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An artist’s drawing of the new building of the Greater Sydney Conference headquarters. 

Photo courtesy of SH International.

Greater Sydney Conference, South Pacific Division

By Barry Oliver

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Barry Oliver, Ph.D., retired in 2015 as president of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists, Sydney, Australia. An Australian by birth Oliver has served the Church as a pastor, evangelist, college teacher, and administrator. In retirement, he is a conjoint associate professor at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored over 106 significant publications and 192 magazine articles. He is married to Julie with three adult sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: January 29, 2020

The Greater Sydney Conference comprises the cities of Sydney and Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia, with a population of approximately 5.23 million people.

Current Territory and Statistics

The Greater Sydney Conference is a constituent of the Australian Union Conference.1 Its headquarters are located at 185 Fox Valley Road in the Shannon Building on the Wahroonga Campus of Sydney Adventist Hospital. Its unincorporated activities are governed by a constitution based on the model conference constitution of the South Pacific Division of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SPD). Its real and intellectual property is held in trust by the Australasian Conference Association Limited, an incorporated entity based at the headquarters office of the SPD in Wahroonga, NSW.

The Conference Executive Committee has transferred most of its functions to three corporations to act as trustees for the conference:2 Seventh-day Adventist Church (Greater Sydney Conference) Limited, which oversees the day-to-day operations of the conference itself and was registered on November 3, 2003;3 Seventh-day Adventist Schools (Greater Sydney) Limited, which oversees the operation of the education entities within the conference and was registered on November 3, 2003;4 and Seventh-day Adventist Aged Care (Greater Sydney) Limited, which oversees the operation of the aged care facilities within the conference and was registered on November 3, 2003.5 

The territory of the Greater Sydney Conference includes Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island and is “that part of the State of New South Wales bounded on the south by a straight line bearing westerly from the entrance of Lake Illawarra to Yerranderie, on the west by a straight line bearing due north from Yerranderie to the Capertee River, on the north by the Capertee and Hawkesbury Rivers bearing easterly to the sea, and on the east bearing southerly by the coast of New South Wales to the entrance of Lake Illawarra.”6 

In the 2018 Annual Statistical Report of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Greater Sydney Conference was listed as having 66 churches and 14 companies. Church membership at the end of 2017 was 9, 567.7 The conference had 825 active employees. Its tithe receipts for 2016 totaled US$10,852,176. Its tithe and offerings per capita were US$1,815.41 which was the highest in the SPD.8

The Greater Sydney Conference publishes three regular periodicals. Intrasyd is a monthly news magazine published in a print edition and distributed free of charge to all conference churches.9 The Greater Sydney Conference Newsletter and Bulletin is a weekly digital bulletin that publishes announcements, recent news stories, and encouraging devotionals. The annual Sydney Adventist Calendar is distributed to the churches at the end of each calendar year in both print and digital formats.

Institutions of the Greater Sydney Conference

The Greater Sydney Conference operates six schools, three nursing home and retirement centers, a camp, two bookstores, and two counseling centers.

Hills Adventist College, founded in 1961 as Castle Hill Adventist School,10 enrolls elementary students from kindergarten to grade 4.11 An early Learning Centre is also located on the campus.12 It is located at 84 Cecil Avenue, Castle Hill, NSW. In 2011, Hills Adventist college began offering secondary education on a second campus, the North Kellyville Campus, located at 2-4 Gum Nut Place, North Kellyville NSW.13 In 2019, it was in the process of expanding to a Kindergarten-Grade 12 school.14

Hurstville Adventist School is an elementary school15 located at 30 Wright Street, Hurstville, NSW, which opened in 1940.16

Macarthur Adventist College, located at 12 Victoria Road, Macquarie Fields, NSW, was established in 1974 as Macquarie Fields Adventist School.17 The school’s name was changed to Macarthur Adventist School in 2000. The following year it began to offer secondary education, and in 2008 the name was changed to Macarthur Adventist College.18

Mountain View Adventist College operates as an elementary and secondary school located at 41 Doonside Road, Doonside, NSW.19 The elementary school was opened on May 17, 1969,20 and the secondary school commenced in 1983.21 Formerly known as Doonside Adventist School, the name was changed to Mountain View Adventist School in 1994,22 and then to Mountain View Adventist College in 1999.23

