Maroubra surfers church

About

Maroubra Surfers Church

We’re a gathering of Maroubra surfers who are finding out more about living for Jesus. From as far away as Brazil, England, Bali, Japan & California, visitors from other areas also meet with us.

Steve’s Family

Rev Steve Bligh is the full time Minister of Maroubra Surfers Church. He has been married to Fiona since 1981. He has two married sons who surf, and a daughter who teaches locally.

“Steve and Fiona Bligh”

Our family is local. Steve was born in England, living there until his family sailed here when he was 7. He then lived in a migrant hostel, then north west Sydney, before arriving in Maroubra in 1975. Fiona & the kids are all Maroubra born & bred. Once Steve became an ordained Anglican Minister in 1993, the Bligh's have bounced in & out of da Bra depending on where church ministry took them. Since 2007, Steve & Fiona are back for good.

Leadership, Management & Finances

Steve leads a small volunteer team of locals. This is the crew that does our day to day regular activities. These include Bible & prayer times, hospitality, one on ones, community service, & surf coaching. Recruiting, training, & deploying locals is a constant feature of Steve’s leadership.

Church Army Australia are our administrators. They help us look after financial management & insurance. Church Army also provides encouragement, coaching, training, professional development, & substantial funding.

Christian Surfers Australia are our surf mission partners. They also provide encouragement, along with accountability, strategizing, training, the Safety Policy, & surfing insurance.

The South Sydney Regional Council of the Anglican Church provides funding, professional development, training opportunities… & encouragement!

Additionally, Steve has an Advisory Board. These are experienced people, from a range of churches & professional backgrounds, who help Steve to strategise, & to advise on implementing important actions.

Financially, 2009 is the final year of seed funding. This funding has been graciously given by Church Army Australia & the South Sydney Regional Council. Additionally, we have several supporter churches that provide finances, prayer & encouragement. Importantly, Steve raises finances through a range of supporters- from outside & within the Christian community- supporters who believe that Maroubra Surfers Church is benefiting the men, women, & children of the Maroubra surfing community & beyond.

History:

During the 1970’s, a crew of local surfers did surf mission, made some surf movies, & were a great bunch of guys n girls. These were the crew that Steve had as good Christian friends, together with surfers from the Northside.  

 

"Steve Bligh & Bob Brown at an early leaders gathering, 1979”

As a young university student, Steve was involved as a newcomer to Maroubra in the mid 70s. In addition to the uni surf contests, he competed in the short-lived Bay Surfers Association, then Maroubra Boardriders. He made many friends through competing, most of whom were happy to beat him. For a few years, Steve lived with surfing mates up at Bronte. Competing & travelling with the Bronte crew furthered his network of surfing mates beyond Maroubra.  

Boosted by the 1979 Billy Graham Crusade, a strong network of Christian surfers emerged. At first, these were the Southside & Cronulla groups. Soon afterwards, Christian Surfers Australia formed, involving surfing communities from all around our nation. Steve led Maroubra Christian Surfers during those early years.  

“The core team of Maroubra Christian Surfers, 1983”

Still involved with Christian Surfers, Steve taught at Randwick Boy’s High for 8 years, then worked as the Youth Minister at Maroubra Anglican Church. After 4 years at Moore Theological College, Steve worked in the churches of Kiama, Bondi Beach, Uni NSW, then North Ryde.  

During this period, local surf mission continued through Maroubra Christian Surfers, led by surfers such as John Cleary, Wayne Hilliar, Evan Burns, Denis Smith, Daland Proudfoot, & Dannie Boyd.

In 1999, Steve decided to take a risk & plant a self-funded surfers church called “City Beaches Surfers Church”. In the end, it wasn’t financially viable, & became a huge stress on the Bligh family. Yet, a small house church continued, led by a former Christian Surfers leader. There, at Dannie & Daans’, the gathering grew, then really became seriously crowded. This was when Jai was in prison & subsequently released. During this time, Steve would travel from North Ryde Anglican Church, back to Maroubra- helping to teach the Bible at the house church, do pastoral care, & continue with Maroubra Surfers Association.  

By 2007, Church Army Australia enabled Steve to move back to Maroubra full time. This was to have another go at focusing his efforts on getting Surfers Church viable again, following through on the surf mission that God was moving & motivating.   Now in our third year, Maroubra Surfers Church is still developing. It may seem glamorous, but it’s not been easy. There’s still much ahead of us. If you’d like to connect up, then come along to one of our gatherings. Or simply call Steve on 0408 804 038, or email him at steve@maroubrasurferschurch.org.au, or… send him a snail mail letter at PO Box 4083, South Maroubra, NSW, 2035.