by Joseph Smith
PARISH IN FOCUS
Parish: King Street
Region: South Sydney
At ‘185 years young’, St James’, King Street is the oldest surviving church building in Sydney and one of the Diocese’s most high profile parishes. Situated amongst the law fraternity and adjacent to the Supreme Court, it is one of only a handful of Anglo-Catholic parishes in the high church tradition in strongly evangelical Sydney.
The parish emphasises the importance of the Eucharist – a worship style that differs from most other churches in the Diocese, which emphasise the Word above the sacraments. Despite these differences, St James has embraced the Mission wholeheartedly through its rich array of services and activities.
“Our style of worship doesn’t affect our understanding of the importance of mission. Rather, it’s a reflection of our understanding of [it],” says the Rev Peter Kurti, Rector. “We don’t have a residential community surrounding us. People come from all over and beyond the metropolitan area to worship here.”
Mr Kurti said the church is at pains to connect with the local community, in new ways, mainly via its well-known links to the legal profession. “We don’t have many people between 14 and 25. We do have a ministry to families. Here we deal with professional people. We need to show that Christians approach the business of daily life differently.”
As a result, the church is developing strategies to share the gospel and create ‘fresh expressions of church’. It has begun looking at [UK-based Church Army publication] Mission-Shaped Church by George Lings.
Mission-shaped Church
Senior Assistant Minister, the Rev Atsushi Shibaoka and Chair of the church’s evangelism committee, Jim Brown, are leading a group to see how the principles of the book can be applied to St James in the 21st century. Other churches in Australia are doing the same to combat declining church attendance.
“This changes the way we think about evangelism,” Mr Shibaoka says. “We’re thinking about how we can offer different styles of service that we don’t normally offer on a Sunday morning.”
“There are many people in the City of Sydney that you simply can’t invite to come into churches,” Mr Brown says. The church is on the doorstep of a large nearby gay community and younger Asian residents moving into new CBD apartments.
“You must go out and listen to these communities, and bring your resources to help that community discover Christ, then send a pioneer into that community who makes a commitment to planting a church,” he says.
The church, which provides lunchtime concerts, also tried a strategy of putting on lunchtime lectures but could not attract enough people.
“They weren’t well attended,” Mr Kurti explained. “People around here don’t want to hear more speakers at lunch time. Concerts are attractive to people as is worship because it provides time out from work.”
A drop in numbers at the monthly Evensong is also a cause for concern. “Evensong numbers are not good…we have been down to ten.I was talking to the Dean [Phillip Jensen] about this a couple of months ago,” Mr Kurti said. “[It] raises all kinds of questions about the place of Evensong in contemporary Australian society. We are asking the questions but don’t yet have the answers.”
Liturgy
One aspect of outreach targeted at city-dwellers is an emphasis on liturgy for non-English speakers in the CBD, according to the Japanese-born Senior Assistant Minister. “Being liturgical has the advantage of helping those who aren’t overly competent with English,” Mr Shibaoka says.
“The only reason I’m an Anglican is because of the prayer book. I [can] go home and look up what the prayers mean. When English isn’t your first language you’re flat out trying to listen to what is being said.”
Sister Freda Mission
The Sister Freda Mission, an outreach to the needy, is co-ordinated by husband and wife team Robyn and David Carver, operates every Sunday afternoon. Teams of parishioners staff the mission, preparing and serving light meals to people in need such as the homeless.
“It’s pertinent that the need for basic food and comfort is needed as much now as it was when Sister Freda started the mission in 1895,” Mr Carver said.
Christian meditation
A commitment to prayer is characterised by the parish’s Christian meditation group – an activity rarely seen in other Sydney churches.
It is a form of silent, contemplative prayer and is rooted in the Christian tradition, originating with the early desert fathers of the fourth century. Those meditating silently recite the word ‘Maranatha’ the Aramaic word for ‘Come Lord Jesus’.
“It’s being still with God,” says coordinator Richard Cogswell QC. “It’s about giving the time to God twice a day for 30 minutes, once in the morning, once in the evening. It’s a personal daily prayer discipline.”
The Philippines
St James’ is also involved with the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP). The project came through ABM development coordinator, and parishioner the Rev John Deane. “Whenever he gave a sermon, he would touch on his development work,” says Paul Bevis, a parishioner and a PhD student in Environmental Engineering at UNSW.
In January 2004 Mr Bevis and three others visited the village of Butbut in the Philippines. They worked on projects to provide water to the community. More trips are planned for the future.
Music
Music remains an exceptional aspect of ministry at the parish. The St James’ choir has released two CD’s – Christmas at St James and No Ordinary Sunday. David Drury, Director of Music, says music is an under appreciated and often misunderstood gift that can be effective in bringing people into church life.
“There are people who will come to a church service with a highly developed liturgy and good quality music because it appeals to their spirituality,” he says.
