Awaken Church has had a presence in the Illawarra for over 50 years with locations in the suburbs and city, and more recently the Regent Theatre. Led by Ps. Scott and Rachel Hanzy since 2001, the church recently marked a new season when in 2O18 Gateway City Church, Wollongong and Eternity Church, Canberra combined to become Awaken Church, one church in two locations.
This step was the first in the vision of seeing the Awaken Church culture reproduced in multiple locations. Our dream is to plant churches across Australia so that communities can awaken from their spiritual slumber and taste the goodness and grace of God. Awaken Church is empowered by the Holy Spirit and we seek to place Jesus first in everything we do.
Awaken is committed to seeing lost people found, prodigals come home and communities experience the love and forgiveness of God. It is a church home that welcomes all with a commitment to friendship, community and living out authentic, Christian lives.
You are invited to call Awaken your home, where you can grow in your faith at one of our various locations, join one of our mid-week programs or connect with us online.
Welcome to our family
Pastors Scott and Rachel Hanzy
God’s Presence
The Church
Your World
We believe in One God, living and true; three persons who exist eternally in perfect unity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit for believers, with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
We believe in the authority of the eternal Holy Scripture and it’s divine inspiration, both in the past and for the future.
We believe the Holy Spirit empowers the church for it’s missions in the world.
We believe in the original perfection of creation, the inherent corruptness of humanity through the Fall, the necessity of repentance and restoration by grace and through faith in Christ alone, and the unfortunate eternal separation of the unrepentant from God.
We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the church and ministry to the world.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ: His virgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death, His triumphant resurrection and His ascension to Heaven. We believe in His perpetual intercession on our behalf to the Father, His Second Coming and His eternal Kingdom reign.
We believe in Christ’s leadership of the church through the ascension ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the unity, maturity and growth of the church.
We believe in the justification and sanctification of believers through the finished work of Christ, their security as they remain in Him and their future resurrection in an incorruptible, heavenly body.
We believe in the privilege and responsibility of wise stewardship of all that God has given, including the practice of tithing to the local church.
We believe in the one time baptism by immersion and in the continuous participation of the Lord’s Supper.
We believe the covenant of marriage is a union between a man and a woman who have voluntarily entered into a loving, committed and exclusive relationship for as long as both are alive.
Scott and Rachael Hanzy are the Senior Ministers of Awaken Church. They have been in full-time ministry for over 20 years and remain passionate about building local churches and changing communities. Scott is the visionary leader and key preacher. He is passionate about the Holy Spirit and keeping ‘Pentecost’ alive and well until Christ’s return. Rachael is a passionate woman of God with a desire to see all believers reach their full potential in life. Rachael believes strongly in building the local church. Scott and Rachael have four fantastic sons and three daughters-in-law who all love God and serve His vision.
