With a David and Goliath legal victory behind them, a south-west Sydney church is now focused on winning 1,000 believers.
The church and the Diocese recently won a case against oil giant ExxonMobil to get a piece of parish land at Canley Vale cleaned of contamination following a service station that had been on the property.
The parish spent $40,000 on legal fees and many years fighting its case.
"Here we had a little parish in south-west Sydney taking on one of the largest corporations in the world," Mr Brush said.
"Yet God provided for us."
Now the parish is looking forward to getting on with the most important task of all.
On Smithfield Road lies the Nineveh Club, its date palms proudly displaying its Assyrian heritage.
Down the street is Smithfield Road Anglican Church, its people committed to sharing the good news with multicultural south-west Sydney.
Rector Ted Brush says his church is keen to reach more Assyrians in the area " "we could be the church of Jonah', he jokes " but with more willing evangelists than the reluctant prophet.
"Demographically, this is an amazing area," says Mr Brush, a former McDonalds executive, who sees a desire to reach this and other people groups as part of a renewed mission focus within the parish.
Only one per cent of people within its boundaries are currently in a Bible-believing church.
The church has recently set itself an aim of having a membership of 1,000 believers by 2015, with six staff pastoring six congregations.
Regular training sessions on topics such as the Two Ways to Live course, resolving conflict and one-on-one evangelism are run for church members, and people are encouraged to invite their friends and family to once-a-term evangelistic events.
Assistant minister Cameron Griffiths was employed this year and a Moore College graduate has accepted another position from 2007. The church also hopes to employ a youth pastor next year.
"It's really good to be talking about the mission [but] the thing that excites me is seeing people's lives changed," Mr Brush says.
"Seeing husbands getting saved and reading the Bible to their kids " it just happens one life at a time."
July Southern Cross
This is one of the stories featured in the July edition of Southern Cross.
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