Bibles and barbecues: how Living Water is reaching Redfern
What does a sausage sandwich have to do with the gospel?
That’s a question being answered regularly at Living Water Church in Redfern in inner Sydney.
Living Water, a church plant under the Evangelism and New Churches arm of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, regularly holds services and gatherings in Redfern Park, rather than inside their building. By doing this, they are better able to engage with the community of Redfern, and also support their largely Indigenous congregation to embrace their connection to country.
In 2023, Living Water Church, through one of their team members Bridget Allen, were recipients of a Women in Ministry Support Scheme grant from ADM. Part of this grant has been used to purchase a portable barbeque which the church uses to cook during their outside gatherings. This can draw a crowd as people approach for a tasty meal, and then meet the church members and hear the gospel proclaimed.
Living Water’s decision to gather outside is aligned with their desire to have greater contact with the local community and to share the good news of Jesus and how a relationship with him changes lives. They are particularly committed to seeing local Indigenous and non-Indigenous Christians serving in partnership in all areas of our church life, and in seeing a new generation of Indigenous Christians raised and equipped to lead churches and reach First Nations people with the good news of Jesus.
They are grateful for the support of ADM, via Bridget, to help reach these goals - even with something as simple as a barbecue!
From medicine to ministry: Bridget’s story
Bridget, who became a Christian in high school thanks to the witness of her older sister, studied medicine at university and then worked in Alice Springs as a doctor for 18 months. While there she was involved in a local church and got involved with their ministry to and alongside the Aboriginal community.
“I really loved it,” Bridget shares.
Four years ago, Bridget moved to Sydney, and a friend told her about Living Water Church. She jumped at the chance to join, and attended as a member for several years, forming relationships and getting involved with various ministries.
Living Water meets on Saturday afternoons, either in their building or at Redfern Park, and also hosts various other gatherings each week including a Women’s ‘Yarn Up’ Bible study and prayer group, youth groups, and mid-week dinner - an opportunity to connect with the wider community with food and relationships as well as sharing of songs and testimonies.
Bridget says, “When they first come for the first time, people always say that Living Water has the greatest community feel - so laid back and friendly and people can just walk straight in. The people who go to Living Water are very passionate and love being part of the community. They’re always keen to stay back after our meetings and relate to each other.”
With her interest in Aboriginal ministry, Bridget particularly appreciates how the team behind Living Water - a partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Christians from diverse backgrounds - has sought to make church culturally accessible to Aboriginal people.
“We’ve stripped back some of the formal parts of church that can be a bit off-putting, we’ve made it more casual and relational,” Bridget explains. “We start with an Acknowledgement of Country, we have the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags displayed, and a member created a beautiful dot painting that represents our church which is up on the wall. It signals to Aboriginal people when they walk in that this is a space for them.”
After serving as a volunteer at Living Water for some time, while studying for a Masters degree and working as a doctor, Bridget decided she wanted to pursue some theological training. She started a ministry apprenticeship with Campus Bible Study. However rather than doing this full time, two days per week, Bridget is working and training for ministry with Living Water.
Bridget primarily serves youth and women. She is part of the team leading their Thursday night youth group, and also takes some of the young people out for hot chocolate and Bible study on some Friday nights. She regularly meets with women to pastorally care for them and spiritually encourage them through reading the Bible, praying together and talking about God.
But there is also a very practical element to her role. “I don't always know what I'm going to do on my Living Water days. Am I going to take someone to a doctor's appointment or meet with some agency with them, or something like that?” Bridget sees providing this support as key to being part of growing God’s family in Redfern. “Amidst all of that practically caring for people, we are pointing them to Jesus,” she explains.
This kind of work does come with an emotional toll, and Bridget knows she has to be careful to care for her own wellbeing while supporting church members who have experienced complex traumas and hardships. But she is upheld by the faithfulness of God working through her ministry and bearing fruit, saying, “There's great joy when you get to have that great chat with someone about faith or see them grow in their understanding of who Jesus is and what he's done for them. Heaps of joy in that.”
Support from ADM
In 2023, Bridget was told of the ADM Women in Ministry Support Scheme, and decided to apply for a grant. She applied for funding to purchase a portable barbecue to make cooking after church in the park easier, as well as for new Bibles and other books and resources to have at church and share with the women she ministers to.
In her application, Bridget wrote:
Operating in a low socioeconomic area means that our church budget is limited and outside support is required to keep the lights on. As such gaining new resources such as Bibles and barbecues can be difficult. In the past we have acquired resources through individual donation or through our own out-of-pocket costs (and costs add up on a ministry trainee income!) I would love to help the life of the church and my own ministry to the community. WIMSS funding would allow me to better resource my work of teaching the Bible and reaching out to the community.
The WIMSS funding granted to Bridget and Living Water has already made an impact. The portable barbecue means food can be cooked right in the park rather than cooked in the church building and ferried down, increasing opportunities for congregants to serve one another by sharing the cooking, and, of course, drawing in newcomers with tasty smells!
Of the new Bibles purchased, Bridget says, “Before the grant we had this weird mishmash of Bibles in church of different translations. So we bought a set that are all NIV, all big print. Now we set them out every week. And it’s sort of changed the culture of how we read the Bible each week. People are opening it more in the talks and wanting to follow along. And it's been cool as well that people will often pick them up before or after church and just have a little look, a little read themselves.”
Bridget has also used some funding to purchase other books, such as a book on prayer that she recently gave to an Indigenous woman named Carlie.
From the park to faith: Carlie’s story
While Living Water was meeting in Redfern Park five years ago, Carlie walked by. Carlie is originally from central Australia, a little community of around 300 people called Docker River (Kaltukatjara), 670 kilometres west-south-west of Alice Springs. She moved to Sydney with her family for a fresh start a few years ago.
Carlie’s son had already encountered Living Water and encouraged his mum to check it out. So when Carlie saw the gathering in the park she approached and was warmly welcomed by a community that embraced her and helped her understand what was going on, even though English isn’t her first language.
“I really liked listening to God’s story,” Carlie remembers of her first gathering with Living Water.
Carlie has been a dedicated member ever since, particularly enjoying the women’s Yarn Up group each Wednesday. “We share stories, and talk about God and Jesus,” she explains. “When we have problems, we know that God helps us, even in our sorry business and sadness when people pass away.”
Recently the group has been working through Colossians, and this is helping Carlie share her faith with her family. “I’ve got my own Bible in language and they help me read it,” Carlie explains. “I listen at Yarn Up and then I go home and I read that part to my partner and my son.”
Carlie is serving at church in kids ministry, trying to teach the children a song about God in language. She is a talented artist, who in fact created the artwork representing Living Water hanging in the church building that Bridget says contributes to the welcoming atmosphere of the church.
Carlie has started inviting others to church with her, sharing her experience with friends and others who live near her. Recently Carlie invited a woman from the Torres Strait Islands, who was seeking a community like Carlie had been when she first arrived in Sydney. “I told her my story and she said, ‘I want to come with you and I want to be with God!’” Carlie says joyfully.
Please pray that as more people like Carlie come to know Jesus at Living Water, whether through a barbecue or other means, the team including Bridget would faithfully disciple them with God’s word and support them to continue spreading the gospel to Indigenous Australians, and indeed all members of the Redfern community.