Sydney Adventist School Auburn is an elementary school located at 3 Macquarie Road, Auburn NSW.24 The school opened as Auburn Seventh-day Adventist Primary School on June 18, 1917, “with an attendance of 24 scholars.”25 In 1919, it merged with the new Seventh-day Adventist high school in Concord to offer a Kindergarten-Year 10 curriculum.26 Following the closure of the Concord high school at the end of 1921, Auburn expanded its curriculum to include secondary grades through the Intermediate Certificate until a new high school was opened in Burwood in 1937. After the secondary students moved to the Burwood school, which later moved to Albert Road, Strathfield, Auburn reverted to a primary school once more and student numbers continued to grow.27 In 2007, the school was incorporated into Sydney Adventist College. This merger allowed the two campuses to offer a complete curriculum from Prep-Year 12. Year 5 and 6 students moved from the Auburn campus to the Strathfield campus to become part of a new middle school. The Auburn Campus of Sydney Adventist College became the junior school, offering a Prep-Year 4 curriculum.28 At the end of 2012, the Strathfield campus of Sydney Adventist College closed after more than 75 years of continuous operation and the school at Auburn once again reverted to a primary school. It is now known as Sydney Adventist School Auburn and offers a complete Prep-Year 6 curriculum.29

Wahroonga Adventist School, located at 181 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga, NSW, opened in a room at the rear of Sydney Adventist Hospital in 1905. By the end of that year land was found for a small timber building to be erected. By March 1922, the school had increased to 44 pupils and a new classroom was completed September 9, 1922.30 The first buildings of the school at 185 Fox Valley Road were completed in 1941. In 1965, a decision was made to move the junior high school and students to Burwood (later Strathfield) Adventist High School. The school remained as a primary school until 2012 when a decision was taken to transition the school to a full kindergarten-grade 12 facility.31

Adventist Aged Care operates facilities in three locations. Formerly known as Parklea Retirement Village, Adventist Aged Care–Kings Langley was established in 1964. It was renamed in 1980.32 The facility consists of 66 independent living units33 and 78 residential beds. It is located at 56 Elsom Street, Kings Langley, NSW.34 The Adventist Aged Care–Wahroonga facility comprises 50 independent living units (made up of 30 apartments and 20 villas) and 94 residential beds including a 27-bed nursing home. Facilities are located at 79 Mt Pleasant Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW.35 The Adventist Aged Care–Hornsby facility is made up of 39 independent living units and is located between William and Dural Streets, Hornsby NSW.36

Crosslands Youth and Convention Centre was established in 1945 when Edmond Long constructed the initial buildings.37 Located on Crosslands Road, Galston, NSW, it is a 200-plus bed facility and includes self-contained cottages, en suite cabins, and camping facilities. Activities include canoeing, high ropes, swimming pool, basketball courts and bush walking.38

The Conference operates two retail Adventist Book Centres located at 2-4 Cambridge Street, Epping, NSW and at 185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga, NSW.39

Adventist Counselling Services, located at Sanctuary Lifestyle Clinic, Suite 3, Level 1, 41/45 Pacific Highway, Waitara, NSW, offers support to individuals, couples, and families through counselling, mediation, and education.40 

The ADRA Community Centre, located at Suite 3, Level 2, 24 Main Street, Blacktown, NSW, is a not-for-profit organization offering free counselling and general support services to individuals and families in Western Sydney. Services include counselling, emergency food parcels, breaking the cycle program for offenders, basic literacy and conversational English, general short-term support, tax help, referral and advocacy, case management, and support groups.41

Significant Institutions of the South Pacific Division Founded in Greater Sydney

Summer Hill Health Home, the earliest forerunner of Sydney Adventist Hospital, was founded by Alfred and Emma Semmens in 1896. When the Semmens returned to Australia from nursing training in Battle Creek, Michigan, Alfred Semmens persuaded church leaders of the New South Wales Conference to establish a bathhouse. As a result, a cottage named “Beechwood” was rented in Hugh Street, Ashfield. Semmens, together with his wife and other assistants, conducted hydrotherapy treatments beginning in April 1896. The enterprise was known as the Health Home.42 In January 1897, they transferred operations to a house called “Meaford” on Gower Street, Summer Hill.43 This institution, functioned under the auspices of the Australasian Union Conference (AUC)’s Medical Missionary Organizing Committee.44

In October 1897, Dr. Edgar Caro arrived in Australia having recently completing his medical studies in America.45 After promoting medical missionary work in Victoria and New Zealand, Caro settled into work as superintendent at “Meaford” about July 1898.46 He renamed the “Health Home” the “Medical and Surgical Sanitarium.”47 Semmens and his wife continued with their hydrotherapy and massage treatments until March 1899 when they were sent to start a sanitarium in Adelaide.48

The clientele at the Medical and Surgical Sanitarium increased until it became necessary in 1899 to rent a two-story home named “Lindo” opposite “Meaford.” In 1900, a similar home down the street, “Moyne Hall,” was also rented.49 While the consulting rooms, treatment rooms, and operating theater remained in “Meaford,” “Lindo” served as the ward for male patients and “Moyne Hall” as the ward for females.50 However, these expenses over-extended the institution’s financial support and it fell rapidly into debt. Fees were increased to compensate for financial losses and a dwindling clientele. When the lease on “Meaford” expired, AUC leaders made no effort to rent another building as they were focused on the establishment of a major sanitarium at Wahroonga.

