Children Sunday School
Lemon Choi
Praise be to the Lord! Children Sunday School has another challenging, yet blessed year.
Core team continues to administer the day-to-day operation of Children Sunday School. In Year 2023, we have Rev Hiram Lau, Andrew Lam, Deanna Or, Emily Dou, Holly Hui, Lemon Choi and Miriam Kwong serving as core team members; and over 60 brothers & sisters are serving the children in 10 different classes (from Nursery to Year 6). Out of the 60 teaching members, there are more than 10 youth serving in the team and we are grateful for the serving heart of the next generation.
Children Sunday School endeavour to build a close-knit community and activities and programs which strengthen the relationship among the teaching members, between parents and teaching fleet and Children Sunday School to other ministries of our church were organised throughout the year. Within the teaching fleet, teaching members gathered to share the struggles we face, to give thanks and to support each other in prayers on the wrap up day, retreat and other communication platforms. To partner with parents in assisting the children to build a lifelong relationship with our Heavenly Father, we continue to enhance our communication through publication of housekeeping notes, catch up chat with parents and joined worship time during Children Sunday School Sunday and in other occasions as well. In addition, we were blessed to have Missionary Alice Dang, MES worship team and NSY to help in running the Mission Sunday, Christmas Carol and Easter Sunday program. It is amazing to witness how different ministries of our church serving each other and we are truly thankful for that.
Apart from building the community, training is another focus of core team. This year, Eunice, the children worker from our sister church, had presented 2 training workshops on working with children with additional needs and neurodiversity. Through regular training, not only the teaching members would be more equipped to nurture the children in the Word of God, children with different needs can also be engaged and build up the relationship with other fellow children who will be their companion in Christ. Moreover, both the children and their families can be included in the church community to be loved. With the input from the training workshop, we are trialling the usage of calm corner in the classrooms of early stage 1. We pray that this is not the end after the workshops, but instead, the beginning of a more sophisticated environment to lead the children to Christ.
With the ongoing increase in number of children, the space that can be utilised for Children Sunday School teaching has already saturated. It also becomes more challenging to recruit enough teachers and teaching assistants to meet the child safe ratio required by law. May you please continue to keep the development of Children Sunday School in your prayers. Our faithful God has blessed us with many children and provided abundantly in the past and we trust that He will graciously provide our needs and guide us to the right path in the future.
| Aug 2022 | – Father’s day card colouring and gift packing – Mission Sunday Program |
| Oct 2022 | – Little Olympics |
| Nov 2022 | – Teaching fleet wrap up day |
| Dec 2022 | – End of year fun day – Year 6 Graduation – Christmas Carol by MES worship team |
| Jan 2023 | – Teaching fleet orientation – Official opening of Year 2023 |
| Feb 2023 | – Installation of teaching fleet |
| Mar 2023 | – Core team retreat |
| Apr 2023 | – Easter Sunday program by NSY – Mother’s day gift preparation |
| May 2023 | – Training Workshop – Working with children with additional needs and neurodiversity 1 |
| Jun 2023 | – Children Sunday School Sunday |
| July 2023 | – Teaching fleet retreat |
| Aug 2023 | – Training Workshop – Working with children with additional needs and neurodiversity 2 |
EM Growth Groups
Iris Chung (on behalf of the EM Cell Group leaders)
Growth Groups is the 2023 re-branding of EM Cell Groups that have been running since 2020. Praise God that this year we saw so many new leaders step up to lead a Growth Group! Each of these leaders were involved with Cell Groups and having been served and grown well in one, were convicted and keen to serve by leading groups of their own. What a testament to the way that God works powerfully through small communities of believers meeting up regularly to read the Bible!
This year, we have seen God continue to do that. We have undergone a lot of change – re-shuffling of groups, many new leaders and members, re-setting of vision and goals – and God has been in control guiding all our decision-making and working through all our efforts. Groups have been settling in and members are getting to know one another and engaging in thoughtful discussion over our studies in Colossians and now ‘6 Steps to Loving Your Church’ and Ecclesiastes. In Colossians we encountered Jesus Christ as the man through and for whom all things have been created. We were reminded of His supremacy and were challenged to follow Jesus above all other priorities in life. What a blessing it was to encourage, sharpen and teach one another as each member learned and wrestled with these truths of our great God.
