OUR EARLY BEGINNINGS

This is the story of a work of God which began in the 1950's with a meeting held in a private home in South Turramurra. It is a work which is continuing to this day carried out by faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Master, Leader and Guide. It started when two blocks of land on the corner of Monteith Street and Kissing Point Road were donated by one of the church wardens from St. James' Anglican Church Turramurra at that time. St. Philip's was dedicated as a branch church of St. James' Turramurra in June 1957 by the Archbishop. Regular visitation of the South Turramurra area followed as new homes were being built. This visitation was undertaken mainly by the assistant ministers of the time from St. James'. One of these assistant ministers said on more than one occasion that it was his policy to follow removalists vans to do his visiting. Sunday school work began in 1957 and the first teenage fellowship group was formed in the early 1960's.

THE NEED TO MOVE

During the latter part of 1960 there were some doubts expressed about the suitability of the site on Monteith Street and Kissing Point Road. The congregation was growing - the site was subject to road widening on Kissing Point Road and the geographical centre of the area was moving south further down Kissing Point Road. During November 1962 we were able to purchase a block of land in Saddington Street and build a minister's residence. During July 1963 negotiations were began with Lend Lease Corporation with a view to procuring an alternative church site on the corner of Parkinson Avenue and Comenarra Parkway consisting of three blocks of land. These negotiations came to fruition in February 1965 when the purchase was finalised. Planning to develop the new site began soon after the land purchase had been completed. In April 1965 an architectural brief was arranged for Sydney University 4th Year Design School and a competition was held to choose the most popular of the designs submitted. In February 1967 the residence adjoining the church site, 5 Parkinson Avenue became available for purchase - this was then bought and the Saddington Street property subsequently was sold. During 1969 the Church and Hall were built with the opening of the new facilities taking place in September 1969.

INDEPENDENCE

With the growth in the congregation continuing, it was decided in July 1969 to ask the Archbishop to form the new Provisional Parish of Turramurra South. This was done with the goodwill and support of St. James' Turramurra who had provided very generous support with ministry and finance since St. Philip's began. So commenced life for St. Philip's as a district having to stand on its own feet - but it was obvious right from the start that this was the Lord's doing - He was faithful to us and we were called to be faithful to Him.

MINISTERS AT ST. PHILIP'S

Our first minister was Rev. Allan Blanch who was appointed by the Archbishop as Curate-in-charge in March 1970. His ministry with us continued until February 1974 - he was faithful in proclaiming God's Word to us and he left to take up ministry at St.Barnabas' Broadway. In April 1974 Rev. David Hewetson was appointed as Curate-in-charge and when the application to become a fully fledged parish was approved by Synod in 1978, an induction service for David Milroy Hewetson was held on December 17,1978 David continued a faithful teaching preaching and pastoral ministry until December 1989. Rev. Max Boys joined us in January 1991 and we are pleased to say he is still with us continuing the faithful ministry of his predecessors. We believe it is true to say that over the years there has been a real growth in Christian godliness and maturity in the people of St. Philip's and for this we thank God and also those who under God have ministered so faithfully.

MINISTRY AT ST. PHILIP'S

Ministry at St. Philip's has been very varied and wide reaching - grow groups or home study groups first commenced in the late 1970's - these groups under the lord's guidance have been the heart and core of our Christian community - meeting for fellowship, support of each other, sharing and studying God's Word.. Ministry to the young people of our area has grown and developed from the very humble beginning in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Our first part time youth worker started with us in the early 1980's and today we have a full time youth minister - we thank God for the growth and quality of our youth work. Our Lord has led many from our midst to serve in other parts of his vineyard - some have been ordained for full time ministry in Sydney Diocese and in other dioceses. Others have served with Missionary Societies in places as diverse as Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Sabah, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Kenya and the Northern Territory.

Other areas of ministry have included hospital visiting, family court ministry, prisons ministry, schools ministry through scripture teaching and ministry to our community through our involvement with the Ku-ring-gai fair.

We thank God for leading us in the way He has and trust that we might be faithful in following His guidance and leading in all that lies ahead for us.