Partnering with Chester Hill Anglican Church
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few hours with one of our mission partners - Paul Webb, Senior Minister at Chester Hill Anglican Church. Paul is a great guy, full of vision and passion for Jesus, the Chester Hill area and the ministry. He is creative, thoughtful and loves Lebanese food - which in that part of Sydney is essential! We walked around Chester Hill and it was clear to me that it is a complex area: only 40 minutes from St Ives but a world away. A little snapshot of the differences includes: only 33% of people speak only English at home (in St Ives it is 69%), about 30% are Muslim (in St ives it is less than 5%), and the median household income is less than the national average (in St Ives it is almost double).
As we heard at Together in Prayer a month or so ago, the church at Chester Hill positioned itself uniquely during Covid, turning a larger church into several smaller units that are seeking to reach different demographics throughout the surrounding area. They had cultural groups, demographic groups and geographical groups. One of these was a Chinese ministry that has been thriving during and since Covid and about 7 people have become Christians.
Spending time with Paul was a great blessing but clearly demonstrated the need in the area. They have a great but tired church building that can fit about 200 people, some new play equipment alongside a dowdy hall and not very much parking. There is a school across the road that they teach SRE in but further inroads have been slow. There is much to give thanks for but the soil feels hard and the work tiring. If anything the area is becoming more multicultural and more hardened against the Lord Jesus. But the gospel is alive, people are coming to know Jesus and there is much for us to rejoice in with them.
I am so glad that we can have a financial partnership with the Church but want to urge you to pray for them. Here are some prayer points that you can use to pray in the month ahead:
Pray for wisdom for their Church lay leaders as they strive to mature each of the participants in their respective groups, equipping them appropriately.
Pray that the ministry to the Refugee Youth and their families would continue to be productive and increase in number.
Pray for opportunities to creatively engage with the felt needs of those in the community in the hope that we might find those who are soft towards the gospel.
Pray that the access ministries the various small groups run, may be especially attractive to outsiders, and that they have enough patrons to meet, mix and minister meaningfully with their guests.
Pray that the Discovery Bible Study strategy that they utilise to reach seekers may be wielded with renewed vigour and bear gospel fruit.
Pray for a growing sense of urgency amongst all at Chester Hill, that they would not lured by the comforts of casual routine at the expense of a vital kingdom focus
Rest assured that the people in Chester Hill are praying for us as we follow up friends from Share Life. They are praying you might have courage to invite people to come to church and hear the same living Gospel being preached in the streets of Chester Hill. It was a fabulous joy to hear that they pray for us and let that be an encouragement to you in the weeks ahead.
