New Dean of Geraldton

Cathedral members are rejoicing at the news that the Revd Lachlan Edwards has been appointed the new Dean of Geraldton.

Lachlan and his wife Bec have spent the past decade ministering in Sydney at Christ Church Lavender Bay and Fig Tree Anglican Church.

They are thankful to be returning to the place where they served after graduating from Trinity Theological College in Perth.

Lachlan says: “You can leave the North West, but the North West never really leaves you.

“Since leaving the Diocese of NW Australia in 2012 after 7+ years of ministry in Dongara/Mingenew, Broome and Exmouth, God has kept this special place in our hearts and prayers and has now shoulder tapped us again.

“We’re looking forward to connecting with friends old and new, especially in the Cathedral and the Greater Geraldton region. But most of all, like all the faithful NW fellow workers, we are looking forward to serving the Lord in this vast remote diocese.

“Although the distances are far, the fellowship in the diocese is close. Although the desert places are barren the gospel brings new life. Although the harvest fields, fishing grounds and mine sites may be places of plenty, the kingdom of heaven is the single greatest treasure.

“We are looking forward to putting our hand to the plow with other fellow workers in the North West once again.”

Cathedral Warden, Martin Balinger, said the congregation was deeply thankful to the Revd David and Lorraine Seccombe who have graciously and sacrificially lead the Cathedral during an 18 month interregnum.

David is a wise, godly and humble servant of the Lord Jesus and we have benefitted greatly from his preaching, teaching, encouragement and fellowship. Lorraine is a wise, loving, generous and faithful woman of God. We thank God for bringing this couple to Geraldton and for sustaining them to ‘run the race’. They have been a great blessing to many.

Seafarers welcome Chaplain Steve

Steve Combe recently achieved a long-held dream when he was cleared to board his first ship as Chaplain to Seafarers.

 The seafarers on board also welcomed the contact, something that stopped more than two years ago when shore leave ended in the pandemic.

Steve said it was a privilege to be invited on board, to have the opportunity to talk and pray with seafarers and give them copies of the Bible.

There is so much opportunity for these guys to hear about Jesus but they are restricted in their mechanisms to hear the good news and so seafaring chaplaincy is such an important ministry.

Steve said that he has wanted to do ‘chaplaincy on water’ ever since he joined the Royal Australian Navy 15 years ago.

He completed theological study after leaving the military and until last year was serving at Broome Anglican Church before moving to Karratha/Dampier in 2022.

“The pidgin English I learned to speak with Aboriginal people in the Kimberley has been really helpful,” he said.

“English is the official maritime language worldwide, so seafarers have to have some English to function at sea.

“I find the simplified English I used in Broome is useful when talking with Chinese or Indian or other non-English speaking nationalities.

“Because of my Navy background, I can understand a little of their life and challenges in being away from home for months and months.

Please pray for limits on shore leave to be lifted so they can escape the confines of the ship and enjoy some rest and recreation.

Port Hedland prays for salvation

People at St Matthew’s Port Hedland are praying that God will use their outreach activities to grow his church in their town.

Revd Eion Simmons said most members of the church had been in town for less than 12 months but were keen to share the good news of the gospel with friends who don’t know salvation through Jesus.  

“Last year we held three evangelistic evenings.  The first was a dinner, movie and talk about ‘Christ, the Ransom for all’.

“In preparation for our second evening, we asked church members to write the names of local unbelievers to pray for. We had a wonderful response and prayed for 51 people – that they might come along! We held a curry evening, with a talk about ‘Forgiveness from God’ and watched the movie ‘I Can Only Imagine’.”

The year ended with an outreach Carol Service.

Eion said that the church was united by the gospel which “is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe” (Romans 1:16). Their prayer is that, like Paul, they would not be ashamed of the gospel.

“It was wonderful to see these evangelistic events unite our church family in prayer for the work of proclaiming the gospel. They helped us grow in boldness and being unashamed of the gospel.

“God graciously answered our prayers for unbelievers to come and hear the gospel, and now we pray God will bring spiritual life.”

This year the church will do some equipping with personal evangelism training and hold more outreach events.

New Mission to Seafarers Chaplain

With a variety of ministry experience under his belt, our new Chaplain at Mission to Seafarers Geraldton is well suited to the role.

Peter Schendzielorz, who has previously served in the multicultural western suburbs of Sydney, worked with the Anglican mission agency CMS in Perth and in AFES student ministry on university campuses, says he has a passion to share Jesus with everyone, including seafarers.

“Seafarers work hard, spending months at sea, away from family and their local community. Amidst the challenges, there is comfort to be offered to them in the gospel which transcends the difficulties and distance of life at sea.

“God’s comfort is accessible at times when their families or other supports are not. You can pray to God anywhere. You can read the Bible on land or at sea.”

As Peter begins in this new role, he says it's a privilege to care for seafarers but is aware that each meeting is precious.

“We may only have a brief encounter with a seafarer during their shore leave, at the gangway or through online communication, so we have to make the most of every opportunity.

“It’s more a ministry of planting and watering, rather than reaping the harvest.

“I want to encourage everyone that cross-cultural ministry is not as hard as you may think. Overseas visitors are often keen to meet locals, and from a ministry perspective, they are often more open to talking about spiritual matters.”

But it's an important work amongst people seeking hope, and reflects Jesus' ministry of calling fishermen to follow him – as they ask in John 6 – ‘Where else have we to go?  You [Jesus] have words of eternal life?’

Peter became aware of the need and opportunities for gospel workers in the North West when he visited in 2007 as part of an SMBC student mission. He and his wife Kate were also drawn by gospel mindedness and warm fellowship he had experienced among NW ministry workers throughout the diocese.