Late in 1901, the Sydney Medical and Surgical Sanitarium–also commonly known as the Summer Hill Sanitarium–was closed. Members of the staff were transferred to positions in other locations and clients were referred to the Avondale Health Retreat.51 On January 1, 1903, the Sydney Sanitarium, with a 70-bed capacity, was opened on Fox Valley Road Wahroonga. The original hospital building was designed by Dr. Merritt Kellogg, brother of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.52 In 1973, the sanitarium’s name was changed to Sydney Adventist Hospital, and the main wing of the hospital was rebuilt in order to accommodate acute care. Today, with a capacity of over 550 in-patient beds, it is the largest private and largest not-for-profit hospital in NSW.53

The South Pacific Division first embarked on media ministries in 1935 with the Advent Radio Church in Sydney. It was reported at the beginning of 1935 that “our first broadcast will be conducted from the studio [of radio station 2GB] on Sunday, April 7, and our members are invited to listen-in, calling in their friends and communicating with us as to the reception of the transmission.”54

Later, the name of the radio broadcast developed by H. M. S. Richards in North America, “The Voice of Prophecy,” was adopted. When television arrived in Australia, an Advent Radio and Television Productions complex was constructed next to the Australasian Division headquarters in Wahroonga. A news item in the Australasian Record of October 31, 1966 read: “The offices and studio of Advent Radio-Television Productions (our new Radio-Television organization) are now completed. Pastor R. C. Naden tells us the building will be dedicated and officially opened on the afternoon of Sunday, December 4, 1966. A.R.T.P.'s headquarters is situated beside the division office and directly opposite the church in Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga.”55

The name was later changed to Adventist Media to reflect the additional roles which it accepted in video and CD production, satellite broadcasting, and evangelism. In recent years it has become an integrated entity as the Adventist Media Network.

The Origins of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Greater Sydney Region, New South Wales, Australia

Apart from a very brief stopover by the first group of missionaries travelling to Melbourne from the United States on June 6, 1885,56 the first visit to Sydney by a Seventh-day Adventist pastor was by George C. Tenney in September 1889. Tenney was the president of the Australian Conference which had been organized in Melbourne, Victoria twelve months earlier.57 He reported: “There has never been any public labor put forth in Sydney in behalf of the present truth; but by reading and removals a small band of Sabbath keepers have been gathered.”58 Only a handful of believers, but Tenney observed: “A great field awaits the laborer in Christ's harvest in that city and colony.”59

Among the “handful of believers” that Tenny referred to were Robert and Margaret Hardy, who, with their son Ebenezer, arrived from Auckland in 1889. Meetings were held initially in their home in Redfern. David Steed was appointed to present an evangelistic meeting series in mid-1890.60 As a result, the first group of Seventh-day Adventists to meet together on a regular basis in Sydney was formed in Newtown. Just a few months later the group had grown to fifty.61

The SS Alameda berthed in Sydney on December 8, 1891. Pastor A. G. Daniels and the Sydney city church members were there to personally welcome Mrs. Ellen G. White and her son W. C. White to Australia.62 Just a few months later, Pastors Robert Hare and David Steed launched an evangelistic crusade, first, in a large tent and later, in the local Masonic Hall at Parramatta. They preached 116 meetings over 17 weeks.63 A baptismal service was held in the large baths in Parramatta on Sunday, August 21.64 The evangelists reported that “twenty-five persons—ten brethren and fifteen sisters—were buried in baptism.”65 The first Parramatta Seventh-day Adventist Church was dedicated on December 10, 1892, approximately nine months after the evangelistic crusade had commenced.66 Hare and Steed wrote:

On the first of November, work was commenced on the meeting-house. The brethren worked with a will, and in three weeks after the foundation was laid, the first Sabbath meeting was held in it. It was completed in time to be dedicated on Sabbath, December 10…The building is a neat and comfortable edifice, 48x28, with 19 feet from floor to ceiling… The land secured is in an excellent position. It is an allotment 50x270 feet, so that there is still plenty of space for the erection of a large school or college on the remaining portion.67

