保羅團 Paul Fellowship

Joe Chan 陳祖華弟兄

今年主題是: 警醍謹守, 候主再來.

聖經金句: 又要彼此相顧, 激發愛心, 勉勵行善. 希伯來書記10:24

今年度團契查經,  完成出埃及記後: 帖撒羅尼迦前書成為聖潔預備迎見主度

今年的主題、金句、及查經都是特別為保羅契友貼身設計, 我們普遍的年紀都在65歲以上,  在世上日子有限,  應該為預備迎見神多作準備,

我在雪梨有約四、五中學同學朋友, 不定時約會聚集, 但忽然間有一位同學失踪, 原來他因為青光眼嚴重 變得行動不便,  被迫進入老人院.

忽然間我醒覺這老人問題就在我的面前, 是不容忽視,  對我們的平時相聚的朋友、親友應珍惜,  下次相會不知是何時!

保羅團今年只舉行二次大組, 因為太吃力,  而且參加人數不多,  第一次是和一對準備出發的宣教夫婦,  分享他們的需要及代禱.  最近一次是在

七月中,  主題是” 生命新篇章”.  指出我們所餘日子不多, 應該現在改變生活方式,  寫成新篇章更有新意義,  希望我們能探朔到那新篇章是什麼? 至於個別興趣小組發 展都有穩定發展, 例如Leisure Walk, 固定每個月第四星期六出發步行兩個小時, 選擇一些平坦大路、又有美景、又有方便公共運輸交通, 另外還有機會參加一頓豐富午餐.  另外Bible Reading 小組是每月第三期六早上10AM to 12AM  在綱出一齊讀聖經,  多數是選擇一些有教導性的經本, 每次都限 時, 經文輪讀有問題即時提問,  其他組員可以作 答也可補充,  這可幫助更明白聖經,  加深認識,  固定參加有約十位, 儘量希望各小組避別在第三個星期六同樣時間開小組, 以免撞時間.  橋牌小組每期二都在Ryde-Eastwood club有局,  乒乓球都不定時有局, 不過多數是在星期四.  結他小組輪  流在不同團契幫助領唱,  希望他們能跑出一條善用自己恩賜來服事神.  最後要再勉勵大家要彼此相顧, 激發愛心, 勉勵行善.

Minutes of the 2024 Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

二零二四年臨時會友大會會議記錄

Date 日期 :                     30 June 2024

Time 時間 :                     10:15 to 10:50am

Quorum 法定人數 :    176 out of 317 voting members voted physically, which was over the 50% quorum. 會友人數是317人,有176人投票,超過50%法定人數出席

Chairman 主席 :           Rev Andrew Choy and Elder Wayne Ng

Secretary 文書 :            Elder Andrew Lam

Resolution 議決事項 :

Adopting the Revised By- Laws of the church
(Requiring a three-quarters majority of the Active Members present to pass).
通過經修訂的教會附則 (須四份三在場會友通過)。

Result 結果 :

Over 75% vote in adopting the revised By-Laws of the church.
超過75%投票贊成經修訂的教會附則。

主任牧師的勉勵

蔡沛良主任牧師

教會方向

教會整體方向著重於提供「更新」的空間。隨著現代人對心理健康的日益關注,在2024年,更新的一個重要部份,是透過計劃提高教會會眾對心理和情感健康的認識。牧者團隊已從外面的事工得益,並邀請一些講員舉辦相關的講座和工作坊,希望能讓教會更加了解心理健康。另一個更新的重點是團體的敬拜和個人與神的關係。

作為一個多元化、兩文三語的教會,我們一直努力地促進在一個身體內的合一(弗4:1-6)。一方面,教會積極地修訂附則,以配合宗派對多語言教會(像我們這樣的教會)的個別會眾,在事工決策上更加自主的重點,從而祝福整個教會。另一方面,領導的團隊也意識到,並應對個別會眾及堂會如何能維持整體合一的挑戰。過往一些特別聚會,如2023年的35週年聯合崇拜、年終的聯合聚餐;以及其他聯合聚會的安排,如2024年7月的聯合教會祈禱會、11月的洗禮、12月的聯合聖誕活動和2025年的聯合教會生活營等活動,都強調一個身體的聖經原則。

