Wesley Mission

Wesley Mission is a name used by several Uniting Church congregations which are a part the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. Wesley Missions grew out of the inner city missions of the pre-union Methodist Church of Australasia. These were Central Missions and are not to be confused with the City Missions, which were part of what is now Mission Australia.

Wesley Mission Newcastle

Newcastle City Mission was founded in 1940 by a group of Newcastle business people with the aim of assisting those in distress and poverty throughout Newcastle and the Hunter Valley. In 1999, Newcastle City Mission merged with Wesley Mission Sydney.

Wesley Mission Newcastle services the Newcastle and Hunter region. Services delivered from the Newcastle offices include gambling and financial counselling, youth services, a seniors living centre, vocational training, home and community care, emergency relief, a retail furniture store, family services and chaplaincy.[1][2][3][4][5]

Wesley Mission Sydney

Wesley Mission Sydney, previously known as the Central Methodist Mission before union, is the largest Wesley Mission and is located in Sydney. The mission headquarters are in Pitt Street right at the heart of the CBD of Sydney.

Wesley Mission Sydney was previously headed by the Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker, an international evangelist and founder of Lifeline. After a worldwide search, Rev Dr. Keith Vincent Garner was brought from the United Kingdom to replace Gordon Moyes as Superintendent of Wesley Mission on the 5th Feb 2006. He became the 9th Superintendent in the Mission's 193-year history. As well as being Superintendent and CEO, he preaches each Sunday evening in the Wesley Theatre 6pm. His sermons are broadcast on TV and he hosts a weekly TV program on Channel 9.

Wesley Mission operates out of over 200 centres and employs over 2000 staff with a budget of $160 million. It owns and runs the old Bourke St. Methodist Church in its current form, a crisis accommodation service called Edward Eagar Lodge. The Mission, up to 2013, was associated with Wesley Institute for Ministry & the Arts (now Excelsia College).

Further reading

Wesley Mission Victoria

Wesley Mission Victoria (previously Wesley Mission Melbourne) provides a range of community services that help people improve their quality of life and increase their social and economic participation. It works across a range of service areas including aged care, children youth and family, crisis and homelessness, disability, and employment.[6]

Wesley is the organisation behind some of Melbourne's best known and most valued community services, including the Lifeline Melbourne telephone counselling service and Wesley Do Care - a social support service helping older people stay socially active and participate in their community.

Wesley Mission Victoria was established as a Central Methodist Mission in 1893,[7] next to the Wesley Church in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. At that time, the area was known as the 'back slums' of Melbourne and was notorious for opium dens, gambling houses and places of ill-repute.

Wesley's heritage is founded on the response of Wesleyan Methodists in Victoria to the severe economic depression and associated inner city poverty of the early 1890s.

Today the organisation employs over 800 staff and receives the support of over 1,600 volunteers who help to deliver more than 50 services across metropolitan Melbourne.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Jacqui (28 June 2012). "Revamped Wesley Mission centre opens". Newcastle Herald. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Speight, Janek (27 November 2012). "Wesley Mission’s services expand to Maitland". Newcastle Herald. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Speight, Janek (31 October 2013). "Artist mission raises funds". Newcastle Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Wingate-Pearse, Gabriel (1 December 2011). "New street van supports Newcastle youth". Newcastle Herald. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "More help for senior citizens". Newcastle Herald. Fairfax Media. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Wesley Mission Victoria". WMV. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  7. ↑ Howe, Renate & Swain, Shurlee 1993, The Challenge of the City: the Centenary History of Wesley Central Mission 1893-1993, Hyland House Publishing Pty Ltd, FLemington, Australia
  8. ↑ "Annual Report 2015". Wesley Mission Victoria. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
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