Why Mental Health Sunday?

Stats from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare:

- 1 in 5 Australians

aged 16-85 (22% or 4.3 million) experienced a mental disorder.

- 17% of Australians experienced an Anxiety disorder. 

8% experienced an Affective disorder and 3% a Substance use disorder.

- 1 in 7 children and adolescents

aged 4-17 years experienced a mental illness.

With these numbers, it is most likely, if we do not know first-hand what it’s like to battle with mental health, we know someone who does. That is why we think it is important that we put a Sunday aside and think through how the gospel of Jesus speaks into an aspect of our mental health.

This year we have a particular focus on the family with our subject being:

Jesus, Family and Mental Health

We will be thinking through how we might best love our family when one or more members are battling with mental health. And how can faith in Jesus help us?

We have invited Steve Dinning who will speak at all our services and then run a lunch time workshop. For catering purposes, we would love to know if you are interested in the workshop. You can sign up on the sheet up the back or email Dave to let him know. We’ll provide a light lunch for the workshop.

A Bit About Steve

Steve visited us a few years ago running a parenting workshop that all who attended found really helpful.

Steve has a background in social work and Anglican parish ministry. As part of Anglicare’s Family & Life Skills Education Team he runs courses and seminars in parenting, family life and relating with others. He’s also on Anglicare’s Southern Counselling Team.

A number of us have been meeting regularly, praying and seeking God’s will and provision to start an Evening Church.  We believe an Evening Church will bring glory to God and add to what God is already doing amongst us. 

We are excited about how God might use this and believe it is worth kicking something off this year.

 Here is how things are taking shape.  We are currently thinking we are going to start our church in the old church.  It will mean that our smaller numbers to begin with won’t look too awkward in the small building.  We also think it would be good to have some kind of food involved to encourage fellowship afterwards.   At this stage we are thinking of having a service around 5pm followed by some kind of meal (what this looks like depends on our resources and what is realistic).

If you are interested in being involved, we invite you to join us to think through the final shape of things on the 19th October at 4pm. 

The Soft Launch will be on 9th November (the week after our confirmation service)

We hope to have everything in place in order to advertise and start our new evening church on the 18th January 2026

Let us all pray for all those involved, that God might use this to shape us and see more people enjoy Him who offers us life, love and hope.

A group of about 18 of us left the church at 11:30 and headed to Spencer via the Sackville Ferry. After regrouping at Wiseman’s Ferry, we enjoyed a short scenic drive before arriving at Spencer. Lunch was held at a beautiful spot right on the wharf, where Trent & Bianca were fantastic hosts . The laksa soups proved very popular!

After lunch, everyone made their own way home at their own leisure, though a few of us stayed back and had some really interesting conversations.

My original hope for this outing was to create a way to kickstart a men’s ministry in our church, and also to provide an opportunity to invite friends and family members who don’t normally come to church. I wanted it to be a relaxed, social setting where people could see that we’re not a bunch of “weird people,” but rather a community they could feel comfortable being part of.

I believe our church really needs a men’s ministry of some kind, but events like this—especially when our partners are included—work beautifully as a bridge. They allow us to connect with one another more deeply than we can during the quick five-minute coffee after Sunday service, and they provide a welcoming environment to introduce others to our church family.

After our recent series on Revelation, I was struck by the sobering truth that while I will one day be celebrating in heaven, friends, family members, and loved ones who don’t know Christ will be facing an eternity without Him. Not just missing out, but eternal suffering, That is something I find very difficult to reconcile. My Bible knowledge isn’t strong, but I know that if I can bring my friends and family along to church, then more mature believers will have opportunities to share and connect with them.

Looking back on the day, I can see that a little more planning would have helped. My brother and a couple of mates who came along ended up sitting apart from the main group at lunch. It wasn’t anyone’s fault—it just happened that way—but I would have loved for them to sit among our church members and share conversations. 

They still had a great day, but it felt like a missed opportunity that could easily be avoided in the future with a bit more thought.

We’ll definitely be organising more outings and also working toward a more formal men’s ministry in the near future. This first event was a great start, and I’m excited to see where God leads us from here.

Last week a passage that I reflected on and spoke on fixed my attention on the servant nature of our Saviour, Jesus. Jesus says to his disciples that just don’t get the way of his kingdom and are trying to make power plays against each other:

whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26 – 28)

We often think of greatness in terms of large followings, those with so much money and those in high positions where they can demand things of others. The world usually thinks of greatness in terms power over others.

Yet Jesus, God the son himself, says greatness is found in serving others. Putting the interests of others before your own. It might look demeaning, like that of a slave as he says. Yet even if true greatness doesn’t look impressive to others greatness is bound up with the interests of others.

So as we serve others at cost to ourselves. We should take encouragement that serving others is great. It is great because ultimately it reflects the character of the God who made us. Seeking the benefit of the other is most valuable because that is what Jesus is like. Or rather when we serve others or see others serve us we see a shadow, a reflection of what true service is.

The ironic thing about what Jesus says is that serving others is the way of greatness yet what we need more than any greatness we can show others is to be served by Jesus. And the wonderful news is that Jesus has served us in the greatest way possible. His service involved was dying on a cross so that he might deliver many. Deliver many from the captivity of sin and bring them into joyful relationship with their father in heaven. Jesus’ service is the model for us, but what we need more than a model is a saviour who has served us. Praise God for our servant king!

This Christmas, we’re collecting food and gifts for those who are doing it tough. We are partnering with Anglicare in “Toys ‘n’ Tucker” which aims to share the joy of Christmas with families who would otherwise go without. This is a practical way we can share the love of Jesus with others in our local community, and we pray that this will lead to many knowing the hope found fully and only in Him.

Would you like to join me on a small team to organise our church partnering with Anglicare in this way?  The team would be an ‘event team’ – just established for the purpose of facilitating, empowering and supporting our church to be part of Toys n Tucker 2025.  Please see me if you’re interested – I reckon that being on the team will be fun, enlightening and meaningful as our church makes great impact in the lives of others.