領導團隊

獲得更新和滿有活力的領導團隊,對於教會的成長是不可或缺的。在2023年最後一季,Peter Laughlin博士為長老們(以及未來的長老)提供了培訓。長老議會自2024年初開始閱讀和反思《培養高EQ的靈命》一書,為的是將屬靈生命與情感健康相結合。此外,2024年定期舉辦長老會和執事會之間的團契聚會,以加強領導團隊之間的協作。

在牧者團隊方面,長老們為牧者同工的事奉提供評估及建議,並討論了牧者續聘及同工過渡等事宜。然而,我們感到遺憾的是,收到關文卓牧師退休和Andrew Tibbs牧師辭職的消息,他們兩位均忠心地在我們的教會中服侍了八年。雖然我們為他們的離去感到難過,但我們相信神將在適當的時候,帶領祂忠心的僕人來牧養屬祂的人。

作為宗派新提倡的要求,來確保牧者們在牧養事奉中得到支持和督導,所有牧者將於2024年第四季開始,須接受持續的牧養督導。此外,我們的教會也能蒙福地服侍自己的宗派,劉海林牧師獲委任為澳洲華人宣道會聯會的財政,賴頌恆傳道則參與協調2025年在台灣舉行,由世界華人宣道會團契所舉辦的青年宣教大會。

裝備培訓

我們在多個層面強調裝備培訓。牧者團隊在2024年第二季參加了精神健康急救課程,並以適合平信徒的方式,把相關的培訓擴展到整個教會。教會舉辦的一些工作坊和講座,都為我們的領袖和會眾帶來極大的祝福,當中包括一些本地的講員,如:梁明生牧師和不同的基督徒心理學家;以及來自海外的,如:香港的同心圓和基恩敬拜等。

沒有神的話語,便無法帶來更新。和應著詩人的說話:「你的話是我腳前的燈,是我路上的光」(詩119:105)。在慈愛的神的完美時間當中,祂在我們教會裡,興起了一個專為操普通話的姊妹而設的研讀聖經團契(BSF)的小組。這雖是一個小小的查經組,但已經籌劃了一年多。我們正在禱告,並期待神打開更多的門,讓教會中不同的會眾和組別能更有系統性地去讀祂的說話,達致生命的更新轉化。

其他事工

教會當中英語、國語和粵語的事工非常活潑,許多弟兄姐妹都全情投入地,在團契及成長小組、探訪與佈道、祈禱會以及其他教會事工中,服侍我們滿有恩典的神,並且彼此服侍。

在2024年,我們的國語堂慶祝了成立10週年,邀請了多位外來的嘉賓,並與教會其他堂會的領袖們一起數算主的恩典。教會還與多個機構合作舉辦了一些裝備性和佈道性的活動,包括來自香港的同心圓敬拜福音平台(4月)、基恩敬拜音樂事工(5月)和夏達華研道中心(9月);以及本地的澳華基督使命團(8月)。透過國語堂會眾的聯繫,教會還參與了9月舉行的Murray Farm公立學校的嘉年華會,以將福音帶到社區。

有關教會各堂的其他事工分享,請大家以感恩的心,細閱餘下的報告,看看神無微不至的供應及看顧。

EM Growth Groups

Matthew Lo

In the second half of 2023, many of our English growth groups looked at the wonderfully practical study book, ‘6 Steps to Loving Your Church’. We saw God’s vision for church as a community of people regularly speaking the truths of His Word to one another. We were challenged to not be pew-warmers who attend Sunday service but leave having no impact on our fellow members. Rather, we considered together how we might be outward-looking servants, seeking to care for and grow our brothers and sisters each Sunday. One of the culture shifts that came out of this study series was seeing members sit in different spots during service in order to meet and speak with people they would not normally encounter. The learnings in this short study are ones we must continue to be reminded of and resolve to live out at church. 

This last year also saw many growth groups enjoy weekend aways together. These were times of fun and deeper conversation which helped our communities better understand and grow each other. 

In 2024, our groups encountered the person of Jesus through the gospel of John. Spending each study looking insightfully at often familiar passages has been so fruitful. It is so easy for us to be dulled to these claims and miracles of Jesus but the brightness of the treasures in each passage refreshed our worship and discipleship in the Lord. We have been encouraged by his character of the Good Shepherd and of Living Water and strengthened to live lives bearing fruit and rooted in Him. 

