Many nations, one church

by Joseph Smith

Christ Church, Gladesville had an ambitious New Year’s resolution in 2005 – to plant a congregation every three years, beginning in 2006.

Meadowbank International Church began this month under the leadership of lay ministers Andrew Irving and Andrew Mitchell.
The pair are joined by 30 people from Gladesville’s morning services and cross-cultural ministries who form the core of the new congregation.

The Rector of Gladesville, the Rev Philip Wheeler hopes this congregation will be the first of many church plants. 

“It is a goal of our church to not only plant more congregations but also that our church better reflect the changing cross cultural mix of the Gladesville and Ryde areas,” he says.

Mr Irving says the new church has the support of local Anglican churches.

“The church venue is in the parish of West Ryde and the minister Andrew Heron is very supportive of the concept,” Mr Irving says.

The church meets on Sunday afternoons from 4:30pm to 6pm followed by a meal.

“We are calling it an ‘international’ church in recognition that in the Meadowbank area 49 per cent of residents were born overseas, with nearly all of these speaking English as a second language,” Mr Irving said.

The ethnic make-up of the community dictates the format of the church which includes bilingual prayer times, shorter simple English Bible talks and plans for print copies of the sermon text.

Mr Mitchell says some of the mid-week Bible study groups and outreach events will be aimed at speakers of specific language groups.

“The concept of having Bible studies in people’s mother tongue provides a place they can communicate and learn more easily,” he says.

The church meets at Energy Australia’s Meadowbank Training Centre.

The leaders hope that within 12 months the church will have at least 50 adults meeting regularly, and that members will have visited 500 families in the area and ‘letterboxed’ 6000 homes.

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