Earlwood Anglican Church is a group of Christians who seek to delight in God as their ultimate treasure and call others to do the same. We help each other navigate through and grow in life, from the youngest to the oldest of people!

We care little about religion, preferring to keep things real and personal. We believe that God is a personal and knowable God, and through the studying of the Bible and having ongoing friendships with Jesus and each other, we can find the deepest spiritual satisfaction for our lives and futures.

Who are We?

Brendan McLaughlin

Senior Minister

Brendan has been the Senior Minister at Earlwood Anglican since August 2011, and is loving serving alongside the saints in Earlwood. He is married to Debra, and they have Four beautiful children. Brendan studied Mechanical Engineering at UTS before working in the automotive industry. He then returned to full-time study at Moore Theological College before becoming an Anglican Minister. Brendan loves Sci-Fi, watching movies, playing card games and spending time with his family.

What We Believe

Earlwood Anglican Church is a Bible-believing community who follows Jesus. We believe that salvation comes only through personal trust in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

We believe the following about God and our relationship to Him:

The divine inspiration, infallibility and sufficiency of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
The unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead.
The universal sinfulness and guilt of humanity since the fall, rendering men and women subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
The conception of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and his birth by the virgin Mary.
Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as our representative and substitute.
The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and his present ministry of ruling and interceding for his people.
The necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit to make the death of Christ effective in the individual sinner, granting him or her repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ.
The indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
The joy of meeting with other Christians in the church on earth is a manifestation of the gathering of God’s people in heaven.
The expectation of the personal return of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

Our heritage is that we are a Protestant Anglican Church that firmly believes the biblical principles outlined in the 39 Articles and 1662 Book of Common Prayer, including the Nicene and Apostles Creeds.

Our Vision

To be a church that is committed to
‘Bringing glory to God through calling all to delight in Him as their ultimate treasure’

Our Mission

We exist to bring glory to God through:
Connecting people to Christ
Transforming people in Christ
Serving people for Christ

Our Values

We intend to shape our ministry around the following values:

Grace: Resting in God’s Work

We are God’s adopted children; united with Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We rest in the Bible’s teaching that our status before God has nothing to do with our character or performance, but is based solely upon God’s grace in the cross of Christ.
We rest in the knowledge that our spiritual growth has nothing to do with our efforts, but the Spirit’s power working in us (Eph 2:8-9; Eph 3:14-19).

Church: Delighting in God’s Worth

We believe gathering together for the Sunday Service is the high-point of a Christian’s weekly worship. We live all of life in worship (ascribing ultimate worth) to God, yet delight in corporate worship as the best form of rest; rest in the Lord (Heb 10:24-25; Heb 4:9).

The Bible: Rejoicing in God’s Word

We long to see God’s glory, which he reveals to us through his word. We rejoice in seeing more of God each and every day by reading and meditating on the Bible. In response to the grace of God revealed in the Scriptures, we gladly shape our lives by all that the Bible tells us (Ex 33:18-35:7; 2 Tim 3:14-17)

Prayer: Enjoying God’s Ear

We are amazed at the enormous privilege of being able to speak to the Lord Almighty. We believe prayer is first and foremost a response to the relationship God initiated with us. As such we enjoy prayer not to get things from God, but to get God himself. In prayer we declare our utter dependence on God for all things, and rejoice that God uses our prayers to bring about his good purposes (Jer 29:10-14; Acts 1:14).

Outreach: Sharing in God’s Mission

We rest in the fact that God does not need us to expand his kingdom, yet marvel at how he wants to use us. We joyfully do our part in God’s mission by inviting people to church, and looking for opportunities to share our faith. We call upon God in prayer to do his part, by preparing the hearts of those in our lives to accept our invitations, and to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mat 28:19-20; 1 Pet 3:15).

Fellowship: Caring for God’s People

We acknowledge that the church is God’s blessing to his people; not just for being mutually encouraged in our faith, but for being nurtured and cared for in the community of believers. We yearn for genuine and loving relationships with our church community, and desire newcomers to be warmly welcomed into our fellowship (Rom 1:12; James 2:14-17).

Justice: Distributing God’s Provisions

We believe people are made in God’s image, and should be treated with love and dignity. We freely use the provisions God has blessed us with to care for the physical, emotional and psychological needs of the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed, through practical and financial support (Gal 2:10; Mat 25:31-46).

What is a Christian?

Simply put, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ; someone who has Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

A Christian is someone who recognises their sin has caused a blockage in their relationship with their maker, and has turned to Jesus as our only hope. Some people think the moral people (like me) are ‘in’ with God, while the immoral people (like them) are ‘out’. Others think the open-minded, socially conscious people (like me) are ‘in’, while the closed-minded bigots are ‘out’. A Christian is someone who accepts the Bible’s verdict that the humble are ‘in’ (i.e. those who recognise their need for forgiveness), while the proud are ‘out’ (i.e. those who think they are moral enough, or socially conscious enough to earn their own salvation).

Though not perfect, Australia has a very good justice system, which recognises that even if someone is sorry for their crime, and even if the victim forgives them, punishment still must be handed down. God’s cosmic justice system IS perfect, meaning punishment must be handed down for every form of rebellion against God’s cosmic laws. Yet since God knows humans cannot cope with that punishment, God offered to take our punishment upon himself. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, God offers forgiveness for every sin we’ve ever committed. All that is needed to receive the gift of forgiveness is to (i) repent (say sorry) of your Sin, and (ii) make Jesus the ruler of your life. For a more detailed explanation, please click ‘here http://twowaystolive.com/

We at Earlwood Anglican believe being a Christian is the best way to live. Firstly, it gives us full assurance of our future place in heaven, because salvation has nothing to do with us. Second, since God created the entire universe, we know that his laws and guidelines are the best way to live in this world.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Christian?