New Minister from UK

Gospel ministry in the North West has become international, with the recruitment of a minister from England helping to overcome the challenge of filling vacant parishes.

Allan Baird, with his wife Jo and family, were invited from the Cotswolds in England to join the North West team as Assistant Minister at Dongara Anglican Church.

Bishop Gary explained: “Ministry in the North West has a range of difficulties which deter people - including isolation, extreme weather and transient populations. Add to that the shortage of ministers Australia-wide and a drop in number of students undertaking theological study, and we realised we needed a different approach to find workers.”

Allan heard about the opportunity through Ridley College, where he had studied online, and was delighted to move from St Luke’s in Cheltenham to join the North West team.

Allan became a Christian while at Pembroke College in Oxford and is grateful to have been discipled by people like Vaughan Roberts. However, he is concerned that the Church of England is turning away from its gospel roots.

“Jo and I are looking forward to serving here in a diocese which is biblical and gospel- focussed. It’s a joy to be in a situation where the gospel workers all share the same theological understanding and commitment.”

 Allan is part of the North West Ministry Training Program and says he is grateful for supervision from wise-heads.

“I pray that I can exercise a faithful, gentle, biblical ministry week by week. Dongara is a small, rural fishing community – not unlike some places in England. It’s a town where things don’t happen overnight.

“A key struggle for the church has been reaching into the community. There have been many initiatives over the years but there is perhaps a feeling that there hasn’t been much gospel fruit.

“So, for us there is a ministry of encouraging and persevering and we’d value your prayers.”  

EQUIPPING FOR MINISTRY

Bluff Point Assistant Minister Brendan Hurley is equipping the saints for ministry through a course called Entrust. It aims to help people grasp the ‘big picture’ of God’s plan for humanity as revealed in His word.

Jean Davidtz signed up because of her desire to win people for Christ but a feeling that she lacked the necessary ability or courage.

 “There are so many people who need to hear God’s word, to hear about Jesus and his love for them.  I want to develop a deeper understanding of God’s word and learn how I can reach out to others.”

Brendan’s desire is to build up ‘a big team of people to spread the gospel in Geraldton’ and the Entrust course, which includes tools for understanding the Bible faithfully and accurately, is one way of equipping our Christian community.

 The course reflects Paul’s encouragement in the Bible to Timothy to intentionally train others as we read in 2 Tim 2:2 - “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful people, who will be able to teach others also.”

Please pray for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, especially through the Entrust program.

Share the gospel month

Kununurra Minister Daniel Faricy recently lead a ‘Share the gospel month’ to give people a launchpad to invite their friends to consider the claims of Christ.

The congregation was delighted that 12 people came to their outreach event and others came to a Sunday service, where some big questions were asked, such as ‘How can a good God allow good people to suffer?’

Daniel said: “We are a tourist town with visitors coming to church every week and I seek to preach the gospel clearly every Sunday.

“Sharing our faith is something we ought to be doing all the time but it’s also helpful to have a focussed time to give people a boost to share the good news that brings salvation.”

Perhaps most significantly, many church members stepped outside their comfort zone and, for the first time, invited friends to hear Jesus’ offer of salvation. There has also been a greater commitment to pray for the lost, and for evangelism to become part of the church’s DNA. 

Daniel said the idea followed a difficult year (2020) for the church after one-third of members left Kununurra due to Covid-19 and energy levels around town and in the church were low.

Daniel began by strengthening people from God’s word in the lead up, preaching through 1 Corinthians 1-4 and reminding people of the message of the cross that is the power and wisdom of God.\ 

People embraced three aims during the month: to invite a friend to church; invite a friend to the outreach curry night; invite a friend to a meal and pray for the opportunity to share the gospel with them. The curry night was a highlight and generated much thankfulness to God.

Stepping out in faith

Karratha Anglican Church used lockdown to kick off a program to evangelise their city.

Minister Frank Nicol said the congregation spent 12 months in preparation, trying simple things with the aim of leading up to an outreach event and a course for enquirers.

 “When lockdown first hit in 2020 I thought, ‘Wait a minute, let’s make the most of this time and start planning church life,” said Minister Frank Nicol.

A small team began by reading the book The Vine Project and putting together a simple plan which they shared with the church.

“This helped get everyone on the same page – united around the desire to share their faith in Jesus with non-believing friends and family.

“We started by encouraging people to focus on being Christian in their daily life, at work and in the community. So, we did simple things like invite friends to join us on a church day out at Python Pool.”

People committed to praying regularly for each other to have opportunities to personally share the gospel with specific named friends.

“Separate to this, we have a young guy who is a natural evangelist and so a couple of us decided to try some walk-up evangelism. People were much keener to chat than you might think. 

“Follow up conversations naturally occur because Karratha is not big and so we keep seeing people around town

“Our big activity was a Q and A event in a local bar which focussed on the topic of Christianity and suffering, and how Jesus is our hope in the pain.”

Eight non-believers came and there was a very positive response with genuine interest in the topic from guests. Frank said it was also an opportunity to show the local community that it was possible to have respectful conversations about controversial views – or even about taboo issues – and not damage friendships.  

Finally, the church held Christianity Explored with six non-believers. Wonderfully, one person who had been investigating the claims of Christ for about a year, decided after the course that she was ready to commit to follow Jesus. We praise God that the church family will soon celebrate her baptism! 

“We thank God for the way He used our simple steps to strengthen our little church and to encourage each of us to overcome our fears and share the words of eternal life with people who are without hope,” Frank said.