Mission & Social Justice

Mission and Social Justice are a vital part of the life of St Hilary's & St Silas. Supporting strategic mission initiatives is a key Vision strategy for us and a significant proportion of our budget goes towards mission and social justice organisations and individuals. Many of our members too are involved in mission and justice in their ministry at Shac, and in their working lives.

Mission and Social Justice Board:
The Mission and Social Justice Board reports directly to the Church Council and is the main decision maker in regard to the missions and social justice budget and work performed in and through St Hilary's & St Silas Church. The board aims to have representatives from every congregation, and is chaired by Warren Thomas.

Current board members are: Jo Fazio, Stephen Hale, Anna Hooper, Steve Kerr, Neil Morrison, Rosslyn Poynter, Janette Wells, and Cat Wilson.

Where our Money Goes

15% of all offertory income received by Shac Community is allocated to mission and social justice projects. That means that each year over $200,000 is given to organizations outside of Shac Community's, both in Australia and overseas. All funds that are distributed through the missions and social justice budget are given according to the external giving guidelines determined by the Church Council. Most of the organizations fit into one or more of four broad categories. These are:

1. Christian aid and development
2. Evangelism and church planting
3. Justice advocacy
4. Theological education.

Shac Community's principle partners in it's mission budget are:

CMS, Overseas Council Australia, Ridley College and Tear, our commitment to these organisations is ongoing and important.

An exciting new approach to missions support has seen each congregational community  allocated up to $10,000 of the overall Shac Missions budget to support specific mission partners . In this way a closer link between church members and mission organisations is built up. This allows a more organic approach to missions funding and greater prayer involvment and concern from individual congregations.

Organic Growth

One of the most exciting aspects of mission and social justice at and through Shac is the organic growth of numerous projects through the passion and initiation of individual congregation members.

For example, the OakTree Foundation was founded by a member of our 7pm congregation (Hugh Evans) and launched at Shac in 2003. Many congregation members have become involved with the Foundation and it is enthusiastically supported by the whole church community.

St Hilary's also supports the work of the Persian church, which is largely led by an 11am congregation member.

There are also opportunities for members of our congregations to gather together in support of other mission and social justice projects. For example, several congregation members volunteer either on an ad hoc or regular basis with the Brotherhood of St Vincent's Matthew Talbot Soup Van. The soup van provides food and drinks (not just soup) to people in rooming houses and who meet at the regular stops. The food is much appreciated, but sometimes the listening ear is much more valuable.