Meet the team
David Toscano
Ministry Team Leader
David joined Northern in 2017. For most of the last 20 years, David has been pastoring in various church settings throughout Queensland and was drawn to Northern and is amazing work in and for the community.
A lover of coffee and chaos theory, David moved to Melbourne with his wife Mary and their Weimaraner – Cara, with a desire to continue and develop the transformative work of Northern in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne.
Samantha Barlow
Pastor & CareWorks Executive Officer
Samantha moved to Melbourne to join the team at Northern and CareWorks in March 2020. Samantha has been in pastoral ministry for 12 years, most recently leading a church plant in the ACT. Alongside her pastoral work, Sam has held positions in various community organisations, keen to see God at work in all situations. She loves learning, reading and spending time outdoors. Sam is married to Gregory, with a beautiful daughter, Elizabeth.
Our mission, vision, commitments, & values
Our mission
As Spirit-led followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to live life well through outworking the transformative power of the Good News.
Our vision
Radiating out from our community and residential centre in the city of Darebin, Northern Community Church of Christ will be a faithful Christ-centred community, who seek to live life well for the benefit and blessing of the community and world in which we live.
Our commitments
As the Northern Community Church of Christ,
- We are committed to being transformed by the Spirit of God as we follow Jesus;
- We are committed to entering into broken and hurting situations and stories of life in order to bring God’s Good News of hope and help;
- We are committed to caring for the poor and marginalised;
- We are committed to supporting those held captive by their past and present, for a better future;
- We are committed to being a blessing in our world, locally and globally;
- We are committed to bringing glory to God through the way we live.
Our values
- Developing Community
- Deepening Spirituality
- Demonstrating Compassion
Churches of Christ in Australia
Northern Community Church of Christ is a small representation of a bigger picture.
The Churches of Christ movement consists of around three hundred congregations and other affiliated organisations across five State bodies, each following teachings of the New Testament and the centrality of Jesus Christ since the beginnings of the nineteenth century’s movement.
Churches of Christ was born out of a 19th-century international movement often referred to as the Restoration Movement.
The heart of this movement was to abandon denominationalism and follow the New Testament and its central priority on Christ. We rally around this simple plea: In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things love.
The Australian pioneers of Churches of Christ applied this founding identity to an Australian context, forming a lay movement to make Christ-centred communities centred in a local context.
Constant shifts in society makes models of disciple-making dynamic and varied, and we find ourselves missionaries in our own backyards. Together we pursue the mission to share the good news of Jesus in ways that make sense for Australian people.
Churches of Christ are characterised by their diversity of expression in church life. The following characteristics tend to be expressed in the culture, values and practices in Churches of Christ Churches:
- A concern for Christian Unity
- A commitment to Evangelism and Mission
- An emphasis on the centrality of the New Testament
- A simple Confession of Faith
- Believers’ Baptism
- Communion
- Local church autonomy
- Collaborative leadership
- Diversity/Freedom/Liberty
Northern Community Church of Christ
81 High Street, Preston VIC 3072
Phone 03 9484 4788