The Mammens received a royal send-off this month when they stepped aside from leadership at TurningPoint Christian Outreach Centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The church community showered the family with gifts and Bev and Neville said it was "very much a celebration".
Read also:
Rhonda and Malcolm Schofield will be leading the church over the next 12 months as interim ministers and Bev said they knew the congregation was "in great hands".
"We've handed the church over healthy and it will go from strength to strength," Neville said.
The couple felt it was time to move on and plan to do itinerant ministry in other countries and support rural and regional churches. They announced their decision to the church in late 2018 and said there had been a "smooth transition".
"We didn't want to leave for the wrong reasons and we wanted to leave at the right time," Bev said.
"We both felt that we were at a high and at a healthy place.
"It was an honour to pastor and lead such an amazing team."
We've handed the church over healthy and it will go from strength to strength.
- Neville Mammen
Neville and Bev have been pastoring at the Gunnedah church since 2007 when then-ministers Roger and Julie Armstrong shifted to Queensland. Neville had been assistant pastor to Roger since 1990 and was ready to took on the role.
The couple and their daughter Clare moved into the church manse and renovated it room by room. They also worked with the church to create a kids' shed, install playground equipment and landscape the church block on South Street.
In the last two years, the church has overseen the installation of a kitchen, outdoor area and a raised community garden in partnership with Homes North.
Homes North received almost $46,000 in late 2017 to create a meeting place for its clients that is independent to tenant housing.
"The vision for the church was always to outreach into the community and along with that was establishing the church as a healthy place to meet," Neville said.
The space is now being utilised by community groups for various activities and is part of a much larger project, which was approved by the council in 2017.
"It's always been a faith project," Neville said.
