Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 5)

Interview with Bishop Peter Tasker – 9 minutes. Part of a series of videos marking the 175th anniversary of St Mark’s – 16th July 2025.

175 Years of God’s Faithfulness in Picton.

**This interview is a part of a series to commemorate 175 years of St. Mark’s Anglican Church.**

When did you start attending church at St. Mark’s,  and what are some of your early memories of the church?

I started coming to St. Mark’s in about 1966. My mother and father, who lived in Redbank, in Upper Picton, got a housing commission down on Menangle Street. We moved from the Methodist church in Redbank to start attending St. Mark’s. I don’t have many memories of St. Mark’s at that stage because of being so young, but as time went on I went to Sunday School. There were no actual rooms for Sunday School: in one part of the church you’d have the first class, in another part you’d have the second class, in another part you’d have kindergarten…right up to the sixth class and high school. The members of the congregation in the morning would go outside and sit on stools and they would listen to the Rector give a sermon, while the children would have their Sunday Schools classes in the church building. In the mid-eighties there was a cottage set up (outside the church building). A friend of mine, Barry, and his wife, Denise, became the youth pastors, and they ran and based an outreach in the cottage, with their young family. The cottage is gone now but from that, about 10 or more young people became strong Christians and went off into ministry, as missionaries overseas with YWAM, and some also attended bible college. The best thing was, everybody that came to St. Mark’s was accepted for who they were. There was no groups of friends and such. Everybody was accepted, everybody was loved. What attracts people to church is, I believe, a strong group of Christians who are open to sharing and caring and accepting people.

What are some ways that the church engaged with the congregation and community during this time?

St. Mark’s in that time used to have missionary conventions. These were held in Victoria Park on Menangle Street, in the agricultural hall. It would run for one week, starting on a Saturday and finishing the following Saturday. Basically, every night they would have movies or a speaker from a different mission from around the world who would come and talk about a variety of things. Many people were saved because the Rector (of St. Marks) would give altar calls, where people could come and receive Jesus. The convention went on for about 20 years, from around 1956 to about 1976. There were thousands of people  visiting over the twenty years and many peoples’ lives were changed.

In the early seventies, the Rector, JB Schofield, bought a double decker bus, which the church paid for and looked after. That bus was used from about 1972, right up until JB retired in 2000. It was used for many different things: we went on Outback safaris to Coopers Creek and Cameron’s Corner; we went to South Australia and the Flinders Ranges and to Coonabarabran and the Warrenbungles. St. Mark’s was always a place that was exciting – there was always something happening. We were always doing something adventurous. The bus would collect kids from the high school, from year 7 to year 9. They would come down for 2 hours first thing in the morning to have a seminar in the church, where they would black the windows out to make it look like a picture theatre. The children weren’t “churched” at all, so, there was one time, I remember, when the lights came on, and one of the ushers – we had to have ushers to make sure the kids were under control – found a young couple having a pash! The church would be packed. Upstairs, downstairs… the Rector would sometimes show a movie and the kids loved it – it was getting out of school, it was something different, it was an excursion. That was held once a month on a Thursday. The bus and the fellowship and the friendship of people is what made St. Mark’s what it was, along with good bible teaching, prayer and leadership. Church has changed and people change; at the moment it is a different demographic, but who knows what’s going to happen in the next 10 years? It could all change again.

It’s amazing where St. Mark’s is today. Who knows what the next adventure is.

Interviewed by Rachel Winn.

Learn how to make a wood fired pizza from scratch while taste testing three different beers (and eating your pizza)! We will also be hearing about how Jesus has worked in the life of some of the men at Wilton Anglican.
*Dietary options available