Next year, our groups will hit their 2-year mark and be doing a reshuffle. Praise God that the new year will see new members joining our groups. As leaders, we are selecting and training suitable people to be future leaders in this ministry – may the Lord of the harvest raise up many workers for the EM fields!”

Board of Deacons

Pal Dou

Dear Brothers and Sisters, it is time to report what happened to our Church in the eyes of the Board of Deacons. 

In 2024, we have nine Deacons: three from Cantonese ministry, four from English ministry and two from Mandarin ministry.  We continued improve the administrative work and being more transparent to brothers and sisters.  Deacons hoped moms and dads love the gift prepared for Mother’s Day 2024 and Father’s Day 2023. We have assessed the workload of our administrators to balance the time they spent on church administration.  We also initiated the quarterly financial briefs, which we wish brothers and sisters to understand the financial situation of NSCAC, and where the offerings go.  We thank God that we have a youth Deacon joining the team.  The Board of Deacons are happy that more and more young people would like to step up and serve God in handling administrative matters of our Church.

2024 is also a challenging year for the Board of Deacons.  NSCAC experienced huge growth in the number of patrons.  We encountered cash flow difficulties at the beginning of 2023/24. With God’s grace and the love of brothers and sisters, NSCAC managed to repay a temporary cash flow loan and most of the development fund loan.  the Board of Deacons are working on several projects in 2024:

  • Introduced Church quarterly finance updates
  • Implementing Elvanto system to effectively manage membership information, newcomers, Children Sunday School administration, and serving rosters

The Board of Deacons is thankful that Deacons worked extra step.  The Deacons also thanked for your prayers and ongoing support, especially when our Church is growing, we really need God’s grace to make all the beautiful things happen.

兒童主日學 Children Sunday School

Lemon Choi 蔡林文詩姊妹

Praise the Lord for His abundance grace and the in-time provision on the needs of Children Sunday School. Through these, we deeply experience how God, as a potter, is moulding us so that we can be drawn closer to Him and be more like Him.

The Core Team, which includes Rev. Hiram Lau, Lemon Choi, Emily Dou, Miriam Kwong, Holly Hui and Deanna Or, continue to administer the day-to-day operation of Children Sunday School. There are over 70 brothers and sisters serving in the teaching fleet with about 20% of the total are the youths of our church.

As the teaching fleet is comprised of brothers and sisters from different congregations and generations of church, there are regular formal and informal meet up of the teaching members within each stage to build up the bonding as well as discussing any matter of concerns. The prayer time before class on each Sunday that was started at the beginning of year 2024 provides another platform for the teaching members to support each other, the children and parents through prayers. In addition, a Teaching Fleet Fun Day was organised in Apr 2024 for teaching members to get along in a casual atmosphere.

To root the Word of God in the heart of our children, there were different special programs to share the Gospel with them on top of the usual teaching. We had a puppet show from QuizWorx for our Christmas celebration in Nov 2023 and a musical from the Youths of our church for the Easter celebration in Mar 2024. Also, an online scheme called “Bible Reading Challenge” was initiated in May 2024 for the children of senior classes to read the bible together every night on weeknight during school term. The aim of the scheme is to build up the bible reading habit and love the Word of God from young age. It is encouraging to see that children who participate enjoy the time of reading Bible together.

Apart from the foundation of biblical truth, children are taught the heart of worship through the resumption of Senior Singspiration in Sept 2023 and Junior Singspiration in Jul 2024, and they are able to taste the sweetness of worship God together.

Besides, the message of serving God, caring and serving the people around us was delivered on different occasions. During the Mission Week Special Program in Oct 2023, Yakim and Grace’s family shared with us about children with disability in East Africa. Children were taught how they can support the missionaries to share the good news of Jesus with the unreached people. In our annual Children Sunday Service in Aug 2024, a kids talk on “Be the uplifting salt” was delivered by Rev. Hiram Lau. Some of the children were being invited to be the serving team in the Service and the children were really devoted in their serving roles. We are truly thankful for their serving hearts.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.“ Proverbs 22:6

Bringing the children to God so that they can build a lifelong relationship with our Heavenly Father is one of the most important visions and missions of Children Sunday School. We are blessed with a supportive community, which includes the teaching team, parents and all other brothers and sisters at church. Through the hard work of the community, pray that the seed of gospel will slowly grow in the hearts of our children in His time.

