The Big Change: September 2006

Webmaster | 29 August 2006

Font size: + - | print | email to a friend

ERIC FU
Auburn Gracepoint Church

My family is not very religious; although my dad believes in Buddhism, my mother and elder brother are both indifferent. I grew up in Hong Kong and spent the first ten years of my life there. As a child I went to a Catholic primary school where I first learnt the history of Christianity. Back then I was not too sure about the whole thing; it seemed more like a story or fairytale. As I went through my teenage years I was taught in high school science class Darwin’s theory of evolution, and that life has existed for millions of years. These kinds of theories were ingrained in my head and tested in exams, and soon enough they were treated as facts.

In a world that seemed focused on rapid advances in science and flying saucers, I pretty soon forgot about God. Eventually I thought what was important was to live a good life and have a good character. Having said that, I did pray every so often.

At the back of my mind I have always believed in supernatural forces in this world that cannot be explained by science.

My friend told me about a series called Introducing God his church was about to start.

Thinking I had nothing to lose and wanting to discover more, I decided to give it a try. The first night I attended the series I was amazed to find a long-lost friend who greeted me at my table. It would have been more than ten years since we last saw each other while studying Japanese in Saturday school! Looking back now it was amazing to know that God cares and how he unites people in the most unexpected ways.

The course was a catalyst for me to think seriously about the subject of God, Jesus and the significance of his death and resurrection. It’s not often you get the chance to analyse this subject. As Dominic Steele outlined God’s story each week, I had serious questions. I went to some of my Christian friends to talk about it and started doing some research on my own.

Pretty soon I discovered that Jesus didn’t only exist in the world of Christianity, but that there are references to him in ancient Jewish and Muslim literature. I also discovered that the things that separates the three religions are their beliefs about the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Christ. I was sceptical about the resurrection, initially thinking perhaps Jesus’ disciples hid his body. However if there was any deception, it wouldn’t have made sense for all the apostles to then subsequently go to their deaths defending their belief in Jesus’ resurrection. This applied even to the most sceptical disciple, Peter.

Darwin’s theory of evolution seems to suggest that life is simply an accident, and therefore our existence also appears to be nothing more than a random event. However, knowing the complexity in the structure of a strand of DNA and the volume of information contained in a form so small, it is easy for one to marvel at the beauty of life. It is so intricate and complex that it would require great intelligence and design for it to be created. If one was to discover a skyscraper in the middle of a desolate planet, would you claim that it was a random chance creation from millions of years of erosion from a block of metal, or would you think that there was intelligence behind its design?

I realised I needed to dismiss Jesus as a lunatic or liar, or accept that he loved me and died for me, paying the price for my rejection of God.

Eric’s story first appeared in Introducing God: Meeting the God who loves us by Dominic Steele with Melinda Chiew (Bible Society, Evangelism Ministries, Christians in the Media, City Bible Forum, 2006).

VACANT PARISHES
Parishes and provisional parishes vacant or becoming vacant as at 18 August 2006.

GEORGES RIVER REGION
Bankstown*, Canterbury with Hurlstone Park*, Lakemba*, Oatley West, Panania

NORTH SYDNEY REGION
Eastwood, Lavender Bay, Normanhurst
Roseville East

SOUTH SYDNEY REGION
Cooks River, Eastgardens*, Pyrmont*, South Sydney*, Strathfield and Homebush, Summer Hill*

WESTERN REGION
Blackheath, Cambridge Park, Emu Plains

WOLLONGONG REGION
Austinmer, Caringbah, Glenquarie*, Jannali

* denotes provisional/Archbishop appointments

CLERGY CHANGES

From Ridley College to the Hills
The Rev Dr Stephen Abbott will commence as the rector of West Pennant Hills with Cherrybrook later this month.

Dr Abbott is currently a lecturer in Pastoral Ministry at Ridley College in the Diocese of Melbourne where he teaches subjects on Evangelism, Biblical Theology of Mission and Church Growth.

He has been there since 2000.

Dr Abbott was ordained in Sydney in 1978, serving as an associate minister at St Luke’s, Miranda.

He then spent 1989 to 1992 as the Associate Rector for Evangelism at St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh.

Dr Abbott served with the Department of Evangelism as a Church Consultant in Evangelism and Church Growth from 1992 to 2000.
He is married to Sue.

From Jakarta to Sydney’s south west

The Rev David O’Mara has returned to Sydney with his wife Cheryl and children Benjamin, Joseph and Peter to commence his role as curate-in-charge of Sadleir from August 27. The O’Maras were previously CMS missionaries at All Saints’ Anglican Church, Jakarta, since 2004. Mr O’Mara has previously served in Kenya and Broome. “It’s good to be back in Sydney. I’m looking forward to the new challenge of cross-cultural ministry here in Sadleir,” Mr O’Mara says.

GENERAL APPOINTMENTS

New CMS appointment
Denis McIntyre joins CMS in October as Mission Education Secretary for Georges River, Wollongong and Canberra and Goulburn Regions. Mr McIntyre and wife Anne were missionaries with CMS for over 20 years, working in Japan with the Diocese of Osaka. Since returning to Sydney, Mr McIntyre has looked after a small Japanese congregation in Killara, taught English as a second language and been an assistant minister at the parish of Pitt Town. Mr McIntyre is looking forward to promoting overseas mission amongst the churches and the need for prayerful and financial support of CMS. “We want Christians to see that mission is not optional but in the nature of the church and a calling for some Christians,” he says.

Regional youth appointment
Stephen Flanagan has recently been appointed as coordinator of the Children’s and Youth Taskforce for the Georges River Region. “I will be talking to the parishes making funding applications and supporting Youthworks College students from the region,” he says. Mr Flanagan is the parish youth worker at Belmore with McCallums Hill and Clemton Park.

VALE

Allan Dumbrell 1922-2006
The Rev Allan Dumbrell passed away on July 21. He was 83. Mr Dumbrell was ordained in the Diocese of Newcastle in 1948 where he went on to serve in the parishes of Mayfield, Singleton, The Entrance, Aberdeen and Sarina. In 1964 he moved to Sydney Diocese, serving as a curate at Kogarah. From 1967 Mr Dumbrell served with the Missions to Seafarers until his retirement in 1987.

BOARDS AND COUNCILS

Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry Committee
Archbishop Peter Jensen appointed to the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples’ Ministry Committee the following persons – indigenous: Ray Minniecon, Sharon Minniecon, Ann Jawai, the Rev Neville Naden, Jim Lawrence, Jenny Shillingsworth and Mr Michael Maher – and non-indigenous: Archdeacon Geoff Huard, Archdeacon Ken Allen, Archdeacon Deryck Howell, the Rev David Woodbridge, Tom Mayne and the Rev Dr Greg Anderson (from January 1 2007).

Camperdown Cemetery Trust
The following people were appointed as trustees of Camperdown Cemetery Trust for a period of two years – the Rev Peter Rodgers, Frank Gehrmann, Stephen Rapley, Hector Abrahams, Derek Williams, Jeff Thompson and Deborah Leitch.

Tara Anglican School for Girls
The Rev Ian Wood was elected to the Council of Tara Anglican School for Girls.

Macarthur Anglican School
Annabelle Michie was elected to the Macarthur Anglican School Council.

Click here to comment on this article for the next edition of Southern Cross