Another personal highlight for me was seeing members from each Growth Group spanning various generations and walks of life come together for times of fun and fellowship during the year. We look forward to more opportunities like these of encouragement and discipleship.
We pray that in this next year, GGs would continue to be places of great love and support and of building one another up into maturity in Christ.
NSY (English Youth Ministry)
Isaac Cheng (on behalf of the NSY Leaders)
NSY (North Side Youth) is our youth group for high school students and high school-aged youth that meets on Friday nights during the school term. Over the last twelve months, NSY has been able to meet in person. Since the end of 2022, we have had a few additions to the leadership team with Janelle Or and pastor Eric Lai joining the team of NSY leaders. Janelle is involved with leading the year 7-8 girls in Bible study and disciple training. Pastor Eric Lai is in charge of the development and discipleship of NSY as a whole. We thank God for continuing to grow and provide for the leaders serving in this ministry.
Over the past four terms, we have focused on encouraging the youth to know, grow, show and sow Christ in their daily lives. Our series for term 4 2021 was “Life as a Christian” which looked at what the Bible says about certain topics and how we should respond.
In term 1 this year, we looked at the different “I am” statements made by Jesus which aimed to encourage the youth to recognise Jesus as God’s own son and our Lord and Saviour. In terms 2, we did a series on “growth” with the Colossians letter. This series aims to look into Christian growth and what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
During the April school holidays, a group of NSY youth and leaders went to Katoomba to attend the KYCK youth conference held by KCC. The theme was “Meet Jesus”, which encourages the youth to encounter Jesus through the gospel of Mark. We were able to attend 6 talk sessions with time in between for bonding and relationship building. The weekend away was well enjoyed by the youth and leaders and we look forward to another year at KYCK.
During Term 2, we were also able to attend ONWARD. It was a one-night conference to help youth to make sense of the culture and world around them with a gospel lens. This event took place at Chatswood Concourse and tackled the question “Can God be true and good?” At the beginning of term 3, we had a combined youth night with Pennant Hills Baptist Church. This event allowed youth to meet other youth in the area where they were able to build friendships with people they might not have met and took place in a new environment. The night consisted in a lot of fun activities, singing songs and a short message delivered by pastor Eric.
Throughout this year, we have continually seen God’s work and love in this ministry. There have been challenges along the way, such as in the influx of new youth (in particular youth with special needs) and planning for leadership development and the future of NSY. But, we thank and praise God, who has been carrying us through each step and growing the ministry, the youth, and their relationships with one another.
Minutes of the 2022 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) #4
二零二二年第四次臨時會友大會會議記錄
Date 日期 : 27 November 2022
Time 時間 : 10:15am to 10:45am
Quorum 法定人數 : 159 out of 307 voting members voted online, which was over the 50% quorum
會友人數是307人，有159人投票會，超過50%法定人數出席
Chairman 主席 : Rev Leo Kwan
Interpreter 傳譯 : Elder Daniel Yeung
Secretary 文書 : Elder Wayne Ng
Resolution 決議事項 :
- Voting to endorse the appointment of Pastor Eric Lai as the Youth Pastor for a two-year term from 1 February 2023 to 31 January 2025.
投票確認聘請賴頌恆傳道，為本堂青少年事工牧者，任期為兩年，從2023年2月1日至2025年1月31日。
- Voting to renew the contract of Pastor Hiram Lau as the Cantonese Ministry Pastor for a three-year term from 1 February 2023 to 31 January 2026.
投票確認續聘劉海林傳道，為本堂粵語事工牧者，任期為三年，從2023年2月1日至2026年1月31日。
Result 結果:
- Over 75% of vote in favour of the appointment of Pastor Eric Lai as the Youth Pastor of NSCAC.
超過75% 的投票，贊成聘請賴頌恆傳道為北雪梨華人宣道會青少年事工牧者。
- Over 75% of vote in favour of renewing Pastor Hiram Lau as the Cantonese Ministry Pastor of NSCAC.
