Editor’s Note: The following is an update from Rev. Antonio Coppola on his work and ministry in South Africa. He has written several articles for the Heidelblog and we have published several of his church-planting updates from Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church, which you can find here. We hope you will join us in praying for Rev. Coppola and the spread of the Reformed confession in South Africa.
It’s our 5th Birthday!
This past Sunday, the 1st September, we celebrated five years since our first worship service was held. We give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness to us, in building his church slowly but surely, by his Word and Spirit. Thank you for standing by us, for praying for us, encouraging us and supporting us all these years, we are thankful for you!
Farewell, Brendan
At the end of June, we bade farewell to our much-loved intern, Brendan Stamper. Brendan arrived at Covenant Waterfall in September 2022, as a graduate from Westminster Seminary California. During his near two year stay with us, he faithfully served the church in the children’s ministry, outreach work, discipleship and through preaching and teaching. He was a wonderful blessing to our church community and he will be greatly missed!
New Members
We recently welcomed in seven new people into membership. They all completed a five week long membership class, and it has been great to get to know each one of them. We are grateful to the Lord who has added them to our growing community.
Church Home Group
I took over the mid-week discipleship group that Brendan had been leading while he was with us. We have started to go through the key doctrines of the Christian faith, using the Westminster Confession of Faith as our guide.
Antonio’s Move to Pretoria
My big news is that I will be stepping down as pastor of Covenant Waterfall and campus manager of Mukhanyo Durban at the end of this year. I have recently been appointed as the Academic Dean of Mukhanyo Theological College, effective from January 2025. This means that I will need to relocate to Pretoria, our nation’s capital city, where our main campus is. Mukhanyo is one of the few confessionally Reformed Bible colleges in South Africa, and is one of the largest in the southern African region. I also plan on starting my PhD studies from next year, which my new role will require me to do.
I am obviously sad to be leaving Covenant Waterfall, having spent the past seven years establishing the church plant. It has been a joy and a privilege to minister God’s Word week in and week out, to get to pastor God’s people, and see Christ’s gospel truly transform lives. At the same time, I am grateful and excited for this new opportunity to serve Christ’s church in a different way. I plan to be involved in a Reformed congregation in Pretoria, and to continue to serve my denomination, the Presbyterian and Reformed Church of South Africa (PARC-SA).
Please pray especially for the future of Covenant Waterfall during this time of transition. A prospective new pastor and his family will be visiting us later this month. Please pray that the Lord will provide the right under-shepherd for his church and that faithful gospel ministry will continue at this congregation for many more years to come. Please also pray for me as I transition into my new role in Pretoria.
God bless,
Antonio Coppola, Pastor of Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church.
Church website: https://covenantwaterfall.co.za/
Mukhanyo website: www.mukhanyo.ac.za
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