On December 7, Pastor Jim Lawrence and wife Maxine were commissioned at St James’, Minto, to lead the local Aboriginal ministry. The event was the culmination of 18 months work by the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry Committee in conjunction with the Anglican Wollongong Regional Council in finding the necessary funding, and interviewing applicants.

Minto has for some years had a fledgling Koori Christian Fellowship. However, like so many such churches around the country, it has been dependent on the voluntary support of a number of Aboriginal pastors including Mike Dodd, Ray Minniecon, and Neville Naden. The appointment of a pastor who will be able to work full-time in developing the Indigenous Christian community should prove a blessing to the Minto area.

The Commissioning
Visitors, both Indigenous and non-indigenous, filled the Church for the occasion. In keeping with current practice, Mr Ivan Wellington, a respected Aboriginal Elder from Nowra, welcomed the audience, acknowledging their presence on tradition Aboriginal land. This was followed by a welcome by Mr Geoff Kyngdon, assistant to Bishop Reg Piper of Wollongong.

Others who participated in the service through prayers and bible readings included Neville Naden from Tregear, Jenny Shillingsworth from the Minto Fellowship, David Woodbridge from Wollongong and the rector of St James’, Robert Happer.

In his address, Bishop Piper stressed that God’s Word as delivered by the prophets, by Jesus, and by the apostles is the same message that Jim as pastor, would be required to deliver.
“We want you to keep on telling us that Jesus died for our sins,” said the Bishop.

He went on to refer to the terrible events of September 11, 2001 and the recent Bali bombings, pointing out that as shocking as those events were, we need to be reminded that ultimately, God is in control.

“So Jim, keep on reminding us about that and that Jesus will be our ultimate judge,” he said.

“No matter what we might have done, thought or said, we can be forgiven if we confess our sins and put our trust in Christ. We all desperately need to hear that. So Jim, keep on telling us about forgiveness.”

Concluding his remarks, the Bishop said the most unlikely person can be a candidate for the Kingdom of God. From his own life, he cited a couple of instances where people who had at one time been totally opposed to the Christian faith had, some 20 years later, turned up as Christians!

Following the official proceedings, flowers were presented to Maxine and a huge ‘Aboriginal Flag’ cake was cut to celebrate the occasion.