

Worshippers at Hills Baptist Church, Image: supplied.

Mr Van Ruth said he doesn’t make any effort to modernise church, despite introducing Facebook and WhatsApp chats, pub feeds and live music to the churches curriculum.

“I put my effort in showing how the bible is profoundly relevant today as it addresses all of life’s big questions around identity, value, justice, hope and purpose,” he said.

“People are more interested in meaningful connections than the hype of loud music and disco,” he said

“Sometimes connections are made through having fun or community dinners or going to the pub.

“However it might be, people desire to belong to a community and that is part of what we try and facilitate.”

Dave Shepherd, 39, Hills Baptist Church (Verdun)

Senior Pastor Dave Shepherd at Hills Baptist Church Verdun

Dave Shepherd, the senior pastor of the growing Hills Baptist Church at Verdun, grew up Christian but it wasn’t until he had what he would call a “God encounter” did he begin to follow Jesus for himself.

After a decade long career as a high school teacher and coach, Mr Shepherd dedicated himself to the church.

“I really had a heart not only to tell people about Jesus but to encourage them in the living out (of) their Christian faith.”

While some may expect Hills Baptist Church to be inside, well, a church, the congregation actually worships in a school gym.

“Our Sunday’s look a bit different to what some people have grown up with in a traditional church, but our values haven’t shifted and that is what makes us a church,” he said.

“The core of what we do hasn’t changed for 2000 years.”

Worshippers at Hills Baptist Church, Image: supplied.

Mr Shepherd said his team’s mission is “to bring the countercultural message of the Gospel in a culturally revenant way”.

He said that while they sing songs that express the “timeless truths” of the gospel, they do in a way that engages people in the current cultural context which is why they have a live band instead of a traditional organ.

“It also means we use technology to help us … the first century had the Roman roads, we have social media,” he said.

Over the past six years, Hills Baptist has seen “significant growth” in the number of attendees.

Mr Shepherd does not attribute the growth to his methods, but to God’s faithfulness and grace.

Originally published as Meet the evangelical ‘rock stars’ behind SA’s offbeat churches