超過75% 的投票，贊成續聘劉海林傳道為北雪梨華人宣道會粵語事工牧者。
Minutes of the 2022 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) #3
二零二二年第三次臨時會友大會會議記錄
Date 日期 : 23 Oct 2022
Time 時間 : 10:20am to 10:50am
Quorum 法定人數 : 167 out of 307 voting members voted online, which was over the 50% quorum
會友人數是307人，有167人投票會，超過50%法定人數出席
Chairman 主席 : Rev Leo Kwan
Interpreter 傳譯 : Elder Daniel Yeung
Secretary 文書 : Elder Wayne Ng
Resolution 決議事項 :
Voting to endorse the appointment of Pastor Andrew Piu Leung Choy as the Senior Pastor for a two-year term from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024.
投票確認聘請蔡沛良牧師，為本堂主任牧師，任期為兩年，從2023年1月1日至2024年12月31日。
Result 結果:
Over 75% of vote in favour of the appointment of Pastor Andrew Piu Leung Choy as the Senior Pastor of NSCAC.
超過75% 的投票，贊成聘請蔡沛良牧師為北雪梨華人宣道會主任牧師。
Minutes of the 2022 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) #2
二零二二年第二次臨時會友大會會議記錄
Date 日期 : 10 July 2022
Time 時間 : 10:15am to 10:55am
Quorum 法定人數 : 169 out of 320 voting members voted online, which was over the 50% quorum
會友人數是320人，有169人投票會，超過50%法定人數出席
Chairman 主席 : Elder Wayne Ng
Interpreter 傳譯 : Elder Daniel Yeung
Secretary 文書 : Elder Wayne Ng
Resolution 決議事項 :
Voting to elect four church members from eight candidates, one from each worship service, to join the nomination committee with Pastor Hiram Lau, Elder Kowk Wai Cheung and Elder Simon Chan to nominate candidates for the deacons (2023) and elders (2023-2025) election in AGM 2022.
從每堂崇拜八位候選人當中，選出四位，加入提名委員會。與劉海林傳道、張國偉長老及陳光倫長老，提名執事(2023年度)和長老(2023-25年度) ，在2022年週年會友大會中進行選舉。
The candidates are 候選人:
| Worship / 崇拜 | Candidate 1 / 候選人一 | Candidate 2 / 候選人二 |
| CS1 /粵一崇 | Kit Ming Chieng | Nancy Chan |
| 鄭潔明姊妹 | 陳駱麗明執事 | |
| CS2 /粵二崇 | Andrew Lam | Pal Dou |
| 林建隆執事 | 杜駿驊執事 | |
| EMS /早英崇 | Betty Tu | Deanna Or |
| 徐江寶華執事 | 柯鄺燕玲姊妹 | |
| MM /國 崇 | Carol Chen | Gary Chang |
| 杜陳秩如執事 | 張幹元執事 |
Result 結果:
The four church members that received the highest votes from each service are: Kit Ming Chieng (CS1), Andrew Lam (CS2), Deanna Or (EMS) and Carol Chen (MM).
四位在每堂崇拜中獲得最高票數的會友為: 鄭潔明姊妹，林建隆執事，柯鄺燕玲姊妹和杜陳秩如執事。
Minutes of the 2022 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) #1
二零二二年第一次臨時會友大會會議記錄
Date 日期 : 22 May 2022
Time 時間 : 10:15am to 10:50am
Quorum 法定人數 : 159 out of 315 voting members voted online, which was over the 50% quorum會友人數是315人，有159人投票會，超過50%法定人數出席
Chairman 主席 : Elder Daniel Yeung
Secretary 文書 : Elder Wayne Ng
Resolution 決議事項 :
Voting to endorse the appointment of Pastor Xinning Li as the Mandarin Assistant Pastor for a two-year term from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2024.
投票確認聘請李新寧傳道，為國語堂助理牧者，任期為兩年，從2022年6月1日至2024年5月31日。
Result 結果 :
Over 75% of vote in favour of the appointment of Pastor Xinning Li as the Mandarin Assistant Pastor.
