 | |
| Abbreviation | INC |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1974; 51 years ago (1974) |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Legal status | charity |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, Australia |
| Revenue | $64 million (2023) |
| Expenses | $60 million (2023) |
| Staff | 324FTEs (2023) |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Christian Outreach Centre |
TheInternational Network of Churches (INC), formerlyChristian Outreach Centre (COC), is an Australian network ofPentecostal churches, most of them based inQueensland. It was established in 1974 what is nowCitipointe Church inBrisbane.[1] It is committed to biblicalChristianity, with both theApostles' Creed andNicene Creed as its foundational beliefs.[2]
Clark Taylor was born in Queensland in 1937 and became a farmer with little formal education. After attending aBilly Graham Crusade in Brisbane in 1959, he was "born again", and in 1961 started training inMethodism. He contractedcerebral malaria in 1963, but believed himself to bemiraculously healed byGod in 1967, and during a service atOxley Methodist Church in Brisbane thought he received a message from God telling him to obeyJames 5. Later that year he receivedbaptism in the Holy Spirit on the prayers of anAssembly of God pastor. In January 1968, he became an assistant minister, in charge of St. Paul's Church atUpper Mount Gravatt, and undertook various other duties until his resignation from the Methodist ministry in early 1970.[3]
After a stint with another pastor,[3] Trevor Chandler (who had assistedFrank Houston[a] in New Zealand and moved to Brisbane in 1972),[4] at the Windsor Full Gospel Church, both pastors left to startChristian Life Centre Brisbane 1972.[3] At the end of 1972, Taylor resigned from CLC (which later grew into amegachurch[b]) and spent 18 months in travelling ministry.[3]
Christian Outreach Centre was founded in 1974 in Brisbane by Pastor Clark Taylor. After 26 people had met in the Taylors’ home on 16 June, the following Sunday, 126 people tookholy communion in a rented building, and in October that year the group purchased aSalvation Army property in the southern Brisbane suburb ofWoolloongabba.[3] Three years later, COC had around 1,000 members and further churches were established across Queensland.[1]
In 1978, the organisation became involved in education, and established three schools, in Brisbane (nowCitipointe Christian College),Toowoomba (nowHighlands Christian College), andNambour (Christian Outreach College (Sunshine Coast), laterSuncoast Christian College, situated at the nearby town ofWoombye[8]). In 1980, Victory College in Gympie was founded. It is Gympie's leading P-12 Co-educational Christian School, with over 700 students.[9]Christian Heritage College, atertiary college, was later created as ateachers' college in Brisbane in 1986. It has since expanded into five fields – Business, Education, Liberal Arts/Humanities, Social Sciences and Ministries.[10]
By 1988 the movement had grown within Australia and spread to New Zealand andSolomon Islands. In 2009, Pastor Ashley Schmierer, based inBrighton, England, was elected as International President.[1]
Its registration as anincorporated charitable institution starts in 2000 as Christian Outreach Centre Mansfield and goes through a number of changes of name, with its business name registered as Christian Outreach Centre as of 2022[update].[11] Its status as acharitable institution, since December 2012, is based on two purposes: "Advancing religion", and "Purposes beneficial to the general public that may reasonably be regarded as analogous to, or within the spirit of, any of the other charitable purposes".[12] In the financial year ending June 2021, it obtained around half of its total gross income (nearlyA$27m) from donations and bequests, and nearly 20 per cent (overA$10m) from government grants.[13] It has a large number of business and trading names, relating to its many schools, churches, charities and various businesses.[11]
