After an encouraging first year, the Rev Charlie Brammall and the team at Enter have just taken a major step forward in their mission to take the gospel to the ‘lost tribe’ of Sydney’s entertainment industry.
On February 2, a new church known as ‘Christ At Ryde’ had its first meeting at North Ryde Public School. Starting with a committed core of 25 members, it aims to provide a focal point for the growing Entertainment Bible Ministry.
Mr Brammall, an Anglican minister and former drama teacher who has also served as chaplain on film sets, devoted much of last year to making contact with Christians in the industry and establishing Bible study groups and support networks for them. Regular groups have started at places such as NIDA, Channel Seven, Foxtel and the Australia Film, Television and Radio School.
The last twelve months saw many doors opened for ministry to Sydney’s growing film industry, with Mr Brammall given the chance to speak to all first- and second-year students at NIDA to explain his role. He is also in discussions about becoming the official chaplain at Fox Studios. Enter also ran regular evangelistic events throughout the year.
The launch of the regular Sunday night meeting is another significant step forward for Enter, which was started to encourage and evangelise people in an industry that Mr Brammall says ‘is always at the cutting edge of immorality’.
“Of the few Christians in the industry, many don’t go to a church,” he said. “The ones that do tend to go to churches that major on performance and packaging, and minor on the message. We wanted to have a ministry with content as well as packaging.”
Among the new church’s core members are actors, stage managers, a director, an assistant director, an editor and a dance teacher. And while the church’s mission field is the entertainment industry, the core members of Christ At Ryde also include doctors, welfare workers, and even a lifeguard.
“The church is not exclusively for entertainers,” Mr Brammall says. “They don’t want to be in a church just with other entertainers. People’s relationships don’t stop at the end of the industry – they are married to non-entertainers and friends they want to invite are non-entertainers.
“It’s good to target a particular sub-culture and tailor things to them, but the reality is that it will broaden out from there. We want it to be like that from the very start.”
Mr Brammall describes Enter’s target market as being ‘very relational people – emotive and not conservative’, who live unstructured, unpredictable lives. Christ At Ryde will aim to reach such people through laid back and informal meetings.
To reach those who are immersed in the latest cultural products, Mr Brammall will regularly use relevant film and TV clips for illustrations.
The meeting will also include dinner together every week. “We want people to know that church is not just about the structured gathering – it’s about building relationship with one another.”
Mr Brammall says the Bishop of North Sydney, Glenn Davies, has enthusiastically supported the initiative. And the Rev Stephen Bligh, rector of St John’s, North Ryde – which is literally next door to Enter’s meeting place – has also given the congregation his backing.
“There are 28,000 people in North Ryde,” Mr Brammall said. “[Stephen Bligh] said to me, ‘Even if there are 1000 entertainers in North Ryde and they all go to your church, I still have 27,000 people to reach.’
For more information contact Charlie Brammall on 9617 1628.
