by Jeremy Halcrow

Anglicare has taken the first step in rolling out a ministry training program across the Diocese that will ensure the Anglican Church provides effective ministry to socially disadvantaged communities.
Last month, psychology graduate Naomi Ireland was jointly employed by Anglicare Illawarra and Dapto Anglican Church as part of the Ministry Training Strategy (MTS).
She will work a couple of days a week in Dapto parish learning about children’s ministry and women’s ministry. The rest of her time will be spent at Anglicare’s Wollongong office where her psychology skills will be of great assistance as she ministers to people who are socially isolated.
The Rev Stephen Semenchuk, rector of Dapto Anglican Church and Michael Mittwollen, Anglicare’s Illawarra regional manager described the joint initiative as beneficial for both the parish and Anglicare.
Mr Semenchuk said he was impressed by the evangelistic café run at Anglicare’s Wollongong office and hoped that Naomi would learn from Anglicare’s existing ministry strategies. He said this would help the parish as it seeks to develop ministry initiatives for Dapto’s significant housing commission community.
Anglicare runs a café one morning each week for people who use the charity’s services. Naomi is involved in the ministry aspects of this initiative.
“Many people who utilise Anglicare’s programs have an intensive range of problems. These may include substance abuse, homelessness, psychiatric illness and unemployment. Hunger as well as social isolation are an increasingly chronic issue for many people in Wollongong,” said Mr Mittwollen.
The café has been set up to flow seamlessly into a Bible study. Each week 20 to 30 people stay around at the end of the café to listen to the discussion and ask questions about Christianity.
“The members of the Bible study represent people whom the mainstream churches have struggled to reach,” said Mr Mittwollen. “This Bible study is their church and their time of formalised worship.”
Naomi said working at Anglicare had been a wonderful opportunity to learn about ministry amongst a section of the community invisible to most churches.
Mr Semenchuk added that it would be beneficial to anyone wanting to become a full-time minister to learn how to communicate to people in crisis.
Mr Semenchuk sees the joint venture as the first step to eventually integrating an Anglicare centre into the Dapto church facility.
The parish is currently designing a new ministry complex, with planning already begun on an evangelistic café space.
“The Archbishop has recently made the point that when converted, Christian people need to be doing good work. That’s particularly important in today’s culture where people will judge the Christian faith by the quality of our lives. A link with Anglicare is vitally important in our witness as a church,” he said.