Thanks Giving 2022

Our annual Thanks Giving service on September 4th 2022 is an opportunity for all of our congregations to meet together and to give thanks to God for all that he has done among us over the last year.

More than ever, this year we meet together with incredible thanks that God has sustained us through one of the more difficult years we have faced as a community. Last year we were unable to gather in person due to the pandemic, but this year we are happy to be able to gather in person again!

At this service we also take up a special collection for special needs and projects beyond our regular budget as a church. We ask our members to consider how they might be able to give above their regular giving towards these projects.

Last Year...

In 2021, $110,000 was raised and has been used to further the ministry of St Phil's and St Mark's. You can see the details from last year here: Thanks Giving 2021

Here's a summary of how those finances were put to use!

BUILDING: $50,000 went to immediate building needs, allowing the renovation of the Ermington Rectory and the Eastwood toilet block and ramp to begin.

MISSIONS: $22,000 was distributed to missions in a year when giving for many agencies was below their usual levels.

CCA: $3,000 ; CCMA: $3,000 ; SRE (Scirpture): $10,000 ; SIM Aids education program $4,000 ; AFES: $2,000

TRAINING/EVANGELISM: $8,000 went towards assisting in running Alpha courses, a Marriage course, sending people to KYCK youth conference, running Christmas and Easter events, and more will be used in planning for Granny Smith this year as well as Christmas events at both centres.

MINISTRIES and STAFFING: $20,000 went to supporting Josh, Anna, Andy and Ningjia in employment as student ministers whilst they study at college, as well as providing resources for our 10-am Ermington church plant, with new equipment and the beginning of renovated facilities. Further work is in the planning stages to be completed before the end of 2022.

FACILITIES: $10,000 - this "over-target" amount was able to be used to construct an outdoor staging/seating area to facilitate further outdoor use of our Eastwood site. This has been an amazingly functional addition to the site. We hope to reproduce something similar in purpose to this at Ermington.

Thanks Giving 2022

Below you will be able to read about the projects and plans for the year ahead, confident that your giving goes directly to these purposes and immediately assists in the master planning and direction of St Phil's and St Mark's.

Whatever our circumstances, we ask all of our members to be generous and joyful givers when it comes to the finances God has given us, encouraging each other only to give within our means.

We encourage everyone to consider making their contribution during the month of August or on the Thanks Giving day.

This year our total aim for special projects and missions is $160,000. Please read the following pages, then pray, and respond thankfully as you consider your Thanks Giving 2022 gift. Your gift can be made by direct deposit into our Church bank account, or by cheque or cash at a Church service. (Online is preferable if you are able). Your gift will be shared amongst the projects as defined below. If you wish to specifically give to one or two projects, this can be arranged, but you will need to advise us by email (wardens@stphils.org.au) or

Missions

This year, we are seeking to raise $30,000 towards the important missions that operate in our own area, throughout Australia and across the world.

We are now involved in 6 primary schools and 3 high schools - including Eastwood, Ermington, Rydalmere, Meadowbank (Marsden), Epping and Cheltenham.

PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to give a tax-deductible gift to the Scripture fund, please do so separately from our Thanks Giving program. Details are on our giving page. We will then be able to provide you with a tax receipt.

We will continue to support the work of SIM in Africa, as well as our local needs in Eastwood through Christian Community Aid (CCA), the regional work among Chinese speakers that is carried out by Chinese Christian Mission Australia (CCMA), and the work done by the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) in our Universities.

We have also increased our missions reach into South East Asia and hope to explore the expansion of this mission work in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. A small budget of $3,000 has been added this year to explore this expansion and the possibility of a mission trip by our church in the near future.

Theological Training

We currently have 4 members of our church family training at Moore College - Andy Feng, Josh and Anna Hoole, and Ningjia Wang. We hope to provide funds to continue to directly support their work and ministry over the next 12 months.

We are also taking on a new ministry trainee from West Malaysia. Wilston Trin will be joining us in 2023 for 12 months. He is currently studying his Masters in Theology at Moore and will return to work in West Malaysia as a key leader in the Anglican Diocese. In his time with us, he will be aiming to gain diverse experiences in multi-cultural ministry.

Expanding and improving

Youth and Children

Over the coming years, we will need to consider the expansion of our youth and children's ministry as we increase our work in local schools and as we expand through Ermington and Rydalmere. So over the next two years, we will aim to build our youth and children ministry fund to expand this staff team when the opportunity arises and is needed.

Worship and Ministry spaces

Each year we aim to continue to improve the spaces we used most frequently.

At Ermington, we hope to build an outdoor stage area (similar to Eastwood) which will provide a space for more outdoor events, as well as a functional gathering area for Sunday morning teas and for ministries during the week.

At Eastwood, we plan to update the staging area for our War Memorial Hall, improve the sound acoustics in the Church building, and improve the sound installation in the CMC.

We also need to update some of our signage at both sites.

Building Work

Having completed the rebuilding of the Ermington Rectory and the construction of the Eastwood toilet block and access ramp, we are hoping to complete stage 1 at Eastwood and pay down the costs of the Ermington Rectory.

Gifts from the Eastwood congregations will go directly towards the Stage 1 development completion. For Thanks Giving we are hoping to raise $60,000 towards this, which will be matched by our generous sponsor.

Gifts from the Ermington congregations will go directly towards the Rectory build repayments.

Detention tank - Total cost: $150,000

This is important for our whole site in mitigating the water drainage - the need for which we have noticed especially over the past 4 months. This is a large underground detention tank near Rutledge Street. The water for most of the site will drain into this tank providing much-needed relief from flooding and water issues. This will also serve the future major development of the site.

Car Park - Total cost: $100,000

Many of us know the issues of the car park when it is raining! This money will finalise the car park construction permanently - sealing it and providing all-weather parking for the future.

MATCH campaign

You will hopefully also be aware of our match campaign for this project. Thanks to a generous donor, every dollar raised for the stage 1 completion at Eastwood will be matched, up to the first $100,000. (making a total of $200,000!) This fundraising effort will continue from August until October, including Thanks Giving.

With $50,000 of funds already set aside for this work, this final amount will provide enough money to fully fund these two final stage 1 projects! (Please note that this is for the NON-Tax-deductible portion of the stage 1 development).

Ermington

To complete the $180,000 rebuild of the Ermington Rectory, we borrowed from our own Church funds to enable the building work to be completed without an interest-bearing loan. We seek to continue to pay down this internal loan.

What now?

Please pray for this year's Thanks Giving - that this will be a time of praise and thanks to our great God.

Please pray, considering your own capacity to give financially to this work.

Please act, and go online and contribute when you are able.

And finally, please give thanks to God for the faithfulness of our generous congregations and for those who manage our finances, property, staffing and other resources. Pray for our wardens, our Parish Council, and every member of our church and staff team, that we may continue faithfully, under God's plans and not our own, to bring glory to him in Eastwood, Ermington, Rydalmere, Melrose Park and a little bit more.

Sincerely,

Bruce Stanley

Rector