Simply put, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ; someone who has Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

A Christian is someone who recognises their sin has caused a blockage in their relationship with their maker, and has turned to Jesus as our only hope. Some people think the moral people (like me) are ‘in’ with God, while the immoral people (like them) are ‘out’. Others think the open-minded, socially conscious people (like me) are ‘in’, while the closed-minded bigots are ‘out’. A Christian is someone who accepts the Bible’s verdict that the humble are ‘in’ (i.e. those who recognise their need for forgiveness), while the proud are ‘out’ (i.e. those who think they are moral enough, or socially conscious enough to earn their own salvation).

Though not perfect, Australia has a very good justice system, which recognises that even if someone is sorry for their crime, and even if the victim forgives them, punishment still must be handed down. God’s cosmic justice system IS perfect, meaning punishment must be handed down for every form of rebellion against God’s cosmic laws. Yet since God knows humans cannot cope with that punishment, God offered to take our punishment upon himself. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, God offers forgiveness for every sin we’ve ever committed. All that is needed to receive the gift of forgiveness is to (i) repent (say sorry) of your Sin, and (ii) make Jesus the ruler of your life.

For a more detailed explanation, please click ‘here http://twowaystolive.com/

We at Earlwood Anglican believe being a Christian is the best way to live. Firstly, it gives us full assurance of our future place in heaven, because salvation has nothing to do with us. Second, since God created the entire universe, we know that his laws and guidelines are the best way to live in this world.

What is an Anglican?

The Anglican Church of Australia has its roots in England during the late 1600s. While world-wide Anglicanism has become quite diverse since then, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has fought long and hard to maintain the evangelical origins of the Church of England, while maintaining cultural relevance. For more information on the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, please click ‘here’ (link to www.sydneyanglicans.net)

The controlling standard of doctrine and worship within the Anglican Church are The Book of Common Prayer, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. Both documents are based on what the Anglican Church believes the Bible says to us. While the Anglican Church is an organisation steeped in tradition, we at Earlwood Anglican ensure that man-made traditions do not precede the word of God.

Do you need to be an Anglican to go to an Anglican Church?

Not at all. We welcome believers and unbelievers alike at Earlwood Anglican, whether you’re a long term Anglican, someone looking for a new church or denomination, or someone searching for answers in life.

The beauty of Christian denominations is they exist for the benefit of Christians, so that Christians can worship God with a clear conscience. For example, not all Christians agree with the Anglican Church’s Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, nor Anglican Church governance, or the way Anglicans conduct services. Such people may feel more comfortable in a different denomination.

We would love you to be a part of our church.

Do I need to go to church to be a Christian?

While you won’t find a specific verse in the Bible stating ‘thou must go to church to be a Christian’, the Scriptures do have much to say on this topic. For example, Hebrews 10:25 says ‘let us not give up meeting together’.

However, to best answer this question, we need to understand what church is, and what it is there for. In the Bible, the word church simply means a gathering. So a Christian church is a gathering of Christians. The purpose of church is not to pray, to sing, to read the Bible, or even to listen to a sermon; we can do all these things from the privacy of our own homes. The purpose of church is community, where we can be mutually encouraged by other Christians (e.g. Romans 1:12; Hebrews 10:25). However, true Christian fellowship means not only sharing our lives, it means using our gifts and talents to serve one another (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12:11-28).

As such, a mature Christian is someone who is a regular member of a local church, and is using their gifts and talents to serve the people of that church. If a Christian decides not to be a member of a local church, they either don’t wish to grow as a Christian, don’t wish to encourage others to grow as Christians, don’t wish to serve other Christians, or simply don’t like Christians. Either way, if someone is asking this question, there are deeper questions that need to be addressed alongside this one.

What is the Anglican Church’s view on Infant Baptism?

As the New Testament (NT) tells us, Christian Baptism is the outward sign (or sacrament) that signifies someone is a disciple of Jesus Christ (e.g. Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 1:11-16). The big question then is ‘how does one become a disciple?’

The process most commonly described in the NT is of adults converting to Christianity from either Judaism, or some other religion. It is not surprising that the majority of NT baptisms were of adults, as the first subjects of baptism in a missionary situation (which Acts describes) are always converts.

However, what we see in the Old Testament (OT) is that God deals with families rather than individuals (e.g. Genesis 6:18; Genesis 17:11-13). This is the reason Joshua can speak for his entire household in Joshua 24:15. In the NT, God moves from dealing with the nation of Israel to calling people from all nations. Yet God continues to deal with families. In 1 Corinthians 7:14 we are told that children of believers are ‘holy’ (the NT term for Christians). Likewise Jesus receives and blesses little ones (Matthew 19:13-14), and rebukes those who turn them away (Mark 10:14). Further, before the Jailer’s whole family is baptised in Acts 16:33, Paul tells him that if he turns and believes in Jesus, he and his whole family will be saved (Acts 16:31).

At Earlwood Anglican, we raise our children as believers, and teach them all that Jesus commanded. As such, it is only fitting that our children receive the sign that they are believers.