The new areas of Sydney are not waiting for us to build churches before they grow so, while the work of identifying suitable land and building is under way, there are already ministry “boots on the ground”.
“Let's not wait for the buildings to turn up, let's just get on with the ministry!” is the approach of the director of Evangelism and New Churches (ENC), the Rev Phil Wheeler. “We've got a great vision of planting churches – one for every 30,000 to 40,000 people down this greenfield corridor. We've purchased, or are purchasing, land. The single most important next question, once we've got the where, is the who. Who is going to lead this? Ministry will only go forward when there's actually a planter.”
Let's not wait for the buildings to turn up, let's just get on with the ministry!
ENC meets regularly with SAP staff to ensure a co-ordinated effort. “In partnership with parishes and the local bishop, we are working to ensure that we get a team in place as quickly as possible to actually build a congregation of people to reach the area for the Lord Jesus Christ,” Mr Wheeler says.
“Box Hill is a great example. Several parishes got together with the bishop and ENC to talk about getting a ministry started. Sydney Anglican Property went ahead and purchased the land and, within six months of that purchase, we had a planter appointed and a team starting to be built. Now, 18 months later, we've actually got a church begun on that site. We'd love to see that same model of co-operation for every one of the greenfield sites down that corridor.”
Ministry services began in June at Cornerstone Anglican Church in Box Hill. The Bishop of Western Sydney, Gary Koo, says, “It was an exciting day when we gathered and actually got to stand on the piece of property that we purchased. People got to meet the church planter Chris Mann, people got to meet the launch team, people got to hear about what the master plan is for the property and, most importantly, people had the opportunity to pray and ask God to bless our endeavours.”
Called to Cornerstone
For Mr Mann and his wife Helen, it was an unexpected move. “I was in ministry out in the Hawkesbury for about eight years, and [in] the last few years we've noticed that a lot of the farmland was slowly becoming a sea of houses,” he says.
“I'm sure you all know the passage in Matthew 9 [that] says when Jesus saw the crowds, he was filled with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. I think for Helen and I, God was doing that in our hearts. But it wasn't just us. The Diocese and the local churches, too, were moved by the compassion of Jesus and thinking, ‘We need a new church here that is lifting up Jesus’. So, land was bought, they were praying for a planter and here we are.”
In a new collaborative model of church planting, the launch team was drawn from two parishes, rather than one, to minimise disruption. Launch team member Sally Taylor sees the new area as a rapidly growing mission field. “There are so many people coming from so many different places and I just really felt a call to go on this mission,” she says.
“I don't really know what to expect – and I think there's going to be a bit of hard work that needs to be put in – but God has got this, and he will glorify himself through it, and so we just need to be relying on him.”
