Back in 1974 this children’s song was the rallying cry for a new brand of schooling demanded by parents who saw traditional education becoming increasingly secularised and anti-Christian. In response Christian Community Schools, with its emphasis on community and close links with a local church was born under the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit and God’s servants, Rev Bob Frisken, Rev Peter Hester and David Magill. The spark ignited in 1976 with the formation of Christian Community High School, Regents Park with just 13 students and an equal number of hesitant and tentative parents.
The fire took off; new schools commenced at St Marys, Toongabbie, Redeemer, Greenacre, and Pacific Hills. Interstate churches caught the vision from Queensland through to Western Australia and Tasmania and in ten years or so there were over seventy schools in the Christian Community Schools family. But the fire could not be confined to Australia and by the mid-1980s there were demands for this new type of schooling in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Wales to name a few.
Towards the end of the 1990s it was becoming apparent that it was time for CCSL to give way to a new organisation, Christian Schools Australia, to take over the reins; this occurring in 2002. To celebrate the work of Christian Community Schools Ltd Bob Frisken has written a book, ‘It Only Takes a Spark’ which tells the story of God’s blessing and providence over those twenty five plus tumultuous years.
The launch will take place at Morling College, Herring Road Macquarie Park, on Friday 21st October 2011 at 7.00 for 7.30pm; Morling College being the place where Bob Frisken and Peter Hester first received the vision. For catering purposes please email Neville Pollard at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