May we also invite you to keep the following in your prayers:

  1. The wisdom from Above to collaborate with other parties of church on the most suitable arrangement for another potential Children Sunday School / Kids’ Church
  2. The transformation of current Children Sunday School to Kids’ Church which will support our children for a smoother transition at the youth stage
  3. The teaching team is trialling on teaching materials from 2 different organisations. Pray that we are able to acquire a gospel centred teaching materials which is suitable to the children of our church and enable our teaching members to deliver the gospel message effectively

Our God is faithful, and we trust that He will continue to guide us through.

多加姊妹團 Dorcas Women’s Fellowship       

Mei Mak   麥陳秀美姊妹

感謝神的帶領和保守,讓多加姊妹團蒙神眷顧31年了。

今年的主題仍沿用上年度的「悅主活人生

本年度團契週會內容主要有: 查經, 戶外郊遊, 專題講座, 盆栽製作。

查經方面, 今年繼續選用了葉福成牧師和師母合著的「給她讚賞」, 藉聖經中婦女的經歷, 加深我們更認識神的愛和看顧, 學習她們的信心及勇氣和順服。還在四月初的週會裏, 請姊妹們分享書中想學習的對象。

今年二月和六月份, 分別有兩個專題講座。邀請了Ida Yip 姊妹,她是「家庭更新協會」資深導師,內容是關於人際關係,如何改善與人相處的方法及學習應用。而六月份的講座, 講員是Elsie Chan姊妹,內容是關於平安紙。歡迎任何人士參與,了解平安紙的詳情, 也有詢問環節。

來年的展望,願神繼續帶領多加姊妹團的方向,加添我們力量,使我們更深認識和愛耶穌 、學習主的愛! 讓我們成為一群合神心意的婦女, 榮耀主名!

長青團 Evergreen Fellowship

Catherine Lo 盧汪美莉姊妹

長青團今年踏入第30個年頭,許多現任職員已經事奉多年,各人都忠心事奉,非常難得。

適逢今年教會主題是「更新」,我們團契也定立了新的主題「學效基督·愛人如己」,新團歌及新團訓,希望增添團契的氣氛。

團契聚會內容是多原化的,每次聚會都有運動及唱詩,除了每個月一次查經,還有特别講座、見證分享、電影、遊戲、旅行、欣賞音樂表演等等,之後我們也一起午膳,彼此溝通。

由於人手短缺,盼望有更多主內弟兄姊妹加入我們的團隊,我們需要你們的支持及代禱。求主賜福給我們長青團各人,及預備足夠的事奉人員,希望有更多新朋友來聚會,阿們!

早堂詩班 Choir

Catherine Lo 盧汪美莉姊妹

很感恩!今年增添了一些經驗豐富的新人加入詩班團隊。雖然我們大部份詩班員都不是音樂專業,但指揮很體諒我們,每一首新歌他會親自預備各個聲部的錄音傳給詩班員,讓我們可以私下練習,減少集體練詩的時間,很有幫助。

此外,謝謝國語堂李傳道邀請我們與國語堂詩班分别在教會35週年聯合崇拜及國語堂10週年感恩崇拜一起獻詩,使我們的事奉成為教會主裡合一的美好見証!

儘管我們在詩班已事奉多年,但没有減退我們對詩班事奉的熱誠,唱詩是永恆的事奉,將來在天家仍要繼續讚美神!願神悦納我們同心的讚美和敬拜,並得着當得的榮耀!哈利路亞!

雅歌團 Song of the Songs Fellowship    

Allan Wong 黃旭麟弟兄

隨著歲月的流逝,雅歌團契成員逐漸邁向樂齡的人生階段;弟兄姊妹應該都帶著又驚又喜的心情,開始思考、探索往後的人生規劃,當中可能包括子女學成畢業、工作遷出、談婚論嫁、又或是自己的退休安排等等。為此需要,團契今年開始舉辦一些「夫婦關係」、「準退休」及「準空巢」的交流分享聚會;好讓弟兄姊妹可以相互扶持。

當弟兄姊妹思考、憂心的同時,請不忘數算神在我們人生路上的恩典和祝福;再求問神如何安排我們下半場的崗位。不僅能容讓我們優雅的老去,更讓我們能繼續榮神益人;享受樂齡的蜕變。