The largest parish in Sydney has taken a strategic step to reach the 5000 Vietnamese living in its boundaries.
Last month an independent Vietnamese congregation officially joined the parish of Woodville Road in Sydney’s West and become Anglican.
On February 25, the parish held a service attended by over 150 people to celebrate the decision of the Vietnamese congregation to officially join their Anglican brothers and sisters.
Pastor Vo Nguyen leads the congregation which has met in Woodville Road's St Stephen's, Villawood building for the last five years.
"The Western Regional Council has been good to us and we knew we could receive better support from the Anglican system by joining," he says.
A win for the Mission
Bishop of Western Sydney Ivan Lee is encouraged by Mr Nguyen's willingness to become Anglican.
"Pastor Vo is studying subjects at Moore College to get some extra training. I am excited that he wants to be a part of the Diocesan Mission and help reach Vietnamese in the suburbs surrounding Villawood," Bishop Lee says.
The Rector of Woodville Road, the Rev Nathan Killick says the Vietnamese congregation will help fulfil Woodville Road's role in the Mission.
"We are looking for every possible opportunity to reach people. This is a way of reaching 5000 of the 80,000 people in our parish, which is the largest parish in the diocese," Mr Killick says.
There are over 40 adults and 20 youth and children in the Vietnamese congregation, but Mr Killick hopes this core will be able to outreach to both Vietnamese and the general population.
"The church said they wanted to be better at reaching people. We can assist them in this," Mr Killick says.
"As the second generation Vietnamese youth are English speaking, this gives them more of an opportunity for a future evening congregation in English. They can reach out to Villawood which has no other evangelical churches," Mr Killick says.
The two pastors stand united in their vision to reach their suburb with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"We hope that we can be in partnership with Woodville Road in telling people about Christ. And not only Vietnamese locals but all Australians and ethnic groups,” Mr Killick says.
