Street T turns One
Some of the great Street T volunteers!
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 20/6/2-25
Friends in Christ, Street T turned one this Tuesday.
In that time we’ve served up about 3,000 cups of coffee, 1,500 pieces of fruit, 1,000 bowls of porridge and 90 Bible studies.
Our goal with breakfast has been to provide something nutritious, yummy and warm. I love discovering what the homemade food will be for this week, as well as getting my special Milo from Joyce!
Reading and discussing the Bible together has been a special joy. We’re only about a third of the way through Luke’s Gospel – I guess we’ll be finishing it around our 3rd birthday! I’ve really loved listening to God, the occasional debate or new insight, and spurring each other on as we seek to apply His Word to our lives.
And as we serve up the porridge, or have a chat, or share a prayer, I trust we do so in a spirit of friendship. Of course not everyone is chatty first thing on a Monday morning and occasionally someone rubs us up the wrong way, but I’m so thankful to God for a genuine sense of friendship among us and I hope and pray that this is what others feel too.
Of course it’s customary to say some words of thanks at a party, so here are mine.
Firstly, I give thanks for our wonderful volunteers. We give thanks for our 18 servant-hearted Team Members - of whom you might see up to a dozen on a Monday or Tuesday. They’re hard working, they love serving and they’re kind. In addition there’s another 10 Street Chefs who prepare homemade food each month! None of us are perfect - we all have our good days & bad - but I think these guys are a great credit to our Jesus Lord, in whose they serve. You really are his hands and his smile :)
Our Community Chaplain Rob, and Brett, currently from the streets.
Secondly, I give thanks for our community members; there’s no community without them. We’ve loved getting to know them; our lives are much richer as a result. It’s a joy not just to serve them, but to hear their opinions, and to pray with each other. I’ve been really struck by the level of hunger and interest in Christian faith - so many have a curiosity about faith or a deep faith in Jesus. It’s a great joy to see a community of love (in all its quirkiness!) taking shape.
Most of all, I want to give thanks to God. In 1 John 4 we read,
“Here is what love is. It is not that we loved God. It is that he loved us and sent his Son to give his life to pay for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Isn’t that an extraordinary love! God’s love for us in Jesus takes away our sins and frees us to live a whole new way. As the passage continues,
“Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another. No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us. His love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:11-12).
Rob Elder
Community Chaplain
P.S. In addition, the co-located monthly Community Hub has also turned one! We host this forum for accessing community services on the Cathedral forecourt – in partnership with the Salvation Army, with our volunteers offering an additional morning tea/early lunch sausage sizzle and cuppa. Here is a list of many amazing groups that have been consistently involved with the Hub over the last 12 months, that people off the streets and on the margins can access:
4 Voices
Anglicare Sydney
GambleAware NSW
Homes NSW
Inner City HEIS
Launchpad
Legal Aid NSW
NSW Births, Deaths & Marriages
NSW Ombudsman
People with Disability Australia
Revenue NSW
Services Australia
Short Back & Sidewalks
St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney Homelessness Team
Sydney City Salvos
Thanks to them all – turning up especially in the cold months and on rainy days!
God’s love for us is transformative, and we hope and pray many are experiencing some of that through Street T and the Community Hub.