超過75% 的投票，贊成聘請李新寧傳道作為國語堂助理牧者。
Minute of AGM 2022
二零二二年度週年會友大會會議記錄
Minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Date日期 ： 18 September 2022
Time時間 ： 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Quorum法定人數 ： 165 out of 306 voting members had voted, which was above the required quorum of 154 (>50% of 306).
Co–Chair主席 ： Rev. Leo Kwan and Elder Daniel Yeung
Secretary文書 ： Elder Wayne Ng
Resolutions議決事項 :
- Adopted the previous minutes of 2021 AGM, 2022 EGM and Church Business and Ministry reports in 2022 Annual Report. Motioned by Nancy Chan and seconded by Betty Tu.
- Adopted the auditor’s report for 2020/21. Motioned by Michael Du and seconded by Andrew Mow.
- Adopted the financial report for 2020/21 and budget for 2021/22. Motioned by Pal Dou and seconded by Ricky Li.
- Elected Daniel Yeung, Jack Cheng, Patrick Or and Wayne Ng as elders for a 3-year term from Jan 2023 to Dec 2025. They all received more than 124 votes which was above 75% of the attendance in order to pass the motion.
- Elected Alex Lei, Andrew Lam, Betty Tu, Chris Tu, Gary Chang, Iris Chung, John Leung, Michael Du, Pal Dou, Ricky Choi and Ricky Li as deacons for a 1-year term from Jan 2023 to Dec 2023. They all received more than 83 votes which was above 50% of the attendance.
1. 通過接納二零二一年度週年會友大會及二零二二年度臨時會友大會會議記錄, 及二零二二年年報內的會務及事工簡報。議案由陳駱麗明姊妹動議，並徐江寶華姊妹和議，及獲得超過出席會友半數以上投票支持。
2. 通過接納二零二一/二二年核數師報告。議案由杜昳漓弟兄動議，並繆靄興弟兄和議，及獲得超過出席會友半數以上投票支持。
3. 通過接納二零二零/二一年財務報告及二零二一/二二年財務預算。議案由杜駿驊弟兄動議，並李家俊弟兄和議，及獲得超過出席會友半數以上投票支持。
4. 通過選出楊允祥弟兄、鄭志誠弟兄、柯美奕弟兄及吳劍榮弟兄出任長老，任期三年由2022至2024。他們全部都獲得多過124票，超過出席會友人數四份之三支持。
5. 通過選出以下十一位弟兄姊妹成為二零二二年度執事 : 雷雋弟兄、林建隆弟兄、徐江寶華姊妹、徐承志弟兄、張幹元弟兄、鍾李翠霞姊妹、梁偉勤弟兄、杜昳漓弟兄、杜駿驊弟兄、蔡宏基弟兄及李家俊弟兄。他們全部都獲得多過83票，超過出席會友人數支持的半數支持。
MES Music Team
Alex Lei (on behalf of MES Music Team)
Every Sunday, the music team has played an important role in complementing the Biblical preaching at MES. We have aimed to help our congregation members worship God and teach one another about God’s character and the great riches of His love. We trust that God has been using the songs sung at MES to deepen the faith of our congregation members and spur us on to live lives that are pleasing to Him.
All of our music team members have eagerly and sacrificially served in the music ministry this year. From attending weeknight rehearsals to preparing busily at home to leading worship on stage, everyone in the music team has worked hard for the benefit of the MES congregation each Sunday. Thanks be to God!
God has certainly answered our prayer for new members in the music ministry. This year, we welcomed new guitarists, Johnny, Ida and Eric; new singers, Verity and Sylvia; and, a new drummer, Roger. We also welcomed Hilary back as a singer. In addition, our pianist Samuel has chosen to step up and lead a music team. As a result, we were able to increase the number of music teams from 4 to 5. We can see how God sustains His ministry and we pray that we can add more new members and leaders into our team to faithfully serve Him.
As we move into another year, we continue to depend on God for guidance in this ministry. We hope to run more events, raise up more leaders, train up more musicians and continue serving MES, all for the glory of God.