Evangelicals play ball in Adelaide

A parish in suburban Adelaide has spent over six months looking for a mission-focused evangelical minister willing to work in Adelaide Diocese.

The Rev Bryan Hardman, who has been a long-time member of Tea Tree Gully parish, is acting as locum and says the congregation is keen to maintain the evangelical tradition in the parish.

“They are looking for an evangelical who will not just maintain but advance the situation of the church, with an interest in reaching out to the community and evangelising,” he says. But he adds, “They need to not be so conservatively evangelical that they can’t fit into Adelaide Diocese.”

The Archbishop of Adelaide, Jeffrey Driver, says he is open to having more evangelicals ministering in his Diocese.

“One of the priests ordained in December was trained at Moore,” he said.

Overall Adelaide Diocese has been experiencing decline, and the Archbishop says he is encouraged by the growth taking place in evangelical parishes.

“There are some evangelical parishes reaching out effectively and growing in a way that is very encouraging. But there are some ‘middle Anglican’ and catholic parishes that are also growing,” he says.

“My vision and passion is to encourage all our parishes to move into a more missional engagement with the world in which they live.”

The Rev Paul Harrington, rector of Adelaide Diocese’s largest church, Holy Trinity, says the evangelical movement is growing in the Diocese.

“In terms of total attending Anglicans in Adelaide, it’s about 35 to 40 per cent evangelical across six or seven parishes. That’s out of 63 churches.”

The Rev David Wright, who trained at Moore College, has overseen a 30 per cent increase in attendance at St Alban’s, Largs Bay during his two and a half years there.

“I think Archbishop Driver has made an effort to be inclusive of people of all churchmanships and that’s been a very positive thing,” Mr Wright says.

Last year Mr Wright formed a team to review the church’s progress. “We decided to start an evening service in a different style to what was offered in the morning. I’m very encouraged that people who have had nothing to do with church for a long time are reconnecting after 10 or 20 years away, and other people have been inviting their friends along.”

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