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AN INTERESTING WORLD RESEARCH STUDY OF EVERY CHURCH IN ONE SAMPLE CITY, FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SEE INFORMATION ABOUT CHURCH.
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* - Means it's interesting.
1. 25ppl.
2. Number of chairs: 370 seats available.
3. Type of person. Mostly aged 60+.
4. Socio-Economic Status: lower medium.
5. Amount of kids. None.
6. Ages of people. 50+.
7. 30% of men.
8. Weekly offering church brings in if published.-.
9. Lateness of people getting to church.-.
***10. Any other interesting information. This is arguably
the biggest Anglican church physically and yet has 25 people.
11. Time AND date. 14/5/00.
12. Length of service. 50 mins.
13. This and other service times. 7am, 9.30am, 5.30pm 1st Sund monthly. 14.
Preacher.-.
15. Feeling of building. Not bad.
16. Estimate style of belief. Traditional.
17. Dress code: Casual to smart.
18. How to get there: Travel towards the city along Ruthven St and the church
is on the main corner of Herries and Ruthven Sts.
9.30am service. ST LUKES ANGLICAN. Herries and Ruthven St.
1. 58 ppl.
2. Number of chairs: 370 seats available.
3. Type of person. Mostly older.
4. Socio-Economic Status: lower medium.
5. Amount of kids. On 15 Feb 2004 where 4 kids; On 3 Nov 02 2 babies; 2 x 8yo.
6. Ages of people. 50+.
**7. Only six of the 37 people there were men on 3 Nov 02.
8. Weekly offering church brings in if published. These figures seem to indicate
a great decrease in offerings, from $4000 to $1900 per week. On 15 Feb 2004
$1436 Pledge Income; $441 Loose collection for the whole Parish of St Lukes.
On 3 Nov 02 $3162 Pledge Income; $787 Loose collection for the whole Parish
of St Lukes. Budget figure $900 higher 3 Nov 02.
9. Lateness of people getting to church.-.
10. Any other interesting information. Clive Wood spoke and was Bishop in 1996
and then Bishop of Qld. Now retired. He said the Bishop of Sydney has a $30
million dollar property to live in but "was this really necessary."
11. Time AND date. 58 ppl on the 15 Feb 2004; 37ppl on the 3 Nov 02. 9.30am-
10am.
12. Length of service. 50 mins.
13. This and other service times. 9.30am, 7am, 5.30pm 1st Sund monthly. (PLEASE
NOTE: THERE IS A FREE LUNCH after this service at midday EVERY Sunday.)
14. Preacher. Clive Wood for 15 Feb 2004.
15. Feeling of building. Quite OK.
16. Estimate style of belief. Traditional.
17. Dress code: Casual to smart.
18. How to get there: Travel towards the city along Ruthven St and the church
is on the main corner of Herries and Ruthven Sts.
19. (Note) Acceptance in church as a visitor: -.
20. People who talked to me after the service: -.
21. Length of time they talked: -.
22. How soon do visitors get talked to after service?: -.
*23. (Note) How much church is open to wider Christian community: Very. In
2002 they have helped African refugees and supplied rent to the Light Radio.
*24. Unusual things about worship: Get used to following the terribly antiquated
idea of the order of worship which is given via the book which is given at the
door.
*25. (Note) Emphasis of ministry: It's quite common for churches whom are physically
close to any city centre to supply food parcels, a soup kitchen etc..
26. Famous business people: -.
27. Famous people: -.
28. Knowable songs: They sang all old style largely unknown hymns.
29. Quality of sound system/ loudness: It's as to be expected. Not a big issue.
*30. Quality of preaching generally: Could be modernised, intuitively spoken
("I sense God is saying...") and with a personal touch rather than
stating over all points.
31. Meaningfulness/ depth of preaching: Not greatly.
32. Enjoyment/ lightness of preaching: Not really.
*33. Impact/ deepness/ enjoyment of worship: I didn't enjoy the worship and
saw this as the biggest need.
