Justin and Leigh were married in 2004 and have two children, Bella and
Jude. In February 2018 they became the new senior leaders of then
Destiny Church after taking over from Leigh’s parents, Mike and Julie
Smith, who lead it for 27 years.

 

On June 16th 2019, Justin and Leigh felt to change the name of the Church

to Echo Church, to represent and reflect their heart and passion for the

Church they see. Matthew 6:10 has marked them forever. When they started

to believe that Jesus actually meant what He said they began seeing people

healed during every day life, during travel and holidays and also in Church.

 

They are passionate about all believers demonstrating who Jesus is through

kindness and power and their heart for Echo Church is that signs, wonders, miracles and the prophetic would

become a normal part of our life, with a foundation of love, kindness and compassion for all people.

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“One of Leigh’s and my deepest core values is we truly believe that we can do this whole church deal and this Jesus deal really well, while continuing to have amazing relationships with every kind of person. What I have learnt over the years, especially the last 6, is I can be fully convinced in the reality of Jesus and that He is way, way better than I ever realised, while STILL having deep, strong, meaningful relationships with people who believe different from me, because having and showing honour, respect and value doesn’t mean agreement. It can’t be conditional. Or it’s not genuine. Uniformity does not equal unity. Diversity is the ultimate key to unity and us all getting along. I don’t want to be insecure or fearful at differing opinions but actually embrace who people are and embrace their perspectives and be humble enough to listen and even learn something. 

 

So... I’m excited about leading a Church with Leigh. I’m really excited about re-presenting who Jesus is, in an authentic and normal way. Let’s not be intense and weird! As a Church we want to meet practical need, as well as emotional and spiritual need, we want to see families thrive, people come alive and a never ending display of the miraculous. We love people, we love mixing things up and love doing things different... And we fully believe that to go where we haven’t gone before we need to do things we have never done before.” - Justin Box