Throughout 2021 God continued to be gracious and faithful to His people at St Mark’s Ermington. It has been a privilege to gather each Sunday at 8:30am for our traditional prayer book service, and to work towards a new 10am family service.
As a way to reach the Ermington community, an outreach event was held during the Easter weekend, called ‘Easterfest’. We organised a letterbox drop to invite 5,000 households in the area with support from the Ermington and Eastwood congregations. We praise God for the many visitors who came to the church site on the day, along with our Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.
Despite COVID restrictions in the middle of the year, the planning and prayer team continued to meet weekly online. A weekly morning prayer gathering was also held online and members were encouraged to join Sunday services online with St Phil’s.
In God’s kindness, a new family service commenced in November. The idea was a soft launch, called Summertime Church – a relaxed approach to church, allowing anyone to come no matter who they are. Launching the service has been a great joy, with some visitors attending every now and then and our team learning what it takes to start a new service.
With the assistance of both St Phil’s and St Mark’s, we held a Christmas Carols event, to present the hope of the gospel of the Lord Jesus to the community. The event was especially supported by the St Phil’s band, who replicated the music played in the previous week at the St Phil’s event.
As 2021 wrapped up, Robin Kinstead took up a new position at Figtree Anglican Church as senior minister. We are all incredibly grateful for the way God worked in and through the tireless labours of Robin and Sarah, as well as their children Nathaniel and Rebekah. We also give thanks to God for the labours in the Lord of the rest of the planning and prayer team: Chris and Vicki Chandler, Andrew and Lynda Calder, Rebecca Faggion, Anna Vaughn, Chris and Sharon Badman, Reggie and Chris Dissanayake, Josh and Anna Hoole.
We are also incredibly grateful for the gospel partnership between St Phil’s and St Mark’s and for our wardens, parish councillors, and all those who have assisted with the many ministry and gospel opportunities, site maintenance, admin and planning.
Our prayer is that God would continue to grow existing members of St Mark’s in their love for the Lord Jesus, as well as to see many more come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour through His work in and through the people and ministries at Ermington.
Josh and Anna Hoole
Student Ministers