Introduction
It would be a wonderful thing to see all congregation members at St Phil's personally involved in missions in addition to our own Church ministries.
Our aim as a church is to support missions that are working in different areas, addressing appropriate needs. Some of the work we support includes:
Ministries in the Word of God: Church pastors, Scripture in schools, University student ministry, Theological education, Regional ministry.
Helping those less fortunate than ourselves: Poverty, Homelessness, Building hospitals, libraries, AIDS education.
We share the mission work of many agencies and focus groups in many different ways during our services such as videos, prayer and visitors from that particular mission. Our model of missions giving for the past 9 years has been aimed at connecting people more personally to the prayerful and financial support of missions.
As a church, we budget from our general fund for our CMS missionaries (as CMS is the key mission agency for the Sydney Anglican Diocese), and for our school Scripture costs (staffing and equipment).For all other missions, different people from our congregations and staff team advocate and communicate with different missions groups to raise awareness and funds for their work.Through this more personal approach, we have seen an increase in the overall financial support for missions.Over these past years we have continued to see this steady increase in Church budgeted giving (to CMS and Scripture teaching) and in personal mission support. This personal support includes our Thanks Giving service and other direct personal contributions throughout the year. Each year this equates to around 10% of our total budget as a Church, although many more contributions are given that do not go through our church accounts and cannot be tracked by us.
Read on as we outline each mission agency, how we support them and how we have financially supported them over the past year. Please consider:
- Praying for these missions regularly
- Subscribing personally to their prayer update emails.
- Seeing if you are able to form a personal relationship with at least one of them.
You can always give through the Church, but donating directly to missions quite often brings a deeper commitment. We encourage this.
Many Church members give generously year after year and we will never know how much. But we do know that it is happening! If you are one of those people, I want to thank you for being a great example of thoughtful and generous support to those who have gone out to share the Good News with others.
Bruce Stanley, Rector.
Local Missions
Scripture in Schools, Special Religious Education (SRE)
SRE in Eastwood Public School and Ermington Public School
Type of mission work: Teaching the Bible
We send a team of 7 teachers to teach the Bible to students from Kindergarten to year 12 at our local public schools: Eastwood, Ermington West, Rydalmere East, Rydalmere, Cheltenham Girls High and Epping Boys High.
Financial support in 2022: $24,405
The full cost to our Church for this ministry is $30,620 per year.
Many donations are received from members through our tax-deductible fund, which is available for gifts to this ministry- details are on our website.
Contact Person: Jason Smith
SRE in Marsden High School
Type of mission work: Teaching the Bible
We financially support a 3 day per week position to teach the Bible to students in years 7 to 10 at Marsden High school. They also run a lunchtime group. Our Church is represented on the board overseeing the teaching material and employment of the teacher.
Financial support in 2022: $8,919
A tax-deductible fund has been set up by the Marsden SRE board for contributions - flyers are available at church.
Contact Person: Yvonne Hall
In the Community
Christian Community Aid (CCA)
Type of mission work: Social work, financial assistance.
CCA have been a part of the Eastwood community since 1965. They assist people in need in our local community, especially the elderly and youth. They have a large network of volunteers and some of our church members volunteer with the work they do.
Financial support in 2022: $1,621
Contact Person: Mike Lum
Website: www.ccas.org.au
Anglicare
Type of mission work: Social work, financial assistance
Anglicare was an organisation originally established by the Sydney Anglican Diocese in 1888.They are now a nation wide organisation who assist people in need in our communities. Every year, we support the Winter appeal and the Christmas Toys and Tucker appeal, by encouraging members to bring in food and toys and gifts of cash to pass on to Anglicare. They then distribute these to people in need in our local communities in Sydney, Blue Mountains and Illawarra areas.
Financial support in 2022: approximately $610 + donations of food and toys
Contact Person: Cathy Gravitis
Website: www.anglicare.org.au
National Missions
In Remote Communities
Chinese Christian Mission Australia (CCMA)
Type of mission work: Teaching the Bible
We financially support the work of CCMA who seek to assist mainly Chinese speakers in regional and rural Australia, by bringing them the gospel. They also produce Biblical study materials in Chinese for the benefit of Christians and churches. These resources are available in our Church foyer.