34. Amount of home groups: Undefined.
35. How to access home groups: -.
36. Friendliness of home groups: -.
37. Intention to build: They still have not built one wing of this cathedral.
38. Estimate percentage church owned / rented?: Probably in the red.
39. Estimate age of building: St Luke’s was built in 1896. The first service
at Toowoomba, then known as the Swamp, was held in 1852. (And probably the first
ever Christian service held of any denomination.) In 1854 two acres in Ruthven
Street were bought for £8.4 shillings. That same block is the site of St Luke’s
Church. During 1856, a schoolroom was built to serve as a school during the
week and as a centre of worship on Sundays.
40. Dowdiness of building outside: Could be better.
41. Inside?: Everything is clean, looks good.
***42. Have sister churches where? All through Toowoomba.
Their old name from about 30 years ago was "Church of England." However,
this is still the name in England. By far, MOST of the English, living in England,
are "Church of England" and NOT CATHOLIC. Unlike Australia the CATHOLIC
church is in the MAJORITY in ATTENDANCE compared to the Anglican denomination,
by far.
43. Sunday School availability: -.
44. Ages availability: -.
45. % kids attend: -.
46. Noise of kids at back: OK.
47. Where is bible college? -.
48. Where do kids school? Glennie is an Anglican School in Herries St.
49. How many missionaries do they support: -.
50. What cost?
51. What is average they give to missions: .
52. What is average they give to local poor? Food parcels are given out and
there is a soup kitchen.
53. International poor?
54. Other emphasis on giving: -.
55. Per head total giving: ?.
56. Extent of other church programs: Cursillo Gathering.
57. Pastor receive stipend? Yes.
58. How much? ?.
59. Qualifications of Pastor: Usually all are "Reverends".
60. Estimated of parishioners complaints. More lively worship, Hill songs etc..
**61. Estimated ability to resolve parishioners complaints: The leadership
need to foster new growth by encouraging people with modern, progressive thinking
to SET THE STYLE of worship, rather than doing the same thing. It needs to be
"Lay lead." Do have hymns but only one per service.
62. Email #'s of Pastor, office, other: -.
63. Cost of visiting preachers paid: -.
64. Things church is doing to be part of wider community: -.
5.30pm Service 1st Sund monthly only. ST LUKES ANGLICAN.
Herries and Ruthven St.
1. # of people: 29 in 2 May 2004. (Seven people once approx
2002.)
*2. Empty chairs: All the people sat in left wing of church of some 48 seats
on hard wooden pews due to low numbers. As the main church has 370 seats and
is too large.
3. Type of person: Conservative.
4.Socio-Economic Status: 2 singles, middle aged.
5. Kids:0.
6. Ages: 35-60yo
7. Men: 50%
8. Offering: $1250 Pledge Income in 2 May 2004. $3829 Pledge Income in 2002.
(Budget figure $3846 in 2002.) $554 Loose Collection in 2004. $684 Loose Collection
in 2002. (Budget figure $692 in 2002.) for all services of whole parish including
St Barts, St Lukes, All Saints and St Marks. (St Bart's was in this parish or
group of churches but in 2003 they became a parish by themselves.)
9. Late arrivals: 1.
10. Interesting info: Service consists of some hymns, a message, communion.
11. Time spent: 5.45pm-6.20pm
12. When service finished. 6.10pm.
13. This & other service times: 5.30pm 1st Sund monthly. 7am, 9.30am.
14. Preacher: Rev Bruce Sligo. Born 1949 in Toowoomba, Queensland. From St Francis'
College, Brisbane doing a Th Dip (ACT) in 1974. Has 3 children - Andrew, David
and Ruth. Wife Pam is a social worker. PREVIOUS MINISTRY EXPERIENCE: Appointed
Rector of St Luke's in 2004. Previously at: St Matthew's Sherwood '93-2003.
Appointed Area Dean of the South West Deanery from January 2002. Holy Trinity
Kawana Waters, Priest in Charge'87-'93; St Andrew's Caloundra, P-in-C '85-'86
& Assoc. P. '83-'85; St John's Darlinghurst, NSW, Assistant Priest '81-'83;
St Peter's Milmerran, P- in- C '77-'81; St Mark's Warwick, Assistant Curate
'77; St Matthew's Drayton, A. C. '76-'77; St Clement's Stafford, A.C. '75-'76].
