The Christian Reformed Church of Cobden is part of a greater network within the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia. Perhaps a question you’re already asking is ‘Reformed from what?’ By no means are we claiming to be a new faith, religion or Christianity. Rather, as Christian Reformed, we are a church that finds its heritage out of the Reformation of the 16th century.

The ‘reform’ of this period brought about a radical return to the church’s original roots of the 1st century – the times of the New Testament. Thus, as part of the Christian Reformed Tradition, we are a church built on scripture alone, Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone and God alone. 

During the 1950s, the Christian Reformed Church of Cobden was established. This was initiated at large by the van Leerdam family. In 1968, after previously holding meetings in family homes, the services began being held at the Cobden Anglican Church on Sunday afternoons. Students and ministers from the Geelong Church and the Reformed Theological College led the services. Afternoon tea was always held at Jozina van Leerdam’s home (or Opoe as she was known to everyone).  The conversation was always around cows and the students had quite an education in dairy farming!

In the early 1970s, a block of land was bought at 103 Curdie Street and later the old betting shed from the Cobden Racecourse was acquired and eventually moved onto the block.  Much work was done to convert a former betting building into a church! 

The opening service was conducted by Rev Keith Warren on June 10th, 1978.  The church continued to be under the care of the Christian Reformed Church of Geelong. 

The years following have seen a combination of called ministers (both home missionary elders and ordained ministers) and visiting ministers. January 4th, 1986, was particularly significant for the church when David Groenenboom was ordained and installed as the first minister.  However, it was not until February 19th, 1994, that the Cobden Church was instituted as a church in its own right – independence was gained. 

Since then, God has been gracious to us as a congregation. We have enjoyed the encouragement and teaching of many other employed and visiting preachers. Recently, we welcomed Anthony van Bemmel and his family to Cobden where he is now serving as home missionary elder.

Fresh out of college, Anthony recently graduated with a Bachelor of Theology after studying for five years at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong. Originally from Perth, he has found the cooler Victorian weather quite an adjustment! Anthony worked five years in civil construction as a pipe layer, operator, form worker, plastic welder and scaffolder. Not considering himself the ‘academic sort’, study and the transition into ministry has been both challenging and exciting. 

Last year, Anthony married Hannah Bedford who is from a farming community northwest of Nhill. Hannah also moved to Geelong for study where she graduated with a Bachelor of Primary Education. In May this year, they were blessed with their first child, Macey. The family is appreciating Cobden, particularly the relaxed country atmosphere and friendly community.

As a part of the Cobden community, the Christian Reformed Church enjoys being involved in numerous programs. Many members are volunteers in Christian Religious Education, Kids Hope and ‘Explorers’ programs. Kids Hope is a mentoring program run at Cobden Primary School where additional support and encouragement is provided to children through one-on-one time. ‘Explorers’ is an after-school program initiated by the Uniting Church where children are given the opportunity to learn Bible stories during fun games, craft activities, food and drink. 

The church also helps to cater for senior citizen luncheons. As well, once a month, the church conducts afternoon services at Lovely Banks, an opportunity to enjoy fellowship with the elderly by singing songs and encouraging each other. Currently, with other churches in the community, we are establishing a LINC program which is intended to assist various needs within the Corangamite Shire – keep an eye out for this in the near future. We are also involved in ecumenical services at Easter and the Spring Festival.

Apart from our endeavour to be active in the community, we are committed to regular gatherings. Every Sunday at 10.30am, we meet for worship services and, twice a month, we gather during the week at a family home. This is a relaxed and informal time of encouragement and friendship. Soon to commence is a young people’s group where we will explore Christianity through the Bible and our own Christian roots. 

While not large in membership, we have a good group of people covering all ages. Our doors are always open to the community and we love to have people join us as we strive to know God and serve Him.  Whether you are a believer or whether you are curious to know a bit more about Jesus, God, or even us as a Church, we would love you to pop in and get to know us. 

For further inquiries feel free to contact: Our Pastor, Anthony van Bemmel on 5595 1185 or email tones.vb@gmail.com or one of our elders, Fred van Leerdam on 0428 334 007 or email webtizedmedia@bigpond.com.

Contributors to this article included Janet van Leerdam,
Fred van Leerdam, Hannah and Anthony van Bemmel