Dr Mark Tronson preaching - CoolyRocksOn Church Service
The CoolyRocksOn nostalgic Rock 'n Roll Festival held in Coolangatta (Gold Coast) during the entire Queens Birthday 7 day week culminating on Mon 11 June with 115,000 visitors (competing with the numbers at the April Gold Coast Commonwealth Games) is gearing up for another remarkable music and vintage car festival.
Only six weeks away, one of the courtesies of the organisers has been the Sunday morning CoolyRocksOn Church Service.
8 years ago the Anglican church who ran it closed (asbestos). The church service fell into abeyance, three years later a CoolyRocksOn board member (a taxi driver) who was bringing Rev Mark and Delma Tronson home from the airport after another mission, asked Rev Mark to resurrect it.
The then Festival Director met with Rev Mark Tronson and it was given the green light. It was held in a marquee. An amazing story. Bill Parr from the local Baptist Church helped on the day greeting people and for the first year 2014 played the key board.
The marquee was packed. The only advertising were the two lines in the CoolyRocksOn program booklet. Two Christian young writers lead the singing and the following year Ken Harris and his Son Chasers band became the CoolyRocksOn Church Service band each year since.
CoolyRocksOn Church Service, the Sun Chases Band
A fixture
The following years saw the CoolyRocksOn Church Service continue to burst at the seams as people were coming from all over Australia for the Rock 'n Roll festival.
They came from Perth, Tasmania, Melbourne, Country Victoria, Canberra, Sydney, Regional New South Wales, Brisbane, regional Queensland, Darwin and up and down the Gold Coast.
This was enormous internal stress upon Rev Mark Tronson in seeing it all come to fruition each year - and he felt it was time to pas it on. The CoolyRocksOn congregation spoke very highly and enthusiastically of the band, the nature of the festival and the CoolyRocksOn Church Service, and Dr Tronson's evangelistic preaching.
Rev Mark Tronson said it was time - after 4 years. In his 67th year he has been reducing his ministry load. His young writer ministry in conjunction with Christian Today has seen a number of changes to reduce his work load and in September the Kiwi young writers are becoming independent from Australia's young writer ministry.
CoolyRocksOn Church Service congregation
Twin Towns Uniting
Mark and Delma Tronson met with the (Coolangatta) Twin Towns Uniting Church minister the Rev Marian Zaunbrecker on Thursday 12 April having rang Marian four weeks previously. A date after Easter was found to meet.
The discussions were delightful and now Twin Towns Uniting will be running the 2018 CoolyRocksOn Church Service and retaining Ken Harris and his Son Chasers Band.
The church is in the centre of the CoolyRocksOn festivities situated behind the Coolangatta Post Office with significant facilities and very large signage.
The South Gold Coast Tourism office in Coolangatta who run the CoolyRocksOn Festival have recognised Rev Mark Tronson for his four years resurrecting and running the CoolyRocksOn Church Service.
2018 CoolyRocksOn Church Service
Twin Towns Uniting Church, Coolangatta
9.00am Service time - simply turn up as in previous years
Sunday 10 June
Ken Harris Sun Chasers Band at the CoolyRocksOn Church Service
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at