Who says two wrongs don't make a right? Vaucluse Anglican had the handicap of a disused backyard, gone to seed; the Cranbrook School, a pre-school without a play area. But combining their problems has created new opportunities for the gospel.
Newly arrived senior minister the Rev Michael Palmer, says the stretch of land at the back of the rectory represented a problem the church couldn't afford to fix.
"We've only been here for 18 months but it looks like no-one has had the energy or desire to manage the backyard, and none of the church hall doors backed on to the site, so it had become a bit of a dead area," he says.
But the loss of the Cranbrook School's rented pre-school playground nearby created an opportunity to benefit both parties.
The pre-school has enjoyed a relationship with St Michaels that spans three decades.
Since the centre already occupies the church hall, extending into the backyard seemed a natural solution.
Newly installed french doors now open out from the hall out on to a children's wonderland.
"The pre-school now operates all on our land and it’s a really attractive site," says Mr Palmer.
"The rectory has access to the whole area which is useable, and obviously on Sunday we have a real potential for the Sunday school to expand out into a functional and safe play area."
The transformation, funded by the school, required the concentrated efforts of architects and landscapers.
But the result is an adventure playground that is attractive to families from the community, and a new source of income for the parish.
Mr Palmers says the rent from the new playground will be put towards staff the church would otherwise be struggling to afford.
"We'd recognised that on the Ayers Rock model of ministry, we were pushing up hill, and we were looking at appointing staff even though we didn't really have the money."
St Michaels will now be able to afford to support a student minister and increase its youth worker from three to four days.
"God has been very gracious as we stepped out in faith," Mr Palmer says, reflecting on the shiny facility that now occupies the church property.
"The next thing is we have to push on and think, ‘What has this enabled us to do?’"
