Our Story
Epiphany grew out of a vision of a number of Christians who had moved into the new and growing suburb of Hoppers Crossing in 1971 to establishing a local Church wherein they could share with their new neighbours the life-changing message of Jesus.
These first members of Epiphany began meeting in a house for worship and fellowship and by 1974 a dedicated worship centre was constructed. That same year, the name ‘Epiphany’ was adopted in recognition of the funds which had been received from a church in Northcote which had been closed.
Today Epiphany is a diverse faith community, represented by people from a wide range of countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.
Mission and Vision
Epiphany is an evangelical Anglican church in the West of Melbourne with a strong commitment to Biblical preaching, engaging worship, mutual care and respect, cultural diversity and discipleship.
Epiphany Anglican Church is a multicultural congregation, made up of people from over 15 different countries, which welcomes people of all ages and cultural background, who want to come to know Jesus Christ or grow in their faith.
Epiphany Anglican Church not only embraces diversity but encourages and celebrates its diversity as a reflection of the Christian call to oneness in Christ, where “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Our aim is to faithfully proclaim the truth “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”.
Our mission is to:
- Encourage people in their faith
- Equip people for discipleship, and
- Engage in mission both locally and internationally.
Staff Team
Rev. Glenn and Noelene Buijs
Senior Minister and
Kid’s Time Coordinator
Rev. Johnwerni Maryoe
Associate Minister
Rev. Hei Ler
Minister (Karen Congregation)
Samuel Jabro
Student Minister
Edward Buijs
Youth and Young Adults Leader
Policy and Commitments
Respectful Relationships (PVAW)
Epiphany Anglican Church (REACH WEST) is committed to being a church which promotes relationships in which women and men can flourish as people of God. Violence, intimidation, or coercive control in any form, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, verbal, financial or sexual, is never acceptable.
You can be assured that if you tell our staff about violence you are experiencing, we will listen to you, provide spiritual support and, if you want, we can help you contact the appropriate community services for specialist family violence support. We will not disclose your information to anyone else unless children are at risk of harm.
You can also contact the following services for specialised support:
1800 RESPECT - 1800 737 732
Gen West (previously Women's Health West) - 9689 9588
SAFE STEPS - 1800 015 188
Ministry Appointments Policy
Epiphany REACH West has a number of ministry teams that are responsible for the oversight, development and implementation of various ministries within the church. Each of these ministry teams has a designated team leader, appointed by the vicar, who is responsible for encouraging and equipping each of the members of their team to effectively exercise their gifts in the carrying out their respective ministries.
The vicar is responsible for the overall direction of each of the ministry teams, for their governance, reporting, budget and mission
Team leaders are responsible for:
1. The oversight of their team
2. The ongoing training and equipping of team members
3. Budgeting as required
4. Monthly reporting which they do via the vicar, and
5. Discerning and recommending appropriate people to be part of their ministry team. (No team leader is to directly approach anyone to join a ministry team, but is to provide the vicar and pastoral team with recommendations. Upon receiving such recommendations the pastoral team will undertake a process of prayer and discernment as to the suitability of the person being recommended for the proposed ministry. If someone is considered to be called to a particular ministry, the vicar will meet with that person to invite them to take up that ministry position.)
Communication Policy
Epiphany REACH West is committed to communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ in an effective way.
Epiphany REACH West recognises that effective communication requires a strategic approach that ensures that disseminated information is uniform, timely and targeted. In an era of rapid mass communication this is an expectation, not a luxury
Uniformity of message dictates that there needs to be an authorised spokesperson who is the medium of all communication. While Parish Council may have various messages that it wishes to communicate, it is essential that all communication is directed via the vicar or designated spokesperson so as to avoid confusion of messaging.
Timely information is essential, as delayed distribution of information leads to speculation, uncertainty and rumour.
Targeting messages, acknowledges that Epiphany REACH West has multiple audiences; the 8.00am congregation, the 10.00am congregation; the Karen and Zimbabwean congregations and a growing number of young people for whom social media is a part of their daily lives. Apart from these internal stakeholders, Epiphany REACH West seeks to be engaging with the wider community of Hoppers Crossing and surrounding suburbs, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne; its national and international partners ABM, AOA and CMS. Each of these target audiences require different information meaning that the mediums used to maintain effective communication will be varied and sometimes complex.
