Meeting details
Meeting conducted on-site in the Clanalpine Meeting room.
Present: Chris Stretton, Mike Lum, Amanda Haywood, David Mayes, Michael Gold, Lee Beeston, Tse-Ruey Low, Chris Chandler, Naomi Reichardt, Darrel Causbrook, Andrew Glover (invited guest), Rev. Bruce Stanley (chair)
Apologies: Yvonne Hall
Next Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, November 14th at 8pm
Bible Reading
Isaiah 8:19-9:2
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
Isaiah reminds us that our source of wisdom comes from our great God. He has sent us Jesus. He has given us the great light of the world to show us our direction. As a church we come to him in prayer, seeking his guidance as we move forward together.
Year of Evangelism
Granny Smith is next Saturday, October 21st. We will need lots of helpers to volunteer for an hour or two on the day with welcoming and face painting, set up and pack up. Sign-up sheets are out now! We look forward to seeing how God will use this community event for His Kingdom purposes.
Welcoming at our Sunday services also plays a very important part of our evangelism strategy each week and we are excited to see the impact strategic and heartfelt welcoming has been having in our congregations.
Vision 2030
Please pray with us as we plan for the next 7 years of growth, as well as develop a strategic investment and financial plan for Eastwood and Ermington.
Staffing 2024:
We are seeking to increase our staffing levels for 2024, especially among our English pastoral needs and for our growing administration needs across both centres.
Works report
Ermington:
We still await the results of the Development Application submitted to Parramatta Council for a new shade shelter over the new playground (funded by a State government grant).
Internal improvements for the main meeting hall are also being planned over the coming months.
A grant application is being made for the Community Building Partnership grants for the possible installation of a disabled-accessible toilet at St Mark's, along with roofing repairs to the toilet area.
A clean-up day will be held at the Ermington site on Saturday, November 11th from 8am, concluding with lunch - all welcome!
Eastwood:
Construction has commenced on the Eastwood site and is on track as planned. The first progress payment has been made. Please note the car park will be closed until mid-December. Get ready to celebrate the grand opening!!
A glass balustrade infill is planned for the new ramp to provide improved safety. We are awaiting supply.
The small access ramp and awning for the new war memorial hall exit door will be completed soon.
A grant application is being made for the Community Building Partnership grants for the possible installation of a retractable shade shelter on the back of the CMC over the deck.
Bells (Eastwood): UPDATE! Documentation has now been finalised and we will be seeking to lodge the DA this week.
Building Loan update
The loan applied for has been reduced from $330,000 to around $194,350. It is possible that this will decrease further and with your help, it could be reduced to nothing at all! An interest-free loan is a commitment to loan the Parish money for this work over the next 5 years without interest. Interest-free loans would allow us to save a significant amount in repayments simply because we are not needing to pay interest on the loan. We have already received an interest-free loan of $50,000 which will save around $20,000 in interest payments.
If you would like to contribute an interest-free loan, or if you would like to make a tax-deductible gift towards the work, or a general contribution, please contact the wardens directly at wardens@stphils.org.au or speak to your pastor today, or email the office office@stphils.org.au for more information. Some more information will be circulated in the coming weeks. You can also head to our giving page on the website for more details on direct giving...
Giving page
All our giving information for tax-deductible and other giving, including Thanks Giving, can be found on our giving page on our website:
Tax receipts can be issued by the wardens on request. For more information or to request a tax receipt, please email our wardens: wardens@stphils.org.au
Thanks Giving 2024 final report
A total of $72,130.90 was given towards Thank Giving 2024. Our thanks to all who contributed to these projects of staffing, ministry, missions and building work. These funds have now been allocated to their final place as follows:
Building: $28,153.79
Expanding and Improving: $16,930.94
Theological Training: $10,965.47
SRE (Scripture): $8,992.85
AFES $796.05
CCA $1,194.57
CCMA $1,194.57
SIM $2,708.09
Other Mission: $1,194.57
TOTAL: $72,130.90
Finances
Our 2023 budget includes a 12% increase from last year.
Details for online banking can be found on our website here: Giving page
Budget summary 2023 - September year to date:
- Income required:
Year to date: $679,905
Weekly: $17,196 - Current offertory:
Year to date: $658,483
Weekly: $16,884 - Shortfall: $21,422
The current offertory is 96.8% of the budget (a downward trend of 0.6% from last month)
We are always thankful for the generosity of our members. This regular giving enables the daily ministry to continue at St Phil's and St Mark's. We ask all members to be prayerful in their giving, regularly considering how God has equipped them to financially support his work both here and throughout the world.
Other business
Synod summary
The Diocese has provided a summary of Synod decisions and it is worth a read to keep up to date with all that is happening in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Synod summary link.
Correspondence in/out
Request received from the Marsden High School SRE board to increase personal and church-based giving for the work of SRE in Marsden High School. We are investigating how much financial need there currently is and what there will be in 2024 as some costs are set to increase.
Community partnership grants advice received from the Diocese for grant applications.
Prayer
The meeting ended in prayer at 9:35 pm.