Mulgoa parish is pushing 167 this year but members are planning for the future rather than pondering the past with preparations for a new church centre well underway.
Rector, the Rev Kevin Wares says members have been working on a plan to turn three limited church buildings into an advantage in an area soon to become one of Sydney's latest developments.
"We’ve always had a little church at Silverdale - for 99 years! - but the suburb is moving ahead slowly and some 430 home sites are going into the old Warragamba Lion Safari," he says.
Recently members met at its Warragamba building to thank God for the sale of property at Mulgoa and the purchase of five acres of land in the middle of the new subdivision.
Mr Wares agrees Silverdale is now set to become the new heart of the parish.
"We're looking at a couple of thousand extra people, which is a big influx for our area," he says.
"The Warragamba church is just a little small. It's actually full with 50 people in it. So we're looking at building a bigger building that's suited to multi-purpose ministry."
Despite rainy weather, parish stalwarts gathered at the new Silverdale site to commit the project to God.
Mulgoa hopes to begin construction on the ministry centre in the next two years, but there are plenty hurdles yet.
"The first challenge will be to secure all the funds necessary for the construction," Mr Wares says.
"We think we'll be able to pay for the building debt-free, maybe by developing other parts of the site. But while that's going on we're also going to be building up the ministry at Silverdale, reaching out to this new community."
But Mulgoa parishioners are keen to make a go of their past as well as their future.
Key members will keep alive the service in the historic church building included in land sold to the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, hoping it will serve as a seed for a whole new ministry.
"We pray that when a school gets developed on the site it will provide a new possibility for ministry for a church that has been there since 1838," Mr Wares says.
