The little church that could

Joseph Smith | 25 June 2007

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With new assistant minister and four congregations, St Cuthbert’s, South Carlton may seem like a very vibrant church – and it is. But this was not always so.

When the Rev Guy Matthews arrived in 1999, the church was in a delicate position. It had just lost an assistant minister due to a lack of funding and contained relatively few young people.
The biggest congregation was the traditional 8:30am service, with about 50 regulars, and there was also a 10am family church and a small 7pm congregation.

Guy says the need for an assistant minister became apparent within a couple of years as the church reached a plateau in growth. However, without a second house and little income beyond congregational giving, raising the money was a problem.

“What spurred me on was a casual conversation with Archbishop Peter Jensen three years ago, when he did some sums on the back of a paper napkin and suggested that we should put on an assistant minister!” Guy says.

The church first put on a part-time children’s minister and started a 5pm family service and the church began to see slow growth.

“I explained to the congregation that we could not continue to grow unless we had another full-time minister. We asked our members to pledge money and were given a $10,000 grant from the region. In God’s providence and through the generosity of the congregation we were able to raise all the money we needed,” Guy says.

The addition of Andrew Price as assistant means both men can now have a greater focus on fewer ministries. Andrew has responsibility for the 7pm youth congregation – now the biggest – oversees children’s ministry, and shares a responsibility with Guy for the 5pm family congregation. Guy is now spends more time with lay ministry training and seniors’ ministry.

In his first year out of college, Andrew is thrilled to be finally doing full-time ministry. “It’s so nice to finally get into what I’ve been building up to and where my heart is at,” he says.

Three other churches in the region have added extra staff this year. St George’s, Hurstville have a young adults minister, the Rev Cam Phong. Smithfield Road have two new assistants: Phil McMurray who is focusing on preaching, men’s ministry and families; and children’s pastor Craig Thacker. Fairfield with Bossley Park have a new assistant, the Rev Stephen Frederick.

Parish in Focus: St Cuthbert’s, South Carlton

A thumbnail sketch

When the rector of St Cuthbert’s, South Carlton, the Rev Guy Matthews arrived in 1999, the church had recently lost an assistant minister due to the lack of funding and it had three small services.

St Cuthbert’s now has four small congregations, is growing with a total membership of around 230 and has been able to put on an assistant minister, the Rev Andrew Price.

“Our older congregation is declining but our family and children and
youth ministry has grown significantly over the years I have been here,” Guy says.
Guy is optimistic about the future.

“We still have room to grow in each of our congregations and under God I can’t see why St Cuthbert’s shouldn’t keep growing so that we have to plan for a third full-time minister.”

Local challenges

Guy says for growth to occur, the church must be seen by the community as relevant, welcoming and vibrant.

“So we need to change and adapt as necessary. This is all the more important in the Georges River Region because of its ever-growing non-Anglo population,” he says.

Andrew Price says he has already seen the members of St Cuthbert’s take risks and try new things in order to get the gospel out into the community.

“We recently held a ‘Play Loud Extreme Fair’ to showcase the various programs we offer families here at church but also to meet people from the community and in some cases, chat to them about Jesus.”

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