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Building community and capacity at Ryde

11 September 2014
Building community and capacity at Ryde

Amanda Whittaker is helping ‘build capacity’ in individual lives. (Photo courtesy Amanda Whittaker)


With worship services running in two locations, plus home groups, youth groups, community cafe, homework club, holiday programs and much more, Ryde Salvation Army leaders recently made the decision to begin strategically working to “build capacity” in local lives.

Major Sandra Holland, the corps officer, explains that through The Salvation Army Ryde City Church and The Salvation Army “Number 47”, community home (situated in the largest public housing estate in Ryde): “We have reached out significantly into the community, but we didn’t want people to become dependent on us.

“Instead we wanted to support them to become resilient in their own lives and for them to then become engaged in supporting others in the community.”

Working towards “building capacity”, earlier this year, Ryde Salvos employed leadership team member Amanda Whittaker as the church’s first official “community builder”.

Amanda, who has a background in psychology and counselling, as well as more than 20 years’ ministry experience, is working to provide counselling, mentoring, motivation, training and discipleship, not only for those within the congregations but also for those connected through programs, plus those in the wider community.

She says: “We looked at a couple of areas, recognising that people needed time and support to undertake a personal healing journey. We also continue to look at the reasons people don’t have capacity and explore what is out there to help people to grow in their walk with God, and also in life and relationship skills, and then we are looking at connecting more deeply with the wider community.”

In the early stages, Amanda says, much of her part-time role has involved individual counselling to help people work through their own issues and seek healing. This process, she says, has shown her just how deep the needs are in almost every life in every church, every program and in the wider community.

She says that role is steeped in prayer, and that she and the team always point people, wherever possible, towards faith and a deeper connection in their Christian walk.

“We work,” she says, “to connect them where possible, and ever more deeply to Jesus – which is of course the biggest ‘capacity builder’ that any life can encounter”.

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