Missions

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 which are working in different areas, addressing appropriate needs.

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, AIDS education.

We feature one of our missions each month, channelling funds raised to that particular ministry. We share in many different ways such as videos, prayer points and visitors from that particular mission.

‘Coins for cakes’ is held on the first Sunday of each month (except during Covid). At the end of the year the amount received is directed to areas needing additional funding.

Several years ago, we changed to a new model for giving so more people could be actively involved. Whereas we used to donate a percentage of our total offertories, now we only budget for our CMS missionaries (CMS is the key mission agency for the Sydney Anglican Diocese). For all other missions, we fundraise each month and encourage personal giving where possible. To our delight we have seen an increase in the overall financial support for missions.

In 2019, the total given to missions exceeded $90,000, not including undisclosed personal giving amounts to organisations. Only around $45,000 of this was directly through our church accounts.

Read on as we outline each mission agency, how we support them and how we have financially supported them over the past year.

Pray for these mission regularly
Subscribe personally to their emails, if possible
See if you are able to form a personal relationship with them

You can always give through the Church, but donating directly to missions quite often brings a deeper commitment.

It may seem, when reviewing our budget, that St Phil's doesn't give much to missions. However, 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 these people, I want to thank you for being such a great example of thoughtful and generous support to folk who have gone to share the Good News with others.

Bruce Stanley, Rector.

Local Missions

Scripture in Schools, Special Religious Education (SRE)

SRE in Eastwood Public School

Type of mission work: teaching the bible
2022 target: $5,000
Contact person: Jason Smith

We send a team of six teachers to teach the Bible to students from Kindergarten to year six at our local public school. A 30 minute lesson once a week.

SRE in Marsden High School

Type of mission work: teaching the bible
2022 target: $5,000
Contact person: Yvonne Hall

We financially support a three day per week position to teach the Bible to students in years seven to ten 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.

SRE in Epping Boys and Cheltenham Girls High Schools

Type of mission work: teaching the Bible
Contact person: Jason Smith

We currently assist in the regular teaching of SRE at Cheltenham Girls and Epping Boys high schools.

SRE in local schools (in the Ermington parish)

Type of mission work: teaching the bible
2022 target: $5,000

We provide teachers and materials for 3 of these 5 schools. West Ryde Anglican Church assist by providing teachers and programs for the other two schools. If you would like to donate directly to our Scripture in schools ministry, head to our giving page for more details.

Evangelism in Universities

Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES)

Type of mission work: teaching the bible
2022 target: $2,000
Contact person: Kian Holik
Website: afes.org.au

We currently support Sandra King as she evangelises, teaches, trains and ministers to students in NSW universities. One of our staff members, Kian Holik, and a 5pm Mandarin congregation member, Shawn Chen, also work alongside AFES in uni outreach and ministries.

In the Community

Christian Community Aid (CCA)

Type of mission work: social work, financial assistance
2022 target: $3,000
Contact person: Mike Lum
Website: ccas.org.au

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.

Anglicare

Type of mission work: social work, financial assistance
Support through donations of food and goods
Contact person: Peter Forbes
Website: anglicare.org.au

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.

National Missions

In Remote Communities

Chinese Christian Mission Australia (CCMA)

Type of mission work: teaching the Bible
2022 target: $3,000
Contact person: Clarence Huin
Website: ccma.org.au

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 the Church foyer.

Bush Church Aid (BCA)

Type of mission work: Bible teaching, pastoral
2022 target: $4,000
Contact person: Trevor Tattersall
Website: bushchurchaid.com.au

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 ten 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 six months for collection.

Overseas Missions

Serving in Mission (SIM): Operations and special projects

Type of missions work: social work, AIDS education
2022 target: $4,000
Contact person: Trevor Strickland
Website: sim.org.au

We currently support the work of Mike and Jackie Hammond. One of their key areas of involvement 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.

Church Mission Society (CMS): South Asia

Type of mission work: palliative care, hospital building
2022 target: $14,000
Contact person: Clare Stretton
Website: cms.org.au/nswact

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.

Compassion Australia

Type of mission work: social work, Bible teaching
Financial support in 2021: over $43,000 per year in sponsorship
Contact person: Bruce Stanley
Website: compassion.com.au

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 78 children all over the world. Around 50 are from Thailand, our main sponsorship area.

Yayasan Cinta Baca (YCB): Indonesia

Type of mission work: social work, educational programs
2022 target: $1,000
Contact person: Kian Holik
Website: cintabaca.org

Cinta Baca is a non-profit community development organisation, focused on empowering neglected communities through literacy. They were first founded and officially registered with the Indonesian government in 2001 and began with village libraries in private homes in the towns around Bogor. In 2004 they opened our office in Bogor and this office also served as an English & Indonesian lending library. Since then Cinta Baca have expanded to serve 10 provinces throughout Indonesia from, as the saying goes, Sabang to Merauke.

Southeast Asia

We also support the work of pioneer in Southeast Asia working with religious and ethnic minorities.

Theological Training

Moore Theological College (MTC)

Type of work: teaching the Bible
2022 target: $1,000
Contact person: Yvonne Hall
Website: moore.edu.au

Moore College is the primary theological teaching college of the Sydney Anglican Diocese, although people form all over the world study there. The college is located in Newtown. Most of the clergy in the Sydney obtained their theological qualifications through Moore.

Currently we have 2 student ministers studying at Moore; Andy Feng and Ningjia Wang. We also continue to support Anna and Josh Hoole who are studying full time at Moore and serving as Student Ministers at St Paul's Cantebury.

If you would like to donate directly to support Anna and Josh, or Ningjia, head to our giving page for more details.

Other Missions Support

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 work: youth ministry
Contact person: Bec Faggion
Website: younglife.org.au

Young Life is a local mission reaching out to youth in our immediate area. Young Life seeks 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.