On paper, Anglicare is marginal to the Diocese's main game of church planting. JEREMY HALCROW investigates the implications.

For at least 25 years, Anglicare, the most respected Anglican organisation amongst the community, has been racked by a "fundamental ambiguity' caused by the disdain and indifference of many clergy.

This is the startling assessment of the Rev Martin Robinson, who stepped down earlier this year after 16 years on the Anglicare Council, the last 12 as Chairman.

"The more financially astute and professional we have been, and the more the confidence with which we are held by the society at large, the more we have been held in suspicion by significant opinion leaders in the Diocese," he says.

Martin Robinson identifies "the modern Sydney evangelical's reserve about good works' as a major culprit.

He acknowledges history has many troubling examples of institutions which began with an evangelical passion which was lost in subsequent generations, and says to prevent this from happening, it is vital Anglicare be owned by the Diocese's leadership and other opinion leaders.

"The concern in recent years has been that…a large part of the Diocese [is] strongly supportive and proud of our work, and an equally significant proportion negative and declining even to distribute our materials," he says.

Bishop Robert Forsyth has been a key player in Anglicare's internal review and is critical of its failure to connect with the mainstream life of the Diocese.  However, Bishop Forsyth adds, Anglicare's critics amongst the clergy should be reminded that the Bible hardly presents "good works' as marginal to the main game of the Christian life. A life of "good works' is what Jesus commands of his followers.

"Jesus says, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Nevertheless the tension created by the priority of evangelism over "good works' has been brought into sharp relief by the Diocesan Mission which aims to see 10 per cent of Sydney's population in Bible-believing churches.

Most significantly the fundamental aim marginalises those activities that don't contribute to church planting:

To multiply Bible-based Christian fellowships, congregations and churches which equip and nurture their members and expand themselves, both in the Diocese and "in all the world'.

In his address to Anglicare's Festival Dinner earlier this year, Bishop Forsyth argued that the intention of the Mission "is to be the focus, but not the total life of the Diocese'.

"It is the main game, not everything," he said. "The Christian life consists of doing acts of kindness that need no justification by any evangelistic purpose of the Diocesan Mission, as important and significant as it might be."

Yet doesn't this mean that, by definition, Anglicare is marginal to the Diocese's main game?

"The fundamental question for Anglicare is not how to do good works to support church planting but what is the Christian purpose of Anglicare as part of the diocesan community," he told Southern Cross.

The dilemma for Anglicare is that while parishes struggle to see how Anglicare provides good work ministries on their behalf, in a complex modern society it is necessary to institutionalise the delivery of Christian "good works'.

"Acts of mercy are a fundamental feature of authentic evangelical faith, and in a modern urban diocese effective acts for our neighbours' good will require some degree of institutional infrastructure and professionalism," says Martin Robinson.

Bishop Forsyth believes the only way back for Anglicare into the "main game' of diocesan life is to reinvent the concept of a corporatised community service provider.

"The 1990s were a high point in the corporatisation both of Anglicare and of many other such "charitable' organisations in Australia. Now that Anglicare is facing a rethink, one of the most important areas for discussion is whether a corporate model is adequate for the actual Christian community in Sydney. There is a disconnect between Anglicare and "the parishes' which must be overcome."

Anglicare's vision is to see parishes partnering with them in new initiatives. But if the Diocese is saying "good works' is secondary, what would motivate parishes to be interested in such partnerships?

Bishop Forsyth accepts "that there is not a great deal in the Diocese's formal rhetoric at the moment which encourages parishes to seek to partner with an organisation like Anglicare'. He also agreed that the measurement of congregational growth pushed by the Diocesan leadership "does encourage parishes to stick with the main game' of church planting.

"It is a good question " how seriously is the church planting agenda going to sweep all before it and how quickly parishes, if offered the opportunity, may also want to do some partnering with Anglicare."

For Martin Robinson, it is simplistic thinking around our church planting models that is the problem. He says it is significant that while attendances at churches have declined over the post-war period, Church involvement in education, health and welfare has expanded greatly.

"It is possible to see this as a mistake, as a diversion from our core business," says Mr Robinson. "But it might also be observed that the establishment of religious communities, monastic or otherwise, in Europe's history, with their focus on education, health and welfare, was a very successful strategy in the Christianisation of Europe. Are we doing enough thinking about how to ground people in a thoroughly Christian outlook? Is the concept of multiplication of Christian fellowships too elementary, too much dependant on the degree of education and sociability of people if they are to be evangelised this way?

Indeed, Bishop Forsyth believes Anglicare can actually play a role experimenting with new church planting models.

"The mission of Anglicare in this model would be summarised: "good works all the time and evangelism and church building whenever we can'."

"The challenge is whether or not in the diocesan life, the Mission becomes the definition of all that really matters or whether a more broad understanding of the Christian life survives. If Anglicare loses, the Diocese does as well."

Jeremy Halcrow is a former employee of Anglicare and continues to be a financial supporter.