Event Summary
(September 2022 to August 2023)
Theme of 2022: Having the Mind of Christ, Loving the Lord your God
| 3 Sep | Mandarin Congregation held a Mid-Autumn Festival gathering “Homecoming and Reunion” at 5 pm in church. |
| 3-4,10 Sep | 2022 Mission Convention outreach activities: An insight into refugee ministry through observing and experiencing M-community life. |
| 11 Sep | Cantonese Ministry held a welcoming lunch gathering after the CS2 service; his was followed by an introduction of pertinent fellowships to newcomers. |
| 18 Sep | 2022 AGM was held in Hall 1 with live streaming on YouTube at 2 pm – 3:30pm. Adopted last year’s AGM minutes/ministries reports/auditor report and annual budgets for 2022/23.Election of Elders for 2023-2025: Daniel Yeung, Jack Cheng, Patrick Or, Wayne Ng elected. Election of Deacons for 2023: Elected Deacons & *positions were as below: Pal Dou Chairperson/ Finance Administrator Iris Chung Vice Chair/Finance Administrator / Represent EMC/MES Alex Lei Secretary / Compliance Officer Betty Tu Secretary/Charity and Church Welfare Chris Tu Compliance Officer/Represent EMC/MES Ricky Li Finance Administrator/Represent CS2 and Cantonese Ministry Team John Leung Chief General Affairs – Church Property Insurance Management/ Represent CS1 and Cantonese Ministry Team Michael Du General Affairs – Worship Service Operation & Supply/Represent Mandarin Ministry Team and Worship Service Andrew Lam General Affairs – Worship Service Operation & Supply/Children Sunday School Carer Gary Chang General Affairs – Church Property Insurance Management/Represent Mandarin Ministry Team and Worship Service Ricky Choi Church IT & Website Management/Represent CS2 * Positions decided by mutual agreement during the Deacon Board meeting held in Jan 2023. Adopted 2022 Financial Report and 2023 Budget. |
| 25 Sep | After engaging in discussion, sharing and seeking God’s will, the BOE came to a resolution to appoint a recent applicant as Youth Pastor; the appointment to be proceeded after the appraisal of C&MA National Office and the approval by church members. |
| 2 Oct | A sharing meeting with senior pastor designate Rev Andrew Choy held in Hall 1 from 2pm to 4pm. |
| 7-9 Oct | Mandarin and English congregations jointly organised a church camp titled “Re-Connect”. |
| 13-14 Oct | Adults Sunday School Term 2 commenced. |
| 15 Oct | Church cleaning day was held from 9am to 1pm.The Chinese & Australian Baptist Church in West Ryde invited the Mandarin Congregation to attend the “Green Apple Festival” in Eastwood from 9:30am to 4 pm. |
| 23 Oct | The appointment of Rev Andrew Choy as Senior Pastor for a period of 2 years (1/1/2023-31/12/2024) was approved at the EGM held in Hall 1 from 2pm to 3pm. |
| 29 Oct | A retreat for pastors & elders was held from 9am to 4pm. |
| 6 Nov | A sharing meeting with the youth pastor designate was held in Hall 2 from 2pm to 3:30pm.A love feast titled “warmth of love, the taste of home” was held after the MS at 12:30 pm. |
| 22 Nov | The Mandarin Congregation commenced a devotional time “Shining Light in a Quite Night” in zoom for brothers from 8pm to 9pm on every Tuesday. |
| 27 Nov | The Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was held at 10:15am in Hall 1; the following items were approved by members. Appointment of Pastor Eric Lai as youth pastor for a 2-year term from February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2025; Reappointment of Pastor Hiram Lau as Cantonese pastor for a 3-year term from February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2026.The 2nd Baptism & Membership Ceremony in 2022 was held; 4 brothers & sisters were baptised plus 9 brothers & sisters transferred their memberships giving a total of 13 new church members. |
| 11 Dec | The Christian and Missionary Alliance of Australia approved Pastor Hiram Lau to be an ordained minister. Brother Thomas Yick shared the vision of mandarin ministry in Maitland in Hall 2 from 2pm-3:15pm. MMS held a “Christmas love feast” after the Sunday Service from 12:30pm to 2:00pm. |
| 18 Dec | MES held a Christmas Carol Service at 5pm with dinner afterwards. |
| 25 Dec | A combined Christmas Service for the all congregations was held at 10am-11:30am in Hall 1, Hall 2, and the Boardroom; followed by an end-of-year lunch from 12pm-2pm. |
Theme of 2023: Having the Mind of Christ, Loving your Neighbour as Yourself
| 1 Jan | After discussions among members of the EMC, Mandarin Ministry Committee and the Board of Elders, it was decided that the livestream broadcast of MES and MS services would be stopped effectively from January 2023 (recorded video still available online). Cantonese services would continue to have livestream broadcast until further notice. The 35th Anniversary Church Celebration Organising Committee had uploaded the recent survey results to the church website. Congregations were invited to join the various organising groups, and to provide suggestions. |
| 8 Jan | The Installation Service for Rev Andrew Choy as Senior Pastor was held at 2pm in Hall 1. |
