Every blue pin is a church in the Northern Region of the Sydney Anglican Diocese - where my own parish is located.
The Anglican church in this part of Sydney has better market saturation than McDonalds!
- There are lots of churches - I think this region has more churches and clergy than all but three dioceses in Australia (Syd, Melb, Brisbane)
- there are 65 parishes of about 12,500 each for a population of 750,000 (compare this with the 5 Anglican churches around Liverpool responsible for a population of 400,000!)
- the concentration is around North Sydney and Chatswood then along the train line - the older areas
- the concentration is a bit sparser in the eastern parts
- 1.4% of the Northern beaches population attend Anglican churches
- 4.5% of the North Shore population attend an Anglican church
- Almost none of the church sites produce any income and the land they sit on is very very expensive
- Around Chatswood and Willoughby most of the churches are smallish and struggling
So here is the rub. What does all this mean for mission?
- There are seven Anglican schools in the region with considerable property holdings and community contacts. Do we need to think more creatively about how these schools work with churches in the Diocesan Mission?
- Who will build the next generation of buildings and where are the new developments? Property prices are considerable and make staffing and building expensive options.
- How can resource rich parishes partner with churches in poorer areas? Given that money us unlikely to be unavailable through regional grants, can individuals or parishes in the Northern Region partner directly with areas that are resource poorer?
What would you do if you were working in this mission field?
