Christ’s Pieces (XP) is an intentional Christian community based in Brisbane’s western suburbs, 20km west of Brisbane city. While we go deep with fortnightly ‘Open Book‘ studies, and love to share meals and stories at bi-monthly ‘Open Table‘ dinners, the life-blood of our community is the Sunday weekly gatherings of ‘Quarry Church‘ here.

We have a flat/shared leadership structure seeking a unity-in-diversity, however the best port of first call is Noel Payne (0412 156 772; grassynoel(at)gmail.com).

Check the “vision” side-bar for upcoming events.

XP is a simple response to a conviction that grew in its founders (Nik & Dave Benson, who remain committed travel companions though they scooted off to the UK mid 2020) since studying at Regent College (Vancouver) in 2008. When the church becomes culturally captive, and the surrounding society is post-Christian in attitude but pre-Christian in understanding, who would Christ have us be for him today?

As Charles Ringma explains, this is the challenge of re-evangelising the first-world.

There is no place for nostalgia, future escapism, or easy answers. Instead, we must recover the grand narrative of God’s mission and our place therein. We must overcome dualisms of church and world, clergy and laity, sacred and secular, faith and work. We must learn to lament and rejoice with new and rich practices that orient us to the inbreaking reign of God. And we must drink from deep wells that re-form us as Christ-bearers in confused times.

In our language,

XP is a peace-full (shalom) place to deepen, share, and imagine how God would have us follow Him at today’s cultural cross-road.

For more on our DNA and broadly orthodox beliefs as an organic fellowship associated with Queensland Baptist’s “Mission to Queensland“, see here. And for a taste of the stories celebrating God’s unfolding call on our community since 2015, see here. Click the collage below for a deep-dive into the life-giving forces and gifts of grace from God that makes Christ’s Pieces what it is, emerging from a 2020 process of ‘Appreciative Inquiry‘. Finally, for a window into our prayerful dream for the future of Christ’s Pieces, see here.

Each element of Christ’s Pieces has some preparation, a minimalist staff to help us ‘stumble onward rejoicing’ and reform our practices to seek first God’s peaceful reign:

Open Book | Read the relevant chapters of the feature book, and focus in on the set question to discuss that night.

Open Table | Think of a meaningful personal story/experience that is sparked in you by the night’s theme.

Quarry | Wait on the Lord during the week, dwelling in the upcoming liturgy and related Scriptures, sharing on Sunday what he gave you for the group as a whole.

Praxis | How would you answer the big question for that day, and what implications does this have for how you follow Christ today? Perhaps bring some stimulus material to help us each discern faithful action in response.

Check each page for more information, and to see what’s the plan with food/supper. Generally we have a ‘soft start’ (coffee, conversations) for the night events at 6:30pm, but focus in by 7pm sharp.

Contact us if you have any questions. All are welcome, whether for one night, one XP element, or all.

(Art by Deb Mostert … “stumbling onward rejoicing”.)