Newsletter in 2002 says they have a "Lay Minister
Veterans Ministry. Terry Egan DCM"
15. Feeling: O.K. This type of religion is not something people greatly flock
to.
*16. Their belief: "Low" Anglican service. It seems that most priests
are spirit filled/ speak in tongues which they call "having gone through
renewal" but they almost never talk about their gift.
17. 17. Dress code: Casual to smart.
18. How to get there: Same.
1. # of people: 76ppl.
2. 38% filled.
3. Type of person. Traditional.
4. Socio-Economic Status: Medium.
5. Amount of kids. Almost none.
6. Ages of people. 80% 50+.
7. % of men.
8. Weekly offering church brings in if published. Not disclosed in newsletter.
9. Lateness of people getting to church.-.
10. Any other interesting information.
11. Time AND date. 21/5/00
12. Length of service. 1hr.
13. This and other service times. 8.30am only.
14. Preacher. -.
15. Feeling of building. Not an old or new building, well maintained. 16. Estimate
style of belief. Traditional.
17. Dress to not stand out. Casual to smart.
OLDEST CHURCH IN DARLING DOWNS.
1. NUMBER OF PEOPLE: 31 people.
*(Interestingly, there were 19 cars in the car park, by the way. Which means
that a lot of cars only have one person in them.) (A Pastor once said that a
church car park costs $1000 a year. Northside AOG.) (Also, the first Sunday
of every month they have a baptismal service where the church is very well attended.
As many as 5 infants can get Christened in one day.)
2. NUMBER OF CHAIRS: 108.
3. Type of person: More traditional.
4. Socio-Economic Status: Medium.
5. Amount of kids: Zero.
6. Ages of people: Seven people were aged 40 - 60yo.
7. 30% are men. 6 out of 19 were men. (Meaning, I only counted the people directly
in front of me.)
8. Weekly offering published: Not listed.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
10. Any other interesting information:
11. TIME THERE AND DATE OF VISIT: 7.15am- 8.30am 31 people on the 17/11/02.
(40 people on the 14/5/00.)
12. Length of service: 1 hour. 7.58am finish.
13. This and other service times: 7am; 9am.
14. Preacher: Rev Bill Ross.
*15. Feeling of building: A very pristine old building with charm.
*16. Estimate style of belief: Traditional. High church means it leans more
toward the Catholic Church. I.E. The priest will be called "Father."
For example the All Saints Anglican church on Wickham Tce Brisbane city are
so Catholic, they have a statue of the Virgin Mary and "stations of the
cross."
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: No hats, suit coat - open shirt.
18. How to get there: Travel south along West St, go past Stephen St, travel
south west along Drayton Rd for 4mins till you go over a railway line on a sharp
curve, turn right at Colvin St, turn left at Glennie St.
19. ACCEPTANCE IN CHURCH AS A VISITOR: Not very.
20. People who talked to me after the service: Very few.
21. Length of time they talked: -.
22. How soon do visitors get talked to after service?: Didn't.
**23. HOW MUCH CHURCH IS OPEN TO WIDER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: Not very open
but they do participate in Ecumenical services at St Stephens Uniting. Please
note: The word "ecumenical" simply means "combined churches."
However, often ecumenical typically refers to combining Uniting, Lutheran and
Catholic churches. "Combined churches" usually always means combining
Charismatic and evangelical churches.
*24. Unusual things about worship: Get ready to go on your knees for this
one. However, half the people who don't go on their knees do lean forward or
they sit on the front of their pews, otherwise the people behind you will give
you an elbow in the back! Also, unless your "Anglified", get ready
to use their prayer book given at the door to recite words back to the priest.