This building may have been the first permanent Adventist church building in Australia, and stood for 45 years before being replaced by a brick structure at the same address: 15 Charles Street Parramatta.68 The second building was replaced in 1988 by a complex in Hammers Road, Old Toongabbie.69

Several other well-known churches were built during the 1890s. Hare and Steed conducted meetings at Kellyville, “a country place about nine miles from Parramatta.”70 The original Kellyville Church was dedicated on June 24, 1893.71 This church was built on land donated by the Firth brothers, who were later arrested and charged for working their farm on a Sunday.72

The first camp meeting in New South Wales was held at Ashfield in 1894. The public was invited to attend, and on the Sunday afternoon when Ellen White spoke, there were over 2000 people in attendance.73 This was followed immediately by a successful evangelistic series conducted by Pastor J. 0. Corliss, and in August 1895, the Ashfield Church was built at 52 Carlisle Street.

Significant events in the organization of the Greater Sydney Conference

Meanwhile conference organization was developing in Australia along with evangelistic outreach.

The Australian Conference was organized in Melbourne in September 1888. The elected officers were G. C. Tenney, president, and Stephen McCullagh, secretary. The treasury was managed by the Echo Publishing House.74 The Australasian Union Conference was organized during the time of the Australian Conference camp meeting on January 15-25, 1894. It comprised District 7 of the General Conference Districts, and included the conferences of Australia and New Zealand. It was anticipated that as the work expanded, other local conferences would be organized and added to the union.75 The stated object of the union was “to unify and extend the work of the third angel's message, under the general direction of the General Conference, in the Australasian field.”76 The Australasian Union Conference was the first union conference organized as such in the global Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Arthur G. Daniells described the further steps taken to organize the local conferences in Australia. He wrote: “At the beginning of 1894 it was felt that the Australian Conference had more territory than it could well manage, so the colonies of Queensland and West Australia were separated from the Conference, and placed under the care of the Union Conference as Mission Fields. Near the close of 1895 another change was made. New South Wales was separated from the Australian Conference by the organization of the New South Wales Conference.”77

The New South Wales Conference was divided at a meeting of the 24th Session of the New South Wales Conference held a Parramatta Park on October 16, 1919. At that session it was recommended that: “this conference be divided: the dividing line to be the Hawkesbury River and Capertee Rivers as far west as the 150’ of east longitude, thence north to Casilis, and thence in a north-westerly direction to Queensland, to a point where the 147’ longitude and the 29’ latitude meet. That this division be known as the North Eastern NSW Conference.”78 In a very short time the North Eastern NSW Conference began to be designated as simply the “North New South Wales Conference” and it was so named at the New South Wales Conference session in 1920 when further action was taken to separate the two conferences.79 In the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook of 1921, it was named the “North New South Wales Conference and it has been so named ever since.80 The rest of what had formerly been the New South Wales Conference was designated as the South New South Wales Conference.81

Then at the beginning of 1949, the South New South Wales Conference was further divided into the Greater Sydney Conference with headquarters in Sydney, and a South New South Wales Conference with headquarters in Wagga Wagga.82 The division had been approved by action of the session of the South New South Wales Conference held on September 23, 1948. The Minute reads:

WHEREAS it is thought that the time is not yet opportune fully to develop the division feature in the territory of the Australasian Division but that for the better order and good government of the Church in such territory it is desirable:

9a) Subject to the consent of the South New South Wales Conference to establish and constitute a new local conference to be known as the Greater Sydney Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists the territory of which shall be a certain portion of the present territory of the South New South Wales Conference namely: That part of the State of New South Wales bounded on the South by a straight line bearing westerly from the entrance of Lake Illawarra to Yerranderie, on the West by a straight line bearing due north from Yerranderie to the Capertee River, on the North by the Capertee and Hawkesbury Rivers bearing easterly to the sea, and on the East bearing southerly by the coast of New South Wales to the entrance of Lake Illawarra.83

The first Executive Committee of the newly formed Greater Sydney Conference was on January 19, 1949.84 The Greater Sydney Conference office was located at the same address as the former South NSW Conference at 84 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW, Australia, from 1949 until 2000 when it moved to 2-4 Cambridge Street, Epping, NSW, Australia.85

Significant Evangelistic Events in Greater Sydney Conference

In the latter half of the twentieth century and in the twenty-first century, evangelism remained strong with many creative approaches. Organized by Earnest Steed and Ken Mead in 1950, a “Best Saturday Night in Town” was held in the Sydney Town Hall from time to time for many years.86 George Burnside conducted an evangelistic campaign at the Sydney Town Hall and in Petersham in 1954.87 “Opposition was intense” and the press “gave him enormous adverse publicity.”88 Burnside was gratified to find the hall packed for the initial meetings by people who wanted to hear this colorful character they had heard and read so much about.