When I was 6 years old, I asked Jesus into my heart, with the assurance that I would go to heaven to be with Jesus when I died. That was the way my Sunday School teachers explained it to me. As years went on, I wondered if somehow that childhood understanding was inadequate.
As more years have passed, and I’ve also understood myself a little better, I can see that God, who made me a person who experiences the world primarily through my feelings and my future-oriented thoughts, was reaching out to me to draw me to himself, in a way I could grasp – or take to heart.
Recently, I have been listening to an audiobook by Sam Alberry ‘One with My Lord: The Life-Changing Reality of Being in Christ‘ (it’s only 4h 16min). He writes about how he has come to see the many times the Scriptures speak of our union with Christ. That when we become a Christian, we are not only declared righteous through Christ’s death in our place, but we are made one with him!
I’ve had the words of the song ‘Christ is Mine Forevermore‘ going around in my head recently. A song about walking with the Lord, composed with a gentle walking rythym. Is Christ mine?  As I listened to this book, and read the Scriptures with the lenses that Sam Alberry says he can’t now help but wear, I see time after time mention of the Lord as ours – ours in a relationship like, but so much richer than earthly marriage. A union that cannot be broken!
Some words from the song that touched my heart:
‘And mine are keys to Zion city
Where beside the King I’ll walk
For there my heart has found its treasure
Christ is mine forevermore’
Yours in Christ,
Sharon

Let me tell you about our focus for the next few months as a Church, and how you can be involved:

—February – Training and Prayer: We’ll be running training for Bible Study leaders on Monday nights during February, and training for everyone in ‘Growing Conversations About Jesus’ on Thursday mornings and evenings. We hope you will join us in praying everyday for 3 friends to come to know Jesus and be saved.

—March – Conversations: During March we’ll keep praying and looking for opportunities to speak about Jesus with our friends. We’ll be re-launching our Bible study groups so we can encourage each other to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus and our life in him.

—April – Invitations: The following events will be great opportunities to invite the friends we’ve been praying for during February and March to come find out more about Jesus:

• 15 March – Colin Buchanan concerts at Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre
• 28-29 March – ‘Hope for the Illawarra’ – Youth, Kids and Adults Events at WIN Entertainment Centre – https://www.hopefortheillawarra.com.au/
• 5th April – Jesus, Beer and Pizza Men’s Event
• 12th April – Women’s Event
• 18-20th April – Easter Celebration Services

—May – Follow-up: Hope Explored Courses at both Picton and Wilton during May and June to help our friends find out more, make a commitment to Jesus and get connected at our Church.

We’d love you to be involved by coming along to our February training, and by committing to pray daily for your 3 friends.

Blessings,

Ben

NB: if you prefer to watch, instead of read, here is a link to this Budget 2025 announcement on YouTube here:

Picton and Wilton is a growing area with lots of people who need to hear about Jesus. We need to grow our Church and ministry in order to serve this growing population.
In 2021 we made the big decision to employ a full time assistant minister, doubling our expenses and setting ourselves a 5 year goal of becoming a sustainable 2 minister Church by 2026. We employed Scott Williams to invest in developing the youth and young adults ministry and build a team to plant a Wilton morning congregation.
We’ve seen incredible fruit flow from this decision:

• Friday night Youth Group has gone from strength to strength – with 34 youth attending KYCK this year!
• We’ve seen a growing group of teenagers and young adults involved and serving at the 5pm congregation.
• 10am Church was started last October, just over a year ago and has already welcomed many new families and individuals…
• We’ve been able to encourage and equip several young adults to pursue ministry, with 6 attending the MTS Recruit conference and Jake Pearse becoming our first full time MTS trainee.

Thanks for your generosity in both money, time, and prayer that has enabled all this to happen. We’ve tracked well towards our goal of having a surplus budget in 2026. In fact, things were going so well that we decided to employ Jake Pearse this year for 2 years as our first full time MTS trainee.
But over the last few years cost of living increases have changed the goalposts. Wages are currently increasing approximately 4% per year, and insurance costs are increasing 14% next year alone.
We’re doing our best to keep costs low – we have volunteers cleaning, helping our with administration and we’ve been successful in grant applications to fund projects.
In order to keep on track towards our goal we’re proposing a 20% increase in budgeted giving for 2025. If we achieve this we’ll have a small budget deficit next year and then a surplus budget in 2026.
We’re not imagining that everyone can increase their giving by 20%. Some of you are already giving as much as you’re able – we really appreciate your generosity. Some of you are regular givers but maybe haven’t reviewed your giving in the last few years – perhaps you could prayerfully consider how much you’re giving and make an adjustment. Some of you aren’t yet giving regularly – and we’d love you to consider investing.
So, as Parish Council plans for a 20% giving increase in 2025, we’d love your feedback. Please click on the button below to fill out our quick survey, or you can simply speak to someone on Parish Council if you prefer.
Yours in Christ,
Ben

