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After 25 years of ministry as a parish without property, Cherrybrook Anglican Church (CAC) stands as testimony to God’s faithfulness. Parishioners past and present gathered on 16th October to celebrate CAC’s ministry to Cherrybrook and beyond.
Beginning as a plant from St Matthew’s West Pennant Hills, the first service was held in a parishioner’s living room in 1997. Since then, the church has grown to meet weekly at Cherrybrook Community Centre and was recognised as a stand-alone parish in 2002.
In that time, CAC has ministered to the local community through its weekly services, Anglicare Food Drive and support of SRE in local schools. Some members of the church have commenced full time ministry, and a substantial cohort has participated in short term or long-term missions across New South Wales, to Katherine in the Northern Territory, Nepal and Indonesia. The parish continues to support missionaries working in Australia and overseas.
A video message to the congregation from Archbishop Raffel was played in which he said that he was “joining you in thanking God for his grace and faithfulness to you and to that community through the life of Cherrybrook Anglican Church”. Archbishop Raffel also said that “I thank God for those who have come to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour over the past 25 years and for all those who have served the Lord in making known his excellencies”.
As well, messages of greetings and congratulations were played from:
• Chris Edwards, Bishop of the Northern Sydney region;
• Mike and Kate Dawborn, former parishioners who are now working with Youth With A Mission in Townsville; and • Andrew Kyrios, who will commence as CAC’s new rector in January next year.
Jessica Payne, a member of the parish since her birth one day before CAC began, gave a compelling testimony of God’s faithfulness to her during her childhood and into adulthood.
Former rector, Gavin Poole, returned to preach on 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 and reminded us that although we are just jars of clay without a church building, we hold the treasure of the gospel. The messenger is not the treasure, rather the message is the treasure and the message is that God “has made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ”.
Mr Poole taught us that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, as shown in his life and in his rising from death. Therefore, even if our church appears to be weak and unimpressive, our value as a church is in proclaiming Jesus and letting him shine brightly in us.
Prayers giving thanks for the past 25 years and asking for faithfulness to God in the next 25 years were also said. Following the service, current and former parishioners caught up to reminisce about the ministry that CAC has conducted to date.
– Philip Davis Cherrybrook Anglican Church
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