In 1967, George Vandeman conducted an evangelistic campaign at the Sydney Showground.89 The logistics of preparation caused some consternation: It was observed that:

Sydney presented a problem. At present there are no public halls in Sydney that will seat more than 2,500 people. To accommodate the 6,000 that are expected to attend the Sydney crusade, June 16 to 20, the Manufacturers' Hall on the Sydney Showgrounds has been secured, and special staging, seating, heating, and a public address system are to be installed. Busy Programme.90

Earl E. Cleveland conducted an evangelistic campaign at Roselands Shopping Centre in the southern suburbs of Sydney in 1971.91 In 1977, David Down launched his “Digging Up the Past” evangelistic enterprise.

For the first time the Sydney Opera House was used for an evangelistic program by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pastor D. K. Down, twenty-five years a missionary to India, on his return to the homeland conducted a series of lectures in the music room of the Sydney Opera House, which has a capacity of 400 people.92

In the 1970s and 1980s, George Vandeman returned to Australia repeatedly. In 1977 and 1981, he conducted Revelation Seminars in the Hilton Hotel, Sydney. 93 The Boulevarde Hotel was the venue for the 1978-1979 campaign. 94 Approximately 1,000 people attended the 1977 meetings.95 A report by the president of the conference stated:

"On April 24 and 25, [1977], at the new Sydney Hilton Hotel and Conference Center, Pastors Vandeman and Knowles, supported by their seminar team, held the attention of 480 students on Saturday and 430 students on Sunday. Two hundred and twenty-five transferred to 15 regional programs. In addition to this, a considerable number who were unable to attend the seminar participated in regular home Bible studies. Eighteen weeks from the launching of this program, 135 non-members are still in regular attendance at regular seminars, and many of these are now attending church services.”96

John Carter launched the Carter Report in the Sydney Opera House in 1982. The Carter Report attracted an audience of 20,000 people, the largest attendance ever seen inside the prestigious Sydney Opera House. This highly successful program ran for nine months.97 In 1983, the Carter Report ran a second series in a 5-pole tent at Concord.98

As part of its overall strategic plan and due to the high cost of real estate, in 1986 the Greater Sydney Conference assisted local churches with the purchase of a number of evangelistic centers including Mona Vale, Cabramatta, West Cabramatta, Marrickville Spanish, Fijian, Redfern, and Lilyfield.99

After Gary Kent’s 1997 Discovery Series conducted in Sydney’s Wesley Mission,100 evangelism in the Great Sydney Conference has focused using digital technology and contemporary themes to reach a secular audience. “The Last Empire,” which commenced May 3, 2013, was a contemporary, visually stimulating series of evangelistic presentations for pastors and lay presenters. The program featured 27 presenters in 27 venues across Sydney101 and ran for a second year in 2014.102 In 2018, Gary Kent presented “The Incredible Journey”103 and the conference produced a 13-part interactive DVD series, entitled “I AM,” aimed at non-churched young adults, for use in a small group setting.

Mission and Strategic Plans of the Greater Sydney Conference

Sydney is an increasingly secular city with the number of people reporting “no religion” in the 2017 census at 30.1% of the population, compared to 0.8% in 1966, while those reporting their religion as Christian have declined from 88.2% to 52.1% over the same period. The city’s cultural diversity makes pastoral staffing challenging. People work long days and experience time-consuming, congested commutes, which leaves little time for religious programs. Youth and young adult retention and engagement provide an on-going challenge. 104

Following a conference-wide ‘think tank’ and in consultation with local churches, the Greater Sydney Conference has adopted five strategic focus areas for future ministry. These areas of strategic focus include raising the spiritual temperature, member empowerment, community engagement, growing together, and media engagement.105

The Greater Sydney Conference nurtures personal spirituality by 106 encouraging all churches to participate in annual periods of focused prayer (30-40 days each) and organizing an annual conference-wide prayer retreat. It empowers members through its “lay Pastor” program. Young people are intentionally invited to participate on the executive committee, company boards, and associated committees. In collaboration with the Australian Union Conference, young people are encouraged to generate evangelistic content for social media platforms. The Greater Sydney Conference also worked with the Adventist Media Network in the South Pacific Division to produce the “I AM” series aimed at non-churched young people and young adults. The conference encourages the development of synergies between Adventist schools and their local church congregation. It is also increasing the number of chaplains and counselors in all schools within the conference with a focus on reaching out to non-Adventist students and their families. Finally, the purchase of property in the inner city area for centers of influence and ministry are designed to build community relationships.