25. EMPHASIS OF MINISTRY: -.
26. Famous business people: -.
27. Famous people: -.
28. KNOWABLE SONGS: Not really, but they did use well known hymns.
29. Quality of sound system/ loudness: Very average.
30. Quality of preaching generally: Quite OK.
31. Meaningfulness/ depth of preaching: Not bad.
32. Enjoyment/ lightness of preaching: Not light as such.
33. Impact/ deepness/ enjoyment of worship: Not really. The church was nice.
Gives you a feeling of "nostalgia" but church is about more than that.
34. Amount of home groups: None.
35. How to access home groups: -.
36. Friendliness of home groups: -.
37. Intention to build: None.
38. Estimate percentage church owned / rented?: In debt over new manse and Glebe
retirement village.
***39. Estimate age of building: Many people think this
is the oldest church in Drayton and Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. Not true.
The age of the stone built St Mathews is 1886. However, the little wooden church
10 metres to the north/west is 35 years older. Built in 1851. The outside has
been largely re-built but the inside has parts which are original. The original
site of this wooden church was down the hill, south west of it's current position.
The Glennie School was named after the first Anglican clergyman. He was the
very first clergyman in ANY denomination to the Darling Downs.
40. Dowdiness of building outside: Not dowdy.
41. Inside?: Not dowdy.
42. Have sister churches where? The parish (area group of sister churches) consists
of St Mary's Harristown, All Saints Cambooya, St Peter's Wyreema, St Paul's
Umbiram.
43. Sunday School availability: No.
44. Ages availability: No.
45. % kids attend: None.
46. Noise of kids at back: No kids.
47. Where is bible college? St Francis College near the Milton Brewery, Brisbane.
48. Where do kids school? -.
49. How many missionaries do they support: Anglican's don't very directly or
"singly" support missionaries.
50. What cost? -.
51. What is average they give to missions: -.
52. What is average they give to local poor? -.
53. International poor? -.
54. Other emphasis on giving: -.
55. Per head total giving: -.
56. Extent of other church programs: -.
57. Pastor receive stipend? Yes. If a parish is well off they can also "top
up the salary."
58. How much? -.
*59. Qualifications of Pastor: Minimum usually is a "Licentiate of Theology"
or to a greater level, I.E. "Bachelor of Arts in Theology".
***60. Estimated of parishioners complaints. A person
in leadership said "Dr Jenks was not particularly a friend of mine but
he did not abscond with moneys. However, there was a large debt incurred in
his administration. This came about as there were 8 units built, but some of
the units were not occupied over a 2 year period. The church had to pick up
this debt. Also, Dr Jenks had the church minister's manse removed for demolition
and a new house was built adjoining this land. So we needed to pay for that.
Yes, he did close a country church down. He had quite liberal views such as
not believing that Mary was a virgin and the parishioners themselves didn't
agree at all to these views." He picked up a Californian research position
but as of March 2003 he is in ministry in Brisbane.
*61. Estimated ability to resolve parishioners complaints: The "Glebe
Retirement" village was taken over by "Anglican Aged Care" and
the units have been now sold or rented.
62. Stipend visitors: -.
**63. Unusual things about worship: For the people new to this whole idea
of church, this knowledge will save embarrassment. In ANY church where they
go on their knees during worship. (Usually traditional churches like Catholic
and Anglicans.) If other people directly sit behind you they will go on their
knees, so sit on the front half of your seat. (There's never an absolute obligation
for you to go on your knees.) In this service, half the people were on their
knees, the other half were not.) Otherwise, the people behind you won't have
room and they will have their elbows touching your back. Another unusual thing
about Anglican churches is this. At the door you will be given 2 or 3 books.
One of which is the "Prayer Book of Australia" which is the "Liturgical
(means 'order of church worship') Resources Authorised by The General Synod."
You will notice the parishioners use this book to recite sentences back to the
priest. To follow this book is not easy. The page numbers can be found either
by 1. Following the newsletter. 2. Following the wooden board at the front of
the church. 3. Asking someone to help you. (If you fumble around enough and
keep saying "Oh my goodness", they will nearly always approach you.)
(Hehehehe.) Also, there's plenty of bell ringing during communion.
9am ST MATHEWS DRAYTON ANGLICAN. Beatrice St. 2nd Sunday morning service.
1. # of people 57.
