About Ministry & Mission

Function

The Ministry and Mission Committee is part of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales. Its function is to coordinate and promote the formation, development and staffing of healthy, mature Presbyterian churches so that God might be praised as people put their trust in Jesus and change by becoming like him.

Duties

The Committee is responsible to the General Assembly for the following outcomes:

In all possible fields of mission, facilitate the deployment of ordained ministers.
Recruit home missionaries, supervise their training and superintend their appointment to fields where ordained ministers are not available or as assistants to ministers.
Maintain gospel ministry by providing financial and personal assistance in appropriate fields of mission.
Supervise all matters relating to the working conditions of ministers and home missionaries and promote their personal welfare.
Review, at least annually, minimum terms of settlement or appointment for ministers, home missionaries and deaconesses and make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly.
Examine, at least annually, proposed terms of settlement or appointment of all ministers, home missionaries and deaconesses and approve or disapprove them as appropriate.
Examine all proposed terms of employment for any position of temporary or supply ministry whether in a pastoral charge or home mission station and approve or disapprove them as appropriate.
Research and regulate all matters affecting the erection, suppression, union or readjustment of parishes.
Initiate co-operative ministries with other denominations as may be appropriate and report to the Trustees and relevant presbyteries about such ministries.
Review proposals for the sale, transfer or disposal of redundant or surplus congregational assets and report to presbyteries and the Trustees on alternate uses of such assets with particular reference to the needs of special interest congregations.
Operate a loan fund to provide low-interest loans to congregations, ministers, home missionaries, deaconesses, graduating students and full-time workers to acquire cars for use in ministry.
In consistency with the Long Service Leave Act (1955), operate a fund to provide for long service leave for persons in ministry positions.
Promote the training and development of lay people for ministry and mission.
Maintain a roll of deaconesses who are engaged in full-time or part-time service, or retired from service on account of age or ill-health, or who (for other reasons) have ceased to be actively engaged in full-time or part-time service.
Recommend to the Trustees the allocation of grants from the McCaughey Fund in accordance with its regulations.
Co-ordinate the work of Presbyterian chaplains to the emergency services in NSW.
Co-ordinate the work of Presbyterian chaplains to the defence force in NSW.
Maintain an official questionnaire to be used in ordinary presbyterial visitations, provided that presbyteries shall be free to make any other enquiries they deem relevant in the course of a visitation.

Committee

The Committee consists of the following members:

Jeff Read
Convener: Jeff, the Convener of the Committee, is the minister of the Chatswood congregation where he has served since 1999.

Bruce Meller
Superintendent: Since completing theological training in 1980, Bruce has served in the pastoral charges of Hay-Balranald, Tocumwal-Finley-Berrigan, Ballina-Alstonville-Evans Head and Hurstville. Bruce commenced duty as the Superintendent in 1999.

John Irvin
Associate Superintendent: John served as the assistant minister to the Armidale congregation before becoming the founding pastor at Cherrybrook. He was the Convener of the Committee between 1999 and 2004 and has a long and proven passion for its work. (John attends all Committee meetings but is not a voting member).

Mike Wilson
Co-ordinator, Cross-Cultural Ministry: After a period of pastoral ministry at Como, Mike taught for seven years at a Bible College in Pakistan before returning to Australia to promote cross-cultural ministry within the Anglican church in Sydney. (Mike attends all Committee meetings but is not a voting member).

Alan Byleveld
Alan is an elder of the Castle Hill congregation and joined the Committee in 2008.

Maurie Cropper
Maurie has served as a church planter in NSW and in the established Mitchellton church in Qld. He is now the pastor-teacher of the Gosford church and joined the committee in July, 2007.

Sami Gerges
Sami serves as a minister of the Merrylands East congregation where he works primarily with English-speaking young people. Sami was appointed to the Commttee in 2004.

Bruce Gorton
Bruce joined the Committee in July, 2006. He is the minister of the Goulburn, Crookwell and Taralga congregations and has previously served in Parkes-Forbes-Peak Hill, Murwillumbah and Albury.

Geoff Lum Mow
Geoff is the Session Clerk of the Cornerstone congregation at Concord and joined the Committee in 2008.

John Macintyre
John joined the Committee in 2005. He was used by God to plant the Tamworth Community congregation, and is now working to establish the Grace congregation in Newcastle. John leads our church planting assessment team (ASAP).

Spencer Maddrell
Spencer, a member of the Committee since 1992, was a founding member of both the Tuggeranong congregation and the Cherrybrook congregation where he continues to serve as an elder.

Evelyn Mill
Evelyn is the Convener of the PWA Home Mission and Church Extension Committee and travels widely across NSW to encourage congregations – and particularly women – in the gospel.

Fiona Oates
Fiona brings to the Committee a particular concern for cross-cultural ministry and practical involvement in teaching English as a Second Language.

John Rolland
John is an elder (and Session Clerk) of the Caringbah congregation and joined the Committee in 2004. He is deeply committed to the goal of church planting in the South Western Growth Centre of Sydney.

Russell Vandervelden
Russell is currently the minister of the Maitland congregation, having previously served in the revitalisation of the Coonabarabran congregation and the planting of a new church at Ashtonfield. When the Maitland congregations needed revitalisation, Russell was invited to bring the Ashtonfield team to pursue that goal.

Staff Responsibilities

Bruce Meller
Bruce is the Superintendent of the Committee with overall responsibility for all of its operations, with particular focus on:

servicing the Committee so that it might govern the Department well,
co-ordinating the appointment of graduating students,
promoting church planting
promoting church revitalisation (including co-ordination of our Embers to a Flame conferences and Fanning the Flame coaching, and training in personal peacemaking),
administering building loans to congregations, and
generally resourcing persons and bodies within the Church.

John Irvin
John is the Associate Superintendent with responsibility for the following areas of operation:

recruitment, deployment, pastoral care and (where relevant) supervision of ministry personnel;
long service leave administration and general supervision of ministerial working conditions and remuneration packages;
facilitation of Intentional Transition Ministries;
advising ministry personnel on entitlements through Centrelink and the Family Assistance Office;
administration of car loans, graduating-student loans, and short-term loans to congregations facing financial distress; and
close liaison with the Child Protection Unit to ensure that Presbyterian churches will be safe places for all people.

Mike Wilson
Mike is the Cross-Cultural Ministry Co-ordinator with responsibility to:

define and implement strategies for reaching peoples of Non-English-Speaking Background with the gospel;
define and implement strategies to assist and resource existing non-English-speaking background Presbyterian churches; and
define and implement strategies to train existing congregations in ministering to people from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

Peter Currie
In addition to his work pastoring the Woonona congregation, Peter serves the Committee in a part-time capacity as its Ministry Development Co-ordinator. Peter is responsible for:

developing the Renewal Retreat Network; and
co-ordinating the provision of consultancies to congregations.

Popularity: 20% [?]

^ Back to top