New South Wales Conference (1895-1919): List of Presidents

W. C. White (1895-1896); W. H. L. Baker (1896-1898); S. N. Haskell (1898-1899); G. B. Starr (1899-1900); W. A. Colcord (1900-1901); C. A. Snyder (1901-1902 [18 months]); W. Woodford (1902 [6 months]); S. M. Cobb (1903-1905); J. E. Fulton (1905-1907); J. Pallant (1907 [9 months]); J. H. Woods (1908-1911); A. H. Piper (1911-1913); E. H. Gates (1913-1916); J. M. Cole (1916-1919); W. H. Pascoe (1920 -until the organization of the South New South Wales Conference).

South New South Wales Conference (1919-1948): List of Presidents

L. D. A. Lemke (1921-1922); J. M. Cole (1923); A. H. Piper (1924-1926); G. G. Stewart (1926-1928); C. H. Parker (1928-1930); W. J. Westerman (1930 [5 months]); R. E. Hare (1930-1936); H. E. Piper (1936-1940 [May]); A. V. Piper (1940 [June]-1941 [September]); W. E. Battye (1941 acting); G. G. Stewart (1942); R. A. Thrift (1942-1943); G. Branster (1944-1948)

Greater Sydney Conference (1949-Current): List of Presidents

L. A. Butler (1949-1953); H. J. Halliday (1954-1960); Stewart M. Uttley (1961-1966); Claude D. Judd (1967-1970); Frank T. Maberly (1971-1976); Arthur N. Duffy (1977); Kenneth J. Bullock (1978-1980); Robert H. Parr (1981-1985); Adrian R. Craig (1985-1997); Malcolm J. Allen (1998- 6/2001); R. W. Townend (June 2000-June 2002); David D. Blanch (July 2002-2011); Michael J. Worker (2012-May 2017); A. Terry Johnson (May 2017-current)

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“Pilot School.” Australasian Record, September 17, 1994.

Piper, H. E. “Special Session, Australasian Union Conference.” Australasian Record, September 13, 1948.

“Publications.” Accessed January 21, 2019 https://sydney.adventist.org.au/connect/newsletter/.

“Record Rewind: Ode to George.” Accessed January24, 2019. https://record.adventistchurch.com/2018/02/28/record-rewind-ode-to-george/.

“Residential: Kings Langley.” Accessed January 21, 2019. https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/residential/kings-langley/.

Semmens, A. W. "Health Home." The Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 4, 1897.

Semmens, A. W. "Health Home." The Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 11, 1897.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1888-2016.

South New South Wales Conference. 49th Annual Session Minutes, September 23, 1948. Greater Sydney Conference Archives, Epping, NSW, Australia.

Stanley, C. R. “Evangelism in the Australasian Division.” Ministry, May 1977.

Stewart, M. M. “Dynamic American Evangelist for Sydney and Melbourne.” Australasian Record, March 8, 1971.

Stubberfield, W. S. “Hurstville School Dedicated.” Australasian Record, December 11, 1939.

“Sydney Adventist School Auburn.” Accessed January 21, 2019. https://auburn.adventist.edu.au/.

Tenney, George C. “Beechworth to Sydney.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, October 1, 1889.

Townend, M. G. “George Vandeman Arrives in Australia.” Australasian Record, May 29, 1967.

Townend, Maxwell G. “It Is written in Australia.” Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1967/12/it-is-written-in-australia.

Westerman, W. J. “The New South Wales Camp-Meeting.” Australasian Record, November 1, 1920.

White, W. C. “The Camp-Meeting at Ashfield, New South Wales.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, November 12, 1894.

Windeyer, H. G. “Substantial Increases in Greater Sydney.” Australasian Record, November 13, 1961.

Notes

  1. Recognition is given to Dulce Ferguson who assisted in compiling much of the information in this entry and to Pastor Adrian Raethel, Secretary of the Greater Sydney Conference at the time of writing.

  2. Greater Sydney Conference Executive Committee Minutes, action 28.8, 5 August 2003, Greater Sydney Conference Archives, Epping, New South Wales, Australia.

  3. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, January 22, 2019.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. “Greater Sydney Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2016), 336.

  7. 2018 Annual Statistical Report 154th Report of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for 2016 and 2017, accessed January 20, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/ASR/ASR2018.pdf.

  8. Ibid. A current statistical overview of the conference at any time may be accessed at http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Statistics/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fStatistics%2fASR&FolderCTID=0x01200095DE8DF0FA49904B9D652113284DE0C800ED657F7DABA3CF4D893EA744F14DA97B.