Financial support in 2022: $1,967
Contact Person: Clarence Huin
Website: www.ccma.org.au
Bush Church Aid (BCA)
Type of mission work: Bible teaching, pastoral
BCA works in regional and rural communities in Australia, providing bible teachers, pastors and other support networks to those outside of our main cities. They also have significant reach into indigenous communities in Australia.For the past 10 years, we have supported their work among the youth in Darwin. We have supported BCA through the special money box giving ministry since 2005. Money boxes are available for anyone to take home and participate - just add your loose change each week and return them every 6 months for collection.our link missionaries with BCA are Ben and Alyssa Connelly.
Financial support in 2022: $4,289
Contact Person: Trevor Tattersall
Website: www.bushchurchaid.com.au
Overseas Missions
Serving in Mission (SIM): Malawi, Africa
Type of mission work: Social work, AIDS education
We currently support the work of Mike and Jackie Hammond working with SIM and now based in Australia.One of the key areas of involvement for SIM is educating children and families about HIV/AIDS, as Malawi has one of the highest rates of AIDS in the world. Previous projects we have supported have included the production of educational materials for children. We also now also support Jacky in her role engaged with helping victims of human trafficking.
Financial support in 2022: $2,127
Contact Person: Trevor Strickland
Website: www.sim.org.au
Church Mission Society (CMS): South Asia
Type of mission work: Palliative care, hospital building
We currently support the work of a couple working in South Asia. One is a palliative care doctor, the other is an engineer. They are working with an International Fellowship to provide hospital facilities, trained carers and local church support for the community.
Financial support in 2022: $23,300
Contact Person: Ailsa Wareham
Website: www.cms.org.au/nswact
Compassion Australia
Type of mission work: Social work, Bible teaching
Compassion’s aim is to release children from poverty in the name of Jesus. To do this, they provide funding to local churches in developing countries, and encourage many different programs, including the provision of schooling, food and medical provisions for sponsored children. Sponsoring a Compassion child means that they not only receive the care they need each day, but also receive teaching about Jesus.
St Phil’s currently sponsors 72 children all over the world. Around 50 are from Thailand, our main sponsorship area.
Financial support in 2022: Over $45,000 per year in sponsorship
Contact Person: Bruce Stanley
Website: www.compassion.com.au
Theological Training
Moore Theological College (MTC)
Type of mission work: Teaching the Bible
Moore College is the primary Theological teaching college of the Sydney Anglican Diocese, although people from all over the world study there. The college is located in Newtown.Most of the clergy in Sydney obtained their theological qualifications through Moore. We also have many members who financially support our current students each month, currently giving over $15,000 a year in support.
Financial support in 2022: $2,696 (direct to Moore College)
Contact Person: Yvonne Hall
Website: www.moore.edu.au
Recent Missions Partners
From time to time, opportunities arise for us to support other missions. These are not as high in profile as our main missions support areas, but they are important and valuable opportunities. As a church however, we only have the capacity to fully support a limited number of missions. However when opportunities come along, we do what we can to assist.
Young Life (YL): Ryde
Type of mission work: Youth ministry
Young life is a local mission reaching out to youth in our immediate area. Young Life seek to connect with youth in the community, especially those at risk, then connect them where possible with local churches in the area. We support Young Life by encouraging members to give directly to their work, or by sponsoring children for their annual camps.
Contact Person: Bec Faggion
Website: www.younglife.org.au
Yayasan Cinta Baca
YCB, Indonesia
Type of mission work: Community libraries
YCB establish libraries in poorer communities throughout Indonesia, helping the communities as Christians in areas where the gospel has very few inroads,
Financial support in 2022: $5,000
Contact Person: Kian Holik
Website: www.cintabaca.org/en/home/
AFES
Type of mission work: Student University Ministry
Sandra King and Shawn Chen work with University students in Sydney in a variety of roles.
Financial support in 2022: $2,137
Contact Person: Andrew Glover
Website: https://afes.org.au