Holroyd Christian Ministers' Fellowship -  2009 Activity Report

Presented at the Annual Meeting February 23rd 2010 by Max Dundas (President)

HCMF‘s 2009 has seen the maintenance of what has become our usual annual program.      The summary below is intended to document the year's program for our reflection and thanksgiving and as a means of reminding us all of the range of ways in which we serve our Lord, each other and our Holroyd community.

The most regular of our programs was the THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER TIME.  This has been going now for some 13 years.  Each Thursday @ 8am we met at Wentworthville Baptist Church, then retiring to Pemulwuy Gloria Jean’s at around 9am.  A group of 5+ met regularly.  It was a time of prayer for our city and churches as well as offering connection, personal support and encouragement. 

Perhaps the ‘largest’ ministry in which we shared is our SRE work.  Our Holroyd Special Religious Education Board employs and supervises coordinators working one day a week in each of our Holroyd State High Schools.  This enables SRE classes and seminar ministry in each school as well as lunchtime meetings and student and staff contact.  Our Board also employs a Primary SRE Liaison Officer for 1 day a week serving individual church SRE ministry in State Primary Schools and assisting us with the ‘big picture’ of Holroyd Primary SRE.

Civic Ministry.     A HCMF member again opened each fortnightly Holroyd City Council Meeting with a prayer and one of us addressed each of the 11 Holroyd Citizenship Ceremonies.  These offer us a valuable opportunity to connect with Councillors and Council Officers, as well as the hundreds of new citizens making the Holroyd district their home.

As a further component of our Civic ministry, we once again organised the annual  Holroyd Mayoral Prayer Dinner.  In 2009 people from over a dozen local churches met with the largest representation of Politicians, Councillors, and Council Officers in 30+ years for the dinner at Merrylands RSL - this year featuring an address from retiring Catholic Bishop Kevin Manning of Parramatta diocese.

A number of individual churches maintained ministry to Holroyd’s aged population.  Together we maintained a weekly service at Southern Cross Homes, Cardinal Gilroy Village in Merrylands and the Southern Cross Apartments in Greystanes.  And monthly chapel at Merrylands Care and Genista High Care centres.

Two RETREATS were again part of our 2009 program.  In March, four of us shared 3 days together for fellowship, reflection and ‘peer-mentoring’ at Budgewoi. This was followed up with a single day at the Edmund Rice Retreat centre at Winbourne in October.  11 of us were able to share a morning devotional reflection and a discussion on what we saw as the strengths in our various Christian traditions.  The invitation to the Day Retreat included significant other church leaders in our churches.  The goals of enriched fellowship were achieved in both.  For 2010 we are planning on a second local single day retreat to replace the 3-day Budgewoi time.

The regular Combined Church Services for the year included:

·                the HSRE Commissioning Service hosted by Fellowship of Christ;

·                A very well-attended Day of Pentecost Service hosted by Holroyd New Life Church;

·                Our usual Third service for the year somehow got lost midst the host of Jesus All About Life activities amongst many of the HCMF churches.

Our regular bi-monthly HCMF meetings continued throughout the year providing opportunity for lunch fellowship, catching up, and attention to administrative and common interest themes.

The State-wide Jesus All About Life campaign saw many local churches organising special outreach activities and tagging some more regular ministries with the JAAL logo.

HCMF’s annual Christmas meal together was again hosted by Gerry and Helen.  This was once again a wonderful, popular time of fellowship with an attendance of around 30.

A HCMF Website was again maintained by our secretary Brian, and regular mail-outs served as an invaluable means of easily keeping in touch and publicising various programs of common interest.  Brian and Michelle’s maintenance of the Holroyd Christian churches contact database has also served us well.

When viewed as a whole, this is a most significant ministry we share together.  It is made possible as we catch and maintain the vision of The Holroyd Christian Church and our responsibility to serve our community, and the wider world, at least in part, by demonstrating (observable) LOVE (Jn 13:35).

Secretary’s endnote: the obvious omission in this Report is an acknowledgment of the many, many hours our President has put in to maintain and develop the many streams of service available to us as the Christian community of Holroyd district, that celebrates our common faith in Lord Jesus Christ, and our common mission – to present our Saviour before the community of Holroyd in a manner worthy of ‘good ambassadors’.  Whether it’s been rosters being organised and monitored, services and activities being planned, ministers and community people being followed up, or just being an example of good-quality Christian fellowship….. thank you, Max.