Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church

Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church
St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church, Naremburn St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church, Naremburn
Country	Australia
Denomination	Anglican
Website	www.ncachurch.com
History
Former name(s)	• Parish of St. Cuthbert's Anglican Church, Naremburn;  • Parish of All Saints', Cammeray
Administration
Diocese	Sydney
Clergy
Minister(s)	Rev. John Forsyth

Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church is a parish of the Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church in Australia. The parish is located on the lower North Shore of Sydney and has four centres of worship, located in Cammeray, Marsfield, Naremburn, and Willoughby. The parish serves an area with a high concentration of people from Asian backgrounds, and facilitates services tailored to meet the needs of these communities through the Naremburn Asian Australian Church and the Sydney Japanese Evangelical Church.

History

In post-World War I Sydney, there was an upsurge in church construction, among which were Naremburn and Cammeray. These two existed as separate parishes in their early decades. Throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s the Parish of St Cuthbert’s Naremburn and the Parish of All Saints' Cammeray were busy. In those days, the Sunday Schools had 350 children attending each Sunday and St Cuthbert’s won 3 cricket premierships in the local competition.

In the late 1970s a decision was made to join the two parishes. At that time, there were four churches, three halls, and two rectories. By 1997, two of the churches had been disposed of, the three halls had been demolished, the two rectories had been sold, and a new one had been built on site.

Present

In recent years, the decline in attendance and congregation size reversed quite radically, evidenced by the fact that by the end of 2013 the Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church has nine congregations and a normal Sunday attendance of over 600.

In 2008, the Naremburn building was deemed too small and run down to cater for the ongoing expansion of ministry and building work began on a new Parish Ministry Centre. This work was completed in late 2009, and the facilities are extensively used every day. During 2010, Willoughby Council awarded the parish a commendation in the Council's heritage awards through the parish's commitment to protect the heritage values of the original church by recognizing the nature of new uses. However, the A$3 million redevelopment project was not without problems; the lead contractor, Austruc Constructions, was forced into liquidation after it was unable to service debts that totaled A$27 million, leaving many subcontractors unpaid. Despite being made aware that subcontractors were not being paid by the lead contractor, the parish was accused of turning a blind eye.

Building works for the redevelopment of the All Saints' church at Cammeray are in planning stages.

A number of church services, prayer groups and community meetings are held in both parishes.

Sydney Japanese Evangelical Church

The Sydney Japanese Evangelical Church (SJEC) meet at Cammeray from 3 pm each Sunday. In April 2009, Grahame and Cathy Smith were inducted as the new ministers of this congregation. They spent the previous 18 years in Japan serving as missionaries with CMS. An article appeared in the May 2009 issue of Southern Cross, the magazine of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, profiling the SJEC ministry.

The SJEC Church service is in Japanese and visitors are welcome.

See also

• List of Anglican churches in the Diocese of Sydney

External links

• Naremburn Cammeray Anglican Church website
• Anglican Church - Diocese of Sydney
• Sydney Japanese Evangelical Church website in Japanese