Meeting details
Meeting conducted on-site in the Clanalpine Meeting room.
Present: Mike Lum, Amanda Haywood, David Mayes, Michael Gold, Yvonne Hall, Lee Beeston, Tse-Ruey Low, Chris Chandler, Naomi Reichardt, Darrel Causbrook, Andrew Glover (invited guest), Rev. Bruce Stanley (chair)
Apologies: Chris Stretton (at Synod)
Next Parish Council meeting: Tuesday, October 10th at 8pm
Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 4:5-7
5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
A great reminder and encouragement that it is God's power and God's gospel at work in us, among us and through us. Praise God that he is able to use us, his clay vessels, for his great purposes, but pray that we also rely on his power and strength for all things.
Year of Evangelism
Over this past month, we continue to see wonderful things happen during our year of Evangelism.
Indo Day was a great event with many people visiting our community. We also were delighted to welcome visitors to our Thanks Giving service. Refresh followed up on the Evangelism theme last year by speaking about discipleship from John's gospel. And we continue to see new converts and Baptisms among our congregations thanks to God's great work. Granny Smith is the next big evangelism event for us, which will be on Saturday October 21st. We will need lots of helpers to volunteer for an hour or to on the day with welcoming and face painting, set up and pack up. Sign up sheets will be out soon!
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:
Parish Council made a decision in principle to increase our staffing levels next year for pastoral work and administration across both centres. This will include a new position for an Assistant Minister (English services). Half of these increases are to be funded by savings that have been accumulated over the past few years. The rest will be from a usual increase in our budget. Please pray as we put together a detailed budget for next month.
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.
Eastwood:
Construction is planned to commence on the Eastwood site from around September 18th. Please note the car park will be closed from this Friday 15th September.
Glass balustrade infill is planned for the new ramp to provide improved safety.
The new Eastern crash doors of the war memorial hall have been completed. A small ramp will be added for the entry point.
There is some minor work required at our property at 8A Clanwilliam street, but it remains in very good condition and providing a good regular income for other property and staffing needs.
Bells (Eastwood): No update/change this month. DA continues to be prepared. Diocesan approval is required for the next steps.
Building Loan update
It seems we will be able to reduce the need for a $330,000 loan down to a little under $200,000 now. This will significantly reduce repayments. Partly this is due to an interest-free loan from one of our members.
If you would like to contribute an interest-free loan yourself, or if you would like to make a tax-deductible gift towards the work, or a general contribution, please contact the wardens at wardens@stphils.org.au or email the office office@stphils.org.au for more information. (Or speak with them on Sunday). Or head to our giving page on the website for more details...
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 2023
We were excited to reflect on the great Thanks Giving service on September 3. There we saw God's work among all of our congregations and we were very thankful for the generosity of his people. Having raised nearly $70,000 this year, we will be able to put these funds to great gospel use in missions, ministry, staffing and building work.The 2023 giving projects can be found here online.
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 - August year to date:
- Income required:
Year to date: $605,969
Weekly: $17,196 - Current offertory:
Year to date: $590,509
Weekly: $16,872 - Shortfall: $15,460
The current offertory is 97.4% of the budget (a slight downward trend of 0.1% from last month)
We continue to be 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
Correspondence in/out
Nil.
Prayer
The meeting finished in prayer at 10:00 pm.