Australia’s oldest parish celebrates 200th birthday

A chance to challenge Archbishop Jensen at forum

The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, will speak at four events on Sunday, July 28 at St John’s, Parramatta, as Australia’s oldest parish celebrates its 200th anniversary.

St John’s, Parramatta, was founded in 1802 by the well-known chaplain to the early colony, the Rev Samuel Marsden. At the same time, first fleet chaplain the Rev Richard Johnson became rector of St Phillip’s, Church Hill located on York St, Sydney. This makes the two church’s jointly the oldest parishes in Australia. The current church buildings at both parishes were completed in 1856.

However rector of St John’s, Canon David Mulready, says the anniversary celebrations dramatically demonstrate how the ministry at St John’s has broken out beyond its Anglo-Saxon origins.

“We are looking back to the past but also very conscious of the new directions we need to take for the future,” said Canon David Mulready, rector of St John’s. “Over 50 per cent of the population of Parramatta are of non-Anglo Saxon background.”

Indeed Archbishop Jensen will give his first Sunday address to mark the occasion to a combined Cantonese and Mandarin service at 9am.

St John’s, 100-strong Chinese congregation is led by the Rev Irene Mok ministering to Parramatta’s 16,000 Chinese speakers through such ministries as English as a Second Language classes. The strong growth of the Chinese ministry has seen St John’s employ a second Chinese minister this year.

“It was a extraordinarily strategic and vitally important move by my predecessor Canon Peter Kemp to introduce multicultural ministry here at Parramatta,” said Canon Mulready.

At 4.30pm Archbishop Jensen will address St John’s other major ethnic ministry speaking to the parish’s Farsi-speaking Persian congregation. Pastor of this congregation, Edmund Bagheri, has developed a far reaching ministry of support and encouragement to Iranian asylum seekers imprisoned in Australian detention centres. Interestingly this ministry began at St Phillip’s, the other parish celebrating 200 years.

At 10am Archbishop Jensen will preach at a special bicentennial service attended by the Mayor of Parramatta and other dignatories. After this service, at about 12 noon, the Archbishop will face a public forum for an hour. Members of the public are invited to ‘Challenge the Archbishop’ and ask him any questions about Christianity.

Against all trends, the Anglican Church in Sydney’s west is growing strongly. Does Canon Mulready think the church’s emphasis on multicultural ministry is the key?

“The main reason for our strong growth is that the focus has been kept on the Bible. We take the authority of God seriously and are not swept up by the latest fads or ideas,” he said. “In my mind our aim is to create a loving, caring community in which we can welcome people of a variety of backgrounds and cultures as they respond to the gospel.”

As part of this focus, St John’s will begin a series of dinners from August 13 that will seek to introduce people to God and explain the Christian faith.

CONTACT:
Canon David Mulready - 9635 5904
Jeremy Halcrow - 0412 793 441