Update April 2025

10 April 2025

Dear Friends,
 
Many of you will remember that in October last year we held our first Local Mission Plan Workshop where we gathered to look at priorities and opportunities we would like to work towards at Parramatta this year and going forward.
 
Out of this process the Corps Leadership Team (CLT) has determined the following missional objectives:
 
Caring for People
Expand pastoral care of people both in our worshipping and weekday communities
 
Creating Faith Pathways
Reimagine Sundays and our worshipping communities
 
Building Healthy Communities
Expand Connect Groups (Seniors, Craft, Social Gathering etc) to bridge Sunday and mid-week communities further
 
Working for Justice
Give people the opportunity to grow and develop deeper relationships with each other by commencing a community meal
 
With regards to reimagining Sundays, this is going to commence sooner than we had anticipated. Our brass band have recently made the decision that they no longer have the capacity to rehearse and provide musical support on a weekly basis. As you can imagine this decision has not been made lightly and there have been a number of contributing factors, including health, limited availability of members and the musical challenge of navigating these uncertainties.

This does not mean that the band will no longer exist as they will continue their ministries at The Willows, Constitution Hill Retirement Village and Anzac Day; they will also rehearse and support Sunday worship as they are able.

All those who are part of the band have been involved in conversations and in the making of this decision. If you have any questions about the band, Major David Collinson is more than happy to speak with you about this.

Our discerning of reimagining what Sundays could look like will commence after Easter on Sunday 27 April. We will commence a new eight-week series on prayer titled How to Pray as we seek God’s direction for our church. The format for these eight weeks will be:
 
9am Prayer meeting in the Multipurpose Room
10am Corporate Worship in the Main Hall
10.15am Sunday Squad in the Children's Room (commencing 4 May after school holidays)
11.15am Morning Tea
 
During this series, prayer will be the focus, and we want to encourage you to be praying for Parramatta Corps throughout these weeks.
 
More information and resources about this series can be found here
 
Home | The Prayer Course - The Prayer Course
 
With Kylie going away on Monday for two months, this was certainly not our plan however, the focus on prayer does give us an opportunity to engage in corporate discernment together.
 
We appreciate your continued support and should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
 
Kind regards,
 
Kylie and Jonathan