Articles

Rev. Dr Gavin Perkins

February 2024

At a fundamental level the church of Christ around the world is united to him by an unbreakable spiritual bond. All those who submit to Jesus as Lord and Saviour are part of his church.

Yet at the level of the local church we need to put in place structures and procedures to organise our life together. We need rules and policies to help the local church operate smoothly and safely, and we need legal and administrative arrangements to organise fellowship between local churches.

There have been countless different approaches to church governance expressed over the centuries. Our way of doing things is not necessarily perfect, but no human system ever is!

As we approach our Annual General Meeting I thought it would be good to share 10 important facts about our governance at St Jude’s. This is not an exhaustive list but is hopefully helpful.

1. Our parish is one of more than 260 in the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia. From a formal perspective it is the Sydney Diocese which ‘owns’ our church buildings, is legally accountable for the ministry, and authorises the ministry.
2. Three church wardens are elected each year by our parish AGM as the trustees of that legal duty. They are the responsible officers of our church.
3. We also elect each year to support the work of the wardens by voting in a parish council. The parish council meets monthly and, as well as supporting the wardens in their work, agrees on the annual budget to be brought to the AGM and determine any matters of policy for the parish
4. Each year we also elect parish nominators who are responsible for representing the parish in the process of selecting a new Senior Minister (Rector) if that is necessary.
5. We also get a say in the wider administration of the Diocese by electing two Parish Representatives for three-year terms to serve alongside the Rector on the annual Synod (the large 5 day Diocesan parliamentary gathering).
6. The Synod meets annual, but it elects its own Standing Committee which meets monthly to progress the business of the Synod. I have been on this committee for a little while, as was Peter Evans before me.
7. The “Senior Minister” of the Diocese is the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. His leadership team includes Assistant Bishops like our own local Bishop of Wollongong Peter Hayward. A vital part of the Archbishop’s responsibility is authorising ministry in each parish by licensing suitably trained and qualified people to conduct the ministry.
8. The Anglican Church of Australia is the fellowship of the 23 Dioceses around Australia (including Sydney). However, because the primary legal and administrative responsibility remains with the individual Dioceses each Diocese is quite independent of the others. Over the years this has led to huge theological and practical differences between the Dioceses, as well as the strengthening of relationships between like-minded Dioceses (eg. Sydney and Armidale). Even a decision or statement made by the majority of the leaders of Anglican Church of Australia, or by another Diocese, has no binding force on Sydney or our parish. This can be confusing for the press and the parishioner alike!
9. We are part of an even more loosely defined structure called the Anglican Communion. It is a collection of national and local churches established throughout the world, largely during the era of the British Empire. It is presently in utter disarray, torn apart by theological division, and over the coming years will be substantially reorganised and realigned. This is already happening through movements like GAFCON and the Diocese of the Southern Cross. This may see us loosen ties of fellowship with leaders like the Archbishop of Canterbury in the UK, and strengthen ties with leaders in other parts of the world.
10. All of this is important in so far as we need and benefit from human structures to aid cooperation and partnership in mission, but we must never lose sight of the unshakable promise that Christ is building his church. Human structures come and go, and we hope they serve a good purpose for a time, but Christ’s promise never fails.