About 6 months ago my ministry coach challenged me about the regularity of my Bible reading and prayer.  I confessed to him that the urgency of the to do list often meant I skipped over reading my Bible and praying in the mornings.  He asked me what I thought the consequences of that would be and helped me realise how much it mattered.
If I’m not regularly being refreshed by the Word of God, depending on him in prayer and growing in intimacy and love for my Lord Jesus, then I will over time dry out and become hollow.  My ministry will be hypocritical and ineffective and I’ll burn out because my motivation will be all muddled.  This will have a huge impact on our Church and on the lives of hundreds of you.  It matters a lot that I keep up these healthy spiritual disciplines.  I’ve enjoyed being more consistent in reading my bible and praying and the confidence and joy in Jesus that has given me.
I want to ask you: how are you going at reading your Bible and praying regularly?  Have you stopped to think about how much it really matters and what the consequences will be if you don’t do something about it?  What will be the consequences on your children if you can’t be their healthy spiritual leader?  What will be the consequences on your friends and family if you aren’t encouraging them towards life in Christ.
It really matters – so what are you going to do about it?
Yours in Christ,
Ben

Our Church is not a social club – we have a purpose. We are part of God’s great plan, helping people to find Life in Christ. This plan is urgent and vital. Without Christ we will face God’s judgement and condemnation. Jesus offers, not just forgiveness, but peace with God, hope and purpose.

Life in Christ comes primarily by the work of God’s Word and Spirit in our lives as we encourage each other to repent and trust in Christ. This is the heart of all of the activities and groups that we run.

Our core activity is the Sunday gathering of God’s people in our three Church congregations. But as these congregations grow, its hard to facilitate deep relationships of trust and accountability. Our mid-week Bible Study groups are a great way for these deep relationships to form and for deliberate discipleship and encouragement to take place.

At present, less than 50% of our Church members are in Bible study groups. Some people aren’t in groups because they don’t have time, some because they fear groups will be too academic and boring (they have ‘study’ in the name after all), and some for other reasons. We believe these groups can be really helpful and so we want to make a deliberate effort in term 1 2025 to invest in the leaders of our groups and to encourage more of our members to join a group.

The plan looks like this:

Rest of 2024 – PREPARE: Survey members to understand the barriers to joining a group and investigate how to make the groups the best they can be with the outcome of Christian growth, not just ‘bible study’.

February 2025 – TRAIN: a month dedicated to training current and potential group leaders, and encouraging everyone to consider joining a group.

March 2025 – RELAUNCH: We’ll relaunch our groups with more support for leaders and hopefully a greater participation rate.

Please pray that this plan to relaunch groups will help us in our purpose of people finding Life in Christ. We look forward to hearing your feedback on all this and working together as God’s people in Picton and Wilton.

Yours in Christ,

Ben

People are like lego blocks. Each person only has a limited number of connections that they can really sustain in their lives. A standard piece might have 6 close friendships in its life, but then there are those really long and skinny pieces that can maintain 10, or the short ones that only have space for 2.

Over time, our connections fill up and we simply don’t have room for any more friendships in our lives. When a new person joins our community they find a lot of friendly faces, but they might find it very difficult to make friends. It’s not our fault, all our connections are taken.

The hard fact is that for our Church to grow, newcomers need to make friends, not just find people ‘friendly’. This might require the multiplying of congregations or bible study groups, or even the easing of long-held friendships, to open up our connections to others. This is a painful but necessary process if we are truly intent on sharing the great gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and growing his Kingdom.

You might not have made a new friend for a while, so this might be a little scary, but start simple and invite them over for lunch – find out what interests them and see where it goes.

Most of all, think about how you can place Jesus at the centre, we’re not a social club – we’re God’s people. Why not offer to pray at the end of an evening meal discussion? Or read the Bible when you meet to catch up? Let’s not limit ourselves to being ‘friendly’, let’s be friends!

Being a welcoming Church is not just about who’s on the roster at the door – it’s about setting a culture of welcoming newcomers, seeking to build them up in Christ and incorporate them into our family. It’s our responsibility – all of us.

Yours in Christ,

Ben