On the second occasion he has brought a provisional parish to be reclassified as a full parish, the Rev Joseph Thiem beamed with joy as he spoke to those gathered on the second Monday evening of Synod.
“I want to give thanks and glory to God for what he has done,” he said, sharing the story of the 110-year-old Cabramatta Soldier’s Memorial Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its four congregations – Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English – which he has served since 2022.
Mr Thiem explained how, in the late 1970s and early ’80s, Cabramatta became home to a significant number of refugees from South-East Asia, and that a ministry begun by a previous rector, the Rev Neil Flower, through then-Moore College student Irene Mok, saw the gospel shared with many Chinese speakers from Vietnam and Cambodia.
Two services for Mandarin and Cantonese speakers were then nurtured under subsequent rectors the Rev Ian Fauchon and Archdeacon Geoff Huard and Mr Thiem praised God for the fruit the parish had also seen from decades of raising and discipling gospel workers.
With joy, he shared how a Vietnamese ministry begun in early 2022 “has grown to become 60-75 people gathering weekly to worship God in Cabramatta in Vietnamese”, and said that, under God, the parish looked forward to developing a ministry to Khmer speakers soon.
To give Synod a taste of life in Cabramatta, an accompanying video showed a church with a vibrant evangelistic outreach, a busy youth and children’s ministry, and a range of initiatives for fellowship and discipling of its diverse membership. The video described the parish as a place “where kitchen signs are in three languages, where AGMs require videos with subtitles, where new Bible study groups are formed, where the gospel is preached and new life is born.
“This gospel transcends boundaries, languages and cultures. From young through to old, first generation through to second and third generations. In multiple cultures and languages, we express our unity and diversity.”
Mr Thiem asked people to partner with his parish in prayer as members “strive to bring the gospel to Cabramatta – a diverse and ever-changing multicultural city. Our goal is to develop new ways and to adapt new methods for sharing the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ with people from many nations and backgrounds.
“Please pray for us as we are committed to Christ’s mission,” he said.
“First, to proclaim the gospel faithfully; second, to train God’s people for Christian service; third, growing believers in knowing Christ and making Christ known; and fourthly, to strengthen our four diverse gospel-based congregations.”
