Last night we held Parish Council (PC). Together with the Wardens, PC are our church's elected officials to govern the finances and property of St Phils and St Marks.
This is a summary of what was covered in the meeting.
Ministry Update
I spoke about how the Apostles' Creed series has been preached in all congregations over both sites. The point of the series is to help us think clearly about what we believe. This is important as 2025 has been designated "The Year of Believing" across our church. The feedback around the table was that the series was being well received and it was really encouraging how we could ensure that we all had the same doctrinal convictions.
This is important as we continue our strategy of:
I then spoke of the unifying work that has been undertaken across our church. Just as we are united in Christ, and just as we have been expressing our doctrinal unity, we have been testing translation software within our church services. The idea of translation software is to reduce the language barrier in the different language services. To achieve this, we have worked with Sunflower AI to introduce live translation to our Sunday services. For example, if you attended a Mandarin language service, using the software, you can read or hear the translation, in near real-time, in the language of your choosing. In the short term, the ministry team is working to include all congregants to participate in the upcoming Thanksgiving Service (7th September), regardless of your chosen language or the language being spoken from the front. A milestone in testing was achieved when last Sunday, at the Cantonese Service, I preached and led communion, where, using the software, I could be understood in Cantonese. We will continue testing when I preach at the Mandarin services this Sunday.
Regarding the Thanksgiving service (7th September). The ministry team has worked hard to organise and prepare the service. Our aim of the service is slightly different to previous years:
In previous years, there has been a dual aim of Thanks and Giving. This year, we will have a primary aim of Thanks to God. For, giving thanks is central to worshiping God, and it’s a powerful act of faith. It's a spiritual thread that runs through all of Scripture, from the Old Testament offerings to the grateful prayers of the early church. It reminds us that our faith isn't just about what God has done, but about the unshakable trust that He is good and His love endures forever. As the Psalmist writes, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:29)
This service is our chance to raise a collective voice of gratitude for all God has done in our lives and in our church this year. It's an opportunity to celebrate the beautiful unity we share in Jesus, the one who brought us into a relationship with our Heavenly Father and with each other.
So if the primary aim is thanks to God. The expression of thanks will be through the financial offertory. Hence, we will invite church members to come ready to give thanks for all they have and all they are. And their generous giving will fuel three specific ministry projects that will help us continue God's work:
(a) Strengthening the next-generation ministry
(b) Funding future leaders
(c) Funding future building projects
For more information about the projects and Thanksgiving Sunday, you can view the booklet at
Thanksgiving 2025 Booklets
Financial Update
As of 31 July 2025, the Treasurer reported that we are currently reaching 83.4% of our offertory. This translates to a shortfall of around $100,000 - which translates to a shortfall of around $3,200 per week across our parish. We were reminded that whilst a percentage of our income comes from rentals, such as hiring halls to the community or renting out the rectory, the overwhelming majority of our income comes solely from the offertory of our church members. We were reminded that we receive no external funding from the government or diocese.
The PC noted that whilst we were concerned about giving shortfall, the situation was not irretrievable. For example, in order to bridge the gap so that the deficit stops growing, an increase of $10 per giving unit per week is required.