Latest Report from Redemption House
October 20th, 2026Here is a report from Ted & Kylie Evans about their future ministry.
TIME FOR AN UPDATE
You might have seen parts of our journey at Redemption House over the
past few years.
You might have seen that we went to the Supreme Court because of thechurch on our property.
For clarity, nothing we did broke the law. We discovered, the hard
way, that our zone, whilst silent on the position of a place of
worship, has been determined as not allowing a place of worship to
operate.
This journey has taken a number of years, not to mention thousands of
prayers and dollars in legal fees.
Within 30 minutes of us, approximately 15 other places of worship
exist; the greater majority of these being different religions to us.
All of these have been approved by their local council –
unfortunately, a different council zone to ours.
Same zone.
Same general use: a place of worship.
Same property type: farmland.
Different council.
Different rules.
Different result.
It’s been a challenging journey, but our faith has been strengthened
the whole way along.
When we started the church, it wasn’t as a ‘send out’ from another church.
We didn’t have a marketing plan.
We didn’t have $$$ behind us to buy interest from the community.
We didn’t have special interest meetings.
We didn’t have a building.We didn’t have a 10 point plan for success.
We had our home.
We had a couple of friends that were sharing lunch and communion with
us each week – Acts 2.42.
We had a journey of discovery that we had been on having left the
corporate church (great if you’re still there – it has a place).
After simply having people over for lunch, week after week, and people
inviting their friends and bringingtheir kids, we kept adding tables.
Our motto was simple – there is room for you at the table.
So much of what Jesus did was either at a table, on the way to a table
or coming from a table.
This hasn’t changed.
There are three particular hall marks of our church, things that we
haven’t pushed or legalised, but rather, things that have breathed
life into people.
– Worship that is not interrupted
– Shared lunch or dinner
– Communion every week – not negotiable.
Oh, and there are no paid staff.
No fringe benefits.
No staff credit cards for coffee catch ups.
We pay out of our own pocket.
Our ‘preaching’ and communion roster isn’t saved for the ‘special’
ones, or those that are on pedestals. Almost everyone in our church
family has either preached or shared communion at some point in time –
even the children.
And speaking of the children, much to the dismay of many, we chose not
to have a kids church ‘program’. Children are raised in the church,
with the parents or with other children, watching and participating in
the service. Children can be noisy – but so can adults that chat with
the person next to them or forget to turn the volume down when they
start scrolling on social media.
“You’ll lose people if you don’t have a program for the kids.”
Then, you weren’t supposed to be part of our family.
We don’t segregate our children.We raise them.
We disciple them.
We love them.
We embrace them.
We train them.
We include them.
And our families are stronger for it.
Our teenagers meet in a busy public cafe every Monday and loudly and
proudly study their bible. They joke, they laugh, they pray, and they
put their phones away. And every week, the cafe staff thank us for
coming and ask what we talked about that night.
Our teenagers aren’t developing strong jumping skills in a darkened room
and learning to be moved by music and strobe lights.
They are learning the word of God, how to apply it to their lives and
how to live biblically in a very ungodly world.
And they are learning to share the word of God and have an answer
ready for their faith.
The Community Garden that started with 4 raised garden beds is now
larger than most house blocks and feeds people every week.
It also helps people be active as they tend the garden, which benefits
their mental, physical, and spiritual health. There is no manager,
everyone participates and adds their bit.
But here’s the current challenge.
When the Supreme Court made their decison that we did not fit in thezone for the Adelaide Plains Council, we were given an official date
by which we need to cease operating as a place of worship on our farm.
In our shed. That you can’t see from the road. Behind a 10ft fence.
And so, by the 27th of January, 2027, we need to find a new location.
This isn’t as easy as you might think.
It’s not impossible, as we know that with God, all things are possible.
Here’s the other thing.
We could close the church.
Let it dissolve and encourage the people to go elsewhere.
You’ve done your best, you’ve had a good innings.
Just let it go…
That’s an easy statement to make…if you are a transactional person.
If you’ve only ever been hired and fired or resigned.
It’s like saying, your kids are old enough now, let them go.
They will be fine.
Don’t worry.
Just shut the doors.
Redemption House doesn’t work like that.
Redemption House is family.
It’s not something we just do or go to.
It’s part of who we are.
No, it’s not our identity.
But it is part of us
You don’t just leave your family when times get tough.
You don’t walk out and say, sorry, I tried, it didn’t work.
You don’t stop thinking about the people, the children, the seniors.
You don’t stop caring and investing, just because this season is difficult.
So, we’re not going anywhere.At least, the church isn’t.
The farm is staying where it is and we will have a large barn that we
need to find a new use for.
But the Church.
Redemption House Church.
The Church is strong and Jesus Himself said that He would build His
church and the gates of hell would not prevail.
So, we will continue to look for a new location.
Jesus didn’t give up when He was on the cross.
We won’t be giving up because we are no longer (after January) able to
meet on a Sunday on our property.
Is this challenging? Yes.
We love having the church at the farm.
We love the impact that it has on families and individuals.
We love seeing the growth and the relationships that are forged weekly.
So stay tuned.
Keep praying.
And, if you know a venue that would like to have a fabulous group of people every week next year, let us know.
We are Redemption House!