| 15 Jan | The Elders and Deacons Induction ceremony was held at 10:15am in Hall. Board of Elders BOE MEMBER ROLE RESPONSIBLE MINISTRIES Rev Andrew Choy Chairperson Church direction, all congregations, worship/preaching arrangements, leadership training; Rev. Leo Kwan Member Cantonese ministry, Mission ministry, Fellowship ministry Rev Andrew Tibbs Member English Mistry, MES preaching arrangement; EM leadership training; Ps Hiram Lau Member Cantonese ministry, Children ministry, Luke Fellowship, Joshua Fellowship Ps Brock Li Member Mandarin Ministry; MM leadership training; Ps. Eric Lai Member Youth Ministry; youth leadership training; Elder Jack Cheng Secretary English ministry Committee, Song of Songs fellowship Elder Daniel Yeung Treasurer Ex-offico of BoD, Mandarin ministry, Mandarin fellowship groups Elder Wayne Ng Member CS2, Chair of mission ministry, Luke fellowship Elder Elder Kwok Wai Cheung Vice Chairperson CS1, Mission ministry, Paul & John fellowship Elder Patrick Or Member English ministry Committee, mission ministry, Caleb fellowship |
| 29 Jan | Two installation ceremonies for Cantonese Fellowship workers were held at the end of CS1 & in the middle of CS2 respectively. |
| 31 Jan-4 Feb | Rev Andrew Choy, Rev Leo Kwan, Pastor Li, Rev Andrew Tibbs and Pastor Eric Lai attended the annual C&MA General Council Meeting in Perth. |
| 1 Feb | Johnny Ma, a seminary student at Chinese Theological college of Australia, began his ministry internship in the Mandarin Congregation. |
| 7 Feb | Mandarin Congregation held their first discipleship programme titled “Following Christ, Making Disciples”. |
| 12 Feb | Installation ceremony for Children Sunday School teachers & helpers was held at the end of CS2. |
| 16-24 Feb | Adult Sunday School Term 1 commenced. |
| 25 Feb | Cantonese Fellowship leaders retreat held from 9am to 12pm. |
| 26 Feb | The Installation Service for youth pastor Eric Lai was held at 2pm in Hall 1. |
| 5 Mar | NSY held a coffee/bake breakfast fundraising event for KYCK before MES. Total amount raised was $1280.40. |
| 19 Mar | An offering of $2,637 was raised to support missionary family Y&G for establishing a rehabilitation clinic in their mission field. |
| 1 Apr | After deliberation, the BOE accepted a seminary student Raymond Wong to start a 1-year ministry internship in the Cantonese Congregation in April. Church cleaning day was held from 9am to 1pm. |
| 3 Apr | MES started their monthly prayer meeting (1st Monday) 8pm-9pm in Microsoft Teams. |
| 14-16 Apr | English ministry KYCK held at Katoomba Christian Convention Centre. |
| 30 Apr | Commissioning service for Jessie Wei was held at 2pm in Hall 1. |
| 7 May | At the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), Betty Ho, Errol Law, Deanna Or and Philemon Chan were elected to be members of the Nominating Committee for the next election of elders & deacons. |
| 20 May | A training workshop on “Working with Children with Additional Needs and Neurodiversity (1)” held in Hall 1 at 2-4pm. The speaker was Eunice Law, a sister in charge of the children ministry in Hebron Chinese Alliance Church. |
| 28 May | First Baptism & Membership Ceremony in 2023 was held; 4 brothers & sisters were baptised plus 2 brothers & sisters transferred their memberships giving a total of 6 new church members. |
| 18 Jun | Ordination Service for Pastor Hiram was held at 2pm in Hall 1. |
| 25 Jun | Baby/Child Dedication Ceremony. Baby/Toddler Parents Leah Zhong Matthew & Erika Zhong Elliot Hui Sam & Debbie Hui Ivana Wong Matthew & Pinky Wong |
| 1 Jul | A training session for deacons (Cantonese) was held 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm in Hall 1.As a way of better informing congregations of the church’s financial report, the bulletin from July would only include the monthly income and expenditure and mission donations. Further detailed donation reports could be viewed on the church noticeboard. Should you have any questions, please contact the deacons. |
| 9 Jul | A sharing session with Y & G was held 2pm-3pm in Hall 2. |
| 15 Jul | A combined church prayer meeting was held for all congregations in Hall 1 at 10am-12pm.Mandarin congregation launched a new bible study course “Blessed Life” for helping and nurturing new believers and seekers to know more about Christ. |
| 16 Jul | Mandarin Congregation News: Thankful to God for His grace and guidance that after more than half a year of praying and searching for a new location and with the approval of the BOE, Mandarin services would be relocated from Boronia Grove Community Centre to Roselea Public School on 549 North Rocks Road, Carlingford. Sunday worship service would still be held at 11am. A training session for deacons (English) was held 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. |
| 22 Jul | A musical event “Our Concert” jointly organised by Grace Melodia and co-organised by NSCAC held from 7:30pm to 9:00pm in church (Hall 1). |
| 28-29 Jul | C&MA Deeper Life Seminar 2 was held in church. Sessions included the following: Caring for our souls: Family Sin Patterns, Healing Wounds, Overcoming Fear, Getting Free from Strong Holds through prayer. |
| 30 Jul | A retreat for teacher assistants was held from 12:30pm to 4pm. |
| 12 Aug | A training workshop on “Working with Children with Additional Needs and Neurodiversity (2)” held in Hall 1 at 2-4pm. The speaker was Eunice Law, a sister in charge of the children ministry in Hebron Chinese Alliance Church. |
| 6-25 Aug | Adult Sunday School Term 2 commenced. |
| 27 Aug | To manage the church more efficiently, we have adopted a new church management system, Elvanto. |