1788-1930s
From the earliest days of the Sydney colony, Anglicans have been involved in "good works'. Anglican Chaplain Samuel Marsden established schools for orphans and training institutions for convict mums. These became the fore-runners of the Church of England Homes. For nearly 200 years such "Homes' were the main model of "community care' adopted by Sydney Anglicans, providing care for orphans and women escaping abusive and alcoholic husbands. The grand Victorian mansions given to the Church at Glebe provided a genuine refuge for women and kids from Sydney's slums (eg the Rocks) as plague and flu epidemics hit the city from the 1890s to 1920. In contrast, Anglicare was founded as "The Church Society' in 1856. Church planting was virtually its sole purpose. So for 75 years up until the 1930s, C of E Homes looked after "good works' and The Church Society looked after "mission'.

1930-1980
The Great Depression destabilised the comfortable organisational balance between "mission' and "good works' just as it destabilised society as a whole. Jobless, homeless families began forming shanty communities on the outskirts of Sydney. It was clear to the Church Society that its traditional church building models were not going to reach these people, and they began to employ chaplains to this new "home mission field'. In one short decade the rebranded Home Mission Society (HMS) adopted a range of new ministries to reach people on society's fringe with the gospel, such as Juvenile Court Chaplains (now Anglicare's Youth Services)  and nursing care to the impoverished frail aged (now Anglicare's Chesalon Nursing homes). These worthy initiatives diverted the organisation's attention from the original purpose of the "Church Society', so much so that when the need for a church planting drive arose in the 1960s, this was undertaken quite apart from HMS, and a new organisation called the New Areas Committee was established.
HMS was moving more into "good works' " once the sole domain of C of E homes. By the 1970s community expectations had moved away from institutionalised care. This saw HMS jump into newly available Government partnerships to form its Careforce family support initiative. As society turned against institutional care, resources for the C of E homes dwindled and they were finally merged into HMS in the 1980s.

1980s-1999
The merger did not resolve the tension between "good works' and "home mission'. It merely internalised tension into the structure of the organisation. When the New Areas Committee asked then Archbishop of Sydney, Donald Robinson to launch a fundraising appeal for more churches, Archbishop Robinson took it up, but he also requested Anglicare (then HMS) establish a Parish Support and Development Department to assume responsibility for supporting new churches when the initial fundraising program ran its course.
The decisive shift came on two fronts in 1997-98. Sydney Diocese's decision to regionalise decision-making took the strategic "parish support and development' function away from Anglicare and gave it to the new Regional Councils. At the same time HMS was "rebranded' Anglicare. Both developments tipped the balance firmly in the direction of "good works'.
As Bishop Robinson now reflects, "It is disturbing to note that the Parish Support and Development Department of HMS and its "critical function' have apparently been "lost'. The Diocesan Services Division of Anglicare does not sound like a replacement either of the Parish Support and Development or of the original purpose and function of the Church Society/HMS."

Kick-start a good work
Tom Henderson-Brooks gives his top tips on how to start a good work
OUR WORK: On August 14, our Bondi Beach church (St Andrew’s) will undertake its seventh City to Surf outreach. With the help of the youth group from St James', Croydon (right) we will give out 16,000 orange quarters to runners with invites to a BBQ and talk. Our parish also operates the Bondi Family Services Centre in partnership with Anglicare.

1 Ask, "Who in your congregation has the time, energy and giftings?' Even if there are many homeless people in your area, if you do not have the gifts for this ministry then it is best not to start there.

2 Strike a chord with community need. Think about the conversations in your church. Can the mums in your church find a local playgroup? Anglicare and your local Council also have data that can help.

3 Ask, "How could people with this need find out about our service?' With the playgroup idea advertise through your local Baby Health Clinic.

Making your good work a "success'
Why are Sydney Anglicans struggling to run good works ministry? Geoff Taylor reveals the hard lessons he has learnt.
OUR WORK: St Mark's, Sadleir is located near the Green Valley Housing Commission area. Through the St Mark's Benevolent Fund the parish employs Nola Booth as a women's community worker to network with women who live in Green Valley. Nola runs a playgroup and an open-house program " a place where they can meet and do craft.

1 WE WON'T EXPERIMENT: You have to find out what the community wants to engage in. The only way to do this is keep experimenting. I'm a big believer that no one model can work everywhere. There is no one size fits all in ministry. We tried running free Christmas dinners here but found the market was not big. We learnt that although the need in our community is great, most people here have real pride, which means they don't take "hand outs'.

2 WE CONFUSE GOOD WORKS WITH EVANGELISM: You have to see that a good work is valid in its own right. That is where we are very muddy in Sydney Diocese. We flagellate ourselves and think the "good work' is a failure because we don't get "results' "  in the sense of people don't come to church on Sunday. We need to take Matthew 5:13-16 more seriously. Good works do not win Christians, they demonstrate Christ's love to the world. At St Mark's we've found that incorporating evangelism into good works is like providing a "product that the customer has not come to buy’. This can bring resistance over time.
Instead, have confidence that the good work is doing what Christ commands, to bring glory to the Father. Do not expect to give them a formal gospel presentation, then the barriers to the gospel will disappear. Have confidence that the Holy Spirit will provide the overlap between your good works and evangelism. He will provide the opportunities to bring people to the Father.

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