2. 80% filled
3. Type of person. Older people but for some younger families at Christenings.
4. Socio- Economic Status: Middle lower.
5. Amount of kids. 15% 0-8
6. Ages of people. Young families 60% due christening.
7. 40% of men.
8. Weekly offering church brings in if published. Not given.
9. Lateness of people getting to church. -.
**10. Any other interesting information. Dr Gregory Jenks was minister
until 2000 who didn't believe in the Virgin Birth or Christ literally coming
a second time or a literal Satan etc.. Some parishioners expressed disappointment
in these beliefs. He closed several smaller country churches down reportedly
due to a lack of numbers.
11. Time AND date. - 21/5/00
12. Time service went till. -
13. This and other service times. 9am, 7am.
14. Preacher.
*15. Feeling of building. A very pristine old building with charm. 16. Estimate
style of belief. The church body did not seem to support Jank's view on scripture.
1. 59 people ( 49 PEOPLE approx May 2000).
2. 65% FULL.
3. Types. Most likely traditionalists. i.e. non- Charismatic.
4. Socio- Economic Status: Lower middle.
5. Two kids under age 3. (There is no Sunday school. The Sunday school now operates
from St Mathews.)
6. Ages: 2 x 18yo; 2 x 18yo; 10 x 19-40yo; Rest were 60+ (Was all but one 50+.
May 2000)
7. 12 men. (In May 2000 was 9 men out of 49ppl.)
8. -.
9. 4 Sudanese were late at 8.50am.
*10. All songs were hymns. While following "Prayer Book of Australia."
They promoted a Christian unity service at St Pats 6 June 2000 at 7.30pm for
Uniting, Catholic, Anglican, Lutherans, with a supper. One person told me "My
mum stopped going to St Mary's as she was sick of money being raised for St
Mathews of the time Dr Jenks was there."
11. I was there from 8.38am - 10.14am 16 Nov 2003. ( 30 mins 8.30am-9am May
2000.)
12. Service: 8.30am start. Ends at 9.34am. Sermon 8 mins long. Morning tea with
cakes & sandwhiches finished by 10.15am.
13. Only service. Allow 20- 45 mins for a cup of tea at end.)
14. Preacher. Bill Ross.
15. Bit old.
16. Traditional.
17. Dress: Smart casual.
18. How to get there: Go west along South St until you get to the Harristown
High School main hall, turn left or south into Burton St. St Marys church is
soon on the left.
1. 19 people.
2. 22 pews x 5 seats = 110. (But I would have estimated it at 35% so my estimates
of percentages filled tend to be too complimentary, not the other way around.)
3. Types: Older.
4. Socio- Economic Status: Local pensioners.
5. Kids: 0.
6. All old.
7. 8 men or 50%.
8. Giving: Not given.
9. -.
*10. The Anglicans have a very strong history of building as close as possible
to Catholic churches and such again this is the case except the Catholic church
moved 3 years ago.
11. Time: 2 mins. 28/5/00
12. 50mins
13. 6.30am, 10am.
14. -.
15. Bit cold and dark.
16. Dry end of Anglicanism.
17. Dress: Casual to smart.
10am. ST THOMAS at Jellicoe and Anne St.
1. Number of people: 32 people. (32 at 28/1/01; 34 people at
11/3/01). 2. Number of available chairs: 110.
3. Type of person: -.
4. Socio-Economic Status: Normal.
5. Amount of kids: 2.
6. Ages of people: 16, 20, mostly 50+.
7. 50% are men.
8. Weekly offering published: -.
9. Lateness of people getting to church: -.
10. Any other interesting information: -.
11. Time there AND date of visit: 28/5/00.
12. Length of service: 1hr 10m.
13. This and other service times: 10am. 6.30am.
14. Preacher: Archdeacon Fred Ailwood.
15. Feeling of building: OK.
16. Estimate style of belief: -.
17. Dress code so as not to stand out: Casual to smart.
18. How to get there: Travel North towards TV station tower along Hume St turn
left or west at Jellicoe, turn left at Allan St, parking is in grounds or on
street.
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