  9. “Publications,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/connect/newsletter/.

  10. H. J. Windeyer, “Substantial Increases in Greater Sydney,” Australasian Record, November 13, 1961, 9.

  11. “Castle Hill Campus,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://hills.adventist.edu.au/contact/.

  12. “Early Learning Centre,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://hills.adventist.edu.au/elc/.

  13. “Kellyville Campus,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://hills.adventist.edu.au/contact/.

  14. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, December 5, 2018.

  15. “Hurstville Adventist School,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://hurstville.adventist.edu.au/

  16. W. S. Stubberfield, “Hurstville School Dedicated,” Australasian Record, December 11, 1939, 5.

  17. “Macarthur Adventist College,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://macarthur.adventist.edu.au/about-us/.

  18. “History,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://macarthur.adventist.edu.au/about-us/history/.

  19. “Mountain View Adventist College,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://mvac.adventist.edu.au/about-us/.

  20. Ormond K. Anderson, “Support Our Schools,” Australasian Record, June 30, 1969, 8-9.

  21. “History,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://mvac.adventist.edu.au/about-us/history/.

  22. “Pilot School,” Australasian Record, September 17, 1994, 3.

  23. “Mountain View Snapshot,” Record, March 11, 2000, 8.

  24. “Sydney Adventist School Auburn,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://auburn.adventist.edu.au/.

  25. “A new church school…” Australasian Record, July 2, 1917, 8.

  26. “History,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://auburn.adventist.edu.au/about-us/history/.

  27. Ibid.

  28. Ibid.

  29. Ibid.

  30. “History,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://www.wahroonga.adventist.edu.au/about/history.

  31. Ibid.

  32. “Kings Langley,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/residential/kings-langley/.

  33. “Independent Living Units, Kings Langley,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/retirement/kings-langley/.

  34. “Residential: Kings Langley,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/residential/kings-langley/.

  35. “Adventist Aged Care, Wahroonga,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/residential/wahroonga/.

  36. “Adventist Aged Care, Hornsby,” accessed January 21,2019, https://aacsyd.org.au/campuses/retirement/hornsby/.

  37. Parramatta Adventist Church 100 Years of Work and Worship: From Pioneers to the Present 1892-1992, (Parramatta, New South Wales: Parramatta SDA Church, 1992), 61.

  38. “Crosslands Youth and Convention Centre,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/locations/crosslands-convention-centre/ “Crosslands,” accessed January 21,2019, https://www.crosslands.org.au/.

  39. “Adventist Book Centre,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/locations/adventist-book-centre/.

  40. “Adventist Counselling Services,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/locations/counselling-centres/.

  41. “ADRA Community Centre at Blacktown,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/locations/counselling-centres/.

  42. A. W. Semmens, "Health Home," The Bible Echo, January 4, 1897, 7.

  43. A. W. Semmens, "Health Home," The Bible Echo, January 11, 1897, 15.

  44. A. G. Daniells, "Australasian Union Conference," Union Conference Record, January/February 1898, 1-3.

  45. "Dr. E.R. Caro and wife..." The Bible Echo, October 25, 1897, 344.

  46. G. W. Morse, "Medical and Surgical Sanitarium, Summer Hill, NSW," Union Conference Record, July 26, 1899, 14-15.

  47. E. R. Caro, "The Medical and Surgical Sanitarium," Union Conference Record, July 15, 1898, 81.

  48. "A.W. Semmens and wife..." Union Conference Record, April 26, 1899, 12.

  49. Edgar R. Caro, "The Growth of the Australasian Central Sanitarium at Sydney," Union Conference Record, September 1, 1900, 13-14.

  50. Lauretta Kress, "Summer Hill Sanitarium," Union Conference Record, May 1, 1901, 14.

  51. E. M. Graham, "Summer Hill Sanitarium," Union Conference Record, January 1, 1902, 13.

  52. “Our History,” accessed January 21, 2019, https://www.sah.org.au/our-history.

  53. Ibid.

  54. “’Advent’ Radio Church,” Australasian Record, January 28, 1935, 8.

  55. “People and Events,” Australasian Record, October 31, 1966, 12.

  56. “The Australian Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, (Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1888), 131-132).

  57. “Organization in Australia,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, October, 1888, 152.

  58. George C. Tenney, “Beechworth to Sydney,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, October 1, 1889, 300.

  59. Ibid.

  60. G. C. Tenney, “To Sydney,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, September 15, 1890, 284; Steed is first listed as residing in Newtown, Sydney, in Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, July 15, 1890, 223.

