Opening Worship & Closure of Placement for Adrian Sukumar-White.

Opening worship included a closure of placement for Adrian Sukumar-White, who is moving out of his resourcing role within the Tertiary Ministry context. Adrian and his wife Rads have accepted a call to form a Ministry team at Leichhardt Uniting Church. Adrian will be a dual role, as Minister of the Word at LUC and Sydney University Chaplain.

Life & Mission of Sydney Korean Uniting Church.

Did you know that Sydney Korean Uniting Church is the oldest Korean congregation in Sydney – being established in 1974? In the congregations 44 years, the November AGM was the first Presbytery meeting hosted on site. 

How did Sydney Korean UCA come about? Through the leadership of Rev Dr John Brown, Rev Sang Woo Kim and a number of other Korean leaders, initially a worshipping community was established in 1974. The church building as it exists today was completed in 1978.

Sydney Korean UCA’s vision is to ‘Ignite the revival of the individuals, the families and the community through glorifying God in Holy Spirit in the body of the Christ.’

The growing congregation has a well-thought-out community outreach strategy including Service Support, Education Support, Missionary activities and Family events to name a few. A significant part of the focus is on Spiritual Education. Further to this, there is a Korean Language School to help ensure the 2^nd and 3^rd Generation children learn the Korean language. The focus for the future is on impacting the community through local and international outreach programs.

WORSHIP. 

Opening worship was led by Rev. Jenny Ducker and Rev. Dr. Rick Dacey took the preaching duties. Rick shared a sermon on the theme, "How to Love People You Know Who Are Wrong". Reflecting on the story of Jesus' calling of Matthew and eating with tax collectors, Rick explored the centrality of love in Jesus' ministry, and how we are invited to not just view others by how we disagree with them, but to see them as Jesus would.

LIFE AND MISSION OF ST STEPHENS.

Alan Harper presented on the life and mission of St. Stephen’s Uniting and highlighted that there is much and more to celebrate at St. Stephen’s.

St. Stephen’s has a long history, which brings with it a set of unique challenges and rewards.

Music continues to be a key focus of the ministry – for more info on all the musical goodness going on, please click HERE.

Due to St Stephen’s unique location, the church is has numerous exciting opportunities to contribute to God’s work in and around the CBD.

There are four services each week (Sunday at 10am, Tuesday at 1pm, Wednesday 8am and the Behind the Green Door – Jazz Service (monthly on the second Wednesday).  These services have seen people sharing their gifts of service. There is also a regular Bible Study.  The focus is on the local community including the weekday community.

Tertiary Ministry is a priority of the congregation with connection to the Christian Students Uniting group at the Conservatorium of Music. supported as well as Newtown Mission being a focus. There is also a connection with Narromine Uniting Church. Being reminded of the relationship with the stolen land that we are on has been an ongoing conversation at St. Stephen’s, which has led to a focus on Indigenous history.

St. Stephen’s is also looking to the future – thinking through stewardship and finance reformation as they relate to the sustainability of ministry and congregation. 

Life & Mission of Strathfield Homebush Uniting Church.

Rev. Alimoni Taumoepeau, Tam Tali and Tiana Puniani kicked off the meeting with a fantastic presentation on the life and mission of Strathfield Homebush Uniting Church.

In particular, they shared a great video that highlighted much of the outreach and youth focused work of the congregation. Beyond than just the specifics of their ministry, the video underlined the vibrancy, the energy and the passion of a community working to lead the church to life.

One of the many highlights was the ecumenical Service of Lament, held at Strathfield UCA, that commemorated the 13 seasonal workers who died while labouring on Australian farms under the Australian Government’s Seasonal Workers Program. For more on the service, see Insights coverage, here.

WORSHIP:
 
Opening worship was led by Rev. Vinnie Ravetali, which included the Induction of Rev. Jenny Ducker as Presbytery Pastoral Relations Minister.  Jenny spoke about her vision of her role as an opportunity to serve those who serve Christ. The Presbytery shared in the Eucharist and Rev. Graham Long shared a homely themed around leadership.

THE LIFE & MISSION OF TONGA PARISH: 

In the 32-year history of the Tonga Parish, this was the first time they had hosted the Presbytery. The warmth of spirit and hospitality was felt by all.
 
This session was led by Valamotu Palu, who remarked that hosting the meeting was representative of the strengthening partnership and relationship with the Presbytery. 
 
The Tonga Parish is made up of 11 congregations and has a strong and vibrant youth contingent who are a vital part of the community and ministry. One great example of this is the fact that the 3rd Sunday of every month is led by the youth and young adults.
 
To build capacity, the Parish has held a number of training opportunities for youth, stewards, elders - as well as an annual retreat that includes workshops. Further to this, the Parish have developed music and Sunday School resources.
 
The session was brought to a close by showing a great video, in which a number of leaders shared their work in the areas of public outreach, women’s fellowship, youth engagement and music ministry.
 
Prayer is needed as the Parish seek the use of a large space for their quarterly meeting, which is expected to have over 800 people in attendance.