By Steve Gardner / Senior Minister, St Paul’s Canterbury
Over the years, we at St Paul’s Canterbury have often prayed that God would give us eyes to see our neighbours and our suburbs the way Jesus did: with compassion. We have often asked him to grow in us a heart for the lost. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in our church, God has grown a particular concern for reaching some of our city’s most marginalised people.
A ministry of reconciliation
At St Paul’s, we talk about being a church for all people. That’s not a catchphrase or a cute vision statement, but a firmly held theological conviction earthed in the gospel. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5 have greatly shaped our church’s approach to outreach:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:16-21)
We believe the ministry of reconciliation given to Paul should continue to shape the life of ordinary local churches like ours. Teresa Anderson, a longstanding member of St Paul’s, put it like this: “The more time we spend with God in prayer and meditation on his living word, the more God shapes our hearts to see others as he sees them—with compassion—which should lead us to serve others selflessly.”
As Christ’s ambassadors, we see the appeal to be reconciled to God as something that the local church does in word and deed. We proclaim the gospel of Jesus, imploring people to be reconciled with God, and we seek to offer them an experience of what new creation and reconciled relationships can look like.
Like many churches, we do that in a range of ways—in ministries like playgroups, food drives, kids holiday programs, English classes, and so on. But we also do this in two particular ministries to marginalised people: inmates and sex workers.
Ministry to inmates
For eight years, we have worked with inmates from Long Bay Correctional Centre who come to our property to do general maintenance. We have a small team of church members who offer them real food and friendship. (It’s not a coincidence, but a tangible answer to prayer that when we asked for helpers for this ministry, Teresa put up her hand.)
We have been given many opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with these men, and often have been presented with opportunities to pray for them and their supervisor. It’s not uncommon for the supervisor to send us prayer points for himself and his inmates.
What impact is this ministry having? Teresa says, “I’ve seen our Long Bay friends’ hearts soften by our acceptance of them and us seeing them as equal before the Lord. Also, the majority of the community service workers admit to the consequence of their sin. It’s very humbling to witness this.”
Ministry to sex workers
We are also a part of a network of churches called Together for Canterbury-Bankstown. Through this initiative, an opportunity arose to start a ministry to sex workers in our local government area. This ministry is called Rahab.
Rahab Canterbury alone has 11 venues. Women from St Paul’s, St Alban’s Belmore and Embassy Church Punchbowl visit women in brothels on a Thursday morning, bringing gifts, and offering friendship and prayer. Rearne Gray, who leads the team and who serves at Embassy Church, shares,
The intention of the Rahab ministry is to become a gospel presence in the lives of sex workers within the local government area, since workers in this industry are among the most vulnerable and unreached in Australia.
The long-term goal of this ministry is to visit all willing establishments in the local government area regularly, to develop initiatives that meet the needs of women working in or adjacent to the sex work industry in Canterbury-Bankstown, and to mobilise Christian women across Canterbury-Bankstown towards ownership and engagement in ministries assisting the most vulnerable and marginalised women and children in our area.
So far, the team has distributed over 500 gifts and holds ongoing visits with around 50 vulnerable women. Only once have they ever been turned away. The team has had opportunities to pray with women, share Jesus with them and hand out Bibles. Our hope and prayer is that through the witness of ordinary local churches in our area, many of these women might come to know the light and love of Jesus.
We asked God to give us eyes to see our suburbs as Jesus would. He is answering that prayer and giving ordinary saints the courage and creativity to reach the lost. These ministries are not easy (no ministry is), but they’re very simple: it’s the people of God demonstrating love in practical ways and sharing Christ’s love with others.
Steve Gardner graduated from Moore College in 2012.
Prayer points
- Thank God for answering the prayers of the saints at St Paul’s Canterbury and for the amazing work he is doing in the lives of Long Bay Correctional Centre inmates and sex workers in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area.
- Ask God to sustain the teams who work in these ministries and bless them with wisdom as they demonstrate his love to the lost.
- Ask God to raise up more workers for these rich harvest fields.