  61. “The editor has just lately spent…” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 1, 1891, 143.

  62. E. G. White, “From America to Australia,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 1, 1892, 8-9.

  63. R. Hare and D. Steed, “Parramatta, N. S. W.,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, September 15, 1982, 285.

  64. Ibid.

  65. Ibid.

  66. R. Hare and D. Steed, “Parramatta N. S. W.” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, January 15, 1893, 28.

  67. Ibid.

  68. “Parramatta Seventh-day Adventist Church: About Us,” accessed January 24, 2019, http://parramattasda.org.au/history/

  69. Ibid.

  70. “Meetings have been commenced…” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times,” March 1, 1893, 80.

  71. David Steed, “Kellyville N. S. W.,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, July 15, 1893, 236.

  72. A. G. Daniells, “’In the Stocks’ for Conscience Sake: Religious Persecution in New South Wales,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, May 14, 1894, 1.

  73. W. C. White, “The Camp-Meeting at Ashfield, New South Wales,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, November 12, 1894, 345.

  74. “Organization in Australia,” Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, October, 1888, 152.

  75. Ibid.

  76. “Australasian Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1894), 61.

  77. A. G. Daniells, “Our People in Tasmania,” Union Conference Record, January 1, 1900, 13.

  78. Minutes of the Second Meeting, 24th Session of the New South Wales Conference, October 16, 1919, North New South Wales Conference Archives, Wallsend, New South Wales, Australia.

  79. W. J. Westerman, “The New South Wales Camp-Meeting,” Australasian Record, November 1, 1920, 6; “Distribution of Labour,” Australasian Record, November 29, 1920, 6.

  80. “North New South Wales Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, (Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association 1921), 137.

  81. W. J. Westerman, “The New South Wales Camp-Meeting,” Australasian Record, November 1, 1920, 6.

  82. H. E. Piper, “Special Session, Australasian Union Conference,” Australasian Record, September 13, 1948, 2-3.

  83. South New South Wales Conference, 49th Annual Session Minutes, September 23, 1948, Greater Sydney Conference Archives, Epping, NSW, Australia.

  84. Greater Sydney Conference Executive Committee Minutes, January 19, 1949, Greater Sydney Conference Archives, Epping, NSW, Australia.

  85. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, December 5, 2018.

  86. Ibid.

  87. “Record rewind: Ode to George,” accessed January24, 2019, https://record.adventistchurch.com/2018/02/28/record-rewind-ode-to-george/.

  88. Ibid.

  89. Maxwell G. Townend, “It Is written in Australia,” accessed January 24, 2019, https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1967/12/it-is-written-in-australia

  90. M. G. Townend, “George Vandeman Arrives in Australia,” Australasian Record, May 29, 1967, 1.

  91. M. M. Stewart, “Dynamic American Evangelist for Sydney and Melbourne,” Australasian Record, March 8, 1971, 1.

  92. Ibid.

  93. R. M. Kranz, “Seminar ’91 Coming to Australia,” Australasian Record, February 23, 1981, 1.

  94. R. M. Kranz, “Greater Sydney Conference is Putting Old Wine in New Bottles, Australasian Record, July 31, 1978, 2.

  95. C. R. Stanley, “Evangelism in the Australasian Division,” Ministry, May 1977, 19-20.

  96. Ibid.

  97. “Our History,” accessed January 24, 2019, https://www.cartereport.org/about-us/our-history.

  98. “About Us,” accessed January 24, 2019, http://parramattasda.org.au/history.

  99. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, December 5, 2018.

  100. “Inner City Evangelism,” Record (South Pacific Division), November 1, 1997, 9.

  101. “The Last Empire,” accessed January 24, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/events/harvest-2013.

  102. “The Last empire Returns,” accessed January 24, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/news-archive/the-last-empire-returns.

  103. “The Incredible Journey Ministry with Pr. Gary Kent,” accessed January 24, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/news-archive/incredible-journey.

  104. Ibid.

  105. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, December 5, 2018; “Mission 2 Sydney ThinkTank 2018 Report,” Great Sydney Conference, 2018, accessed April 5, 2019, https://sydney.adventist.org.au/thinktank/.

  106. Adrian Raethel, Secretary, Greater Sydney Conference, email to author, December 5, 2018.

×

Oliver, Barry. "Greater Sydney Conference, South Pacific Division." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed October 14, 2024. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=B7WR.

Oliver, Barry. "Greater Sydney Conference, South Pacific Division." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access October 14, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=B7WR.

Oliver, Barry (2020, January 29). Greater Sydney Conference, South Pacific Division. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved October 14, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=B7WR.