Welcome to St James

Sudanese congregations and ministry

In the last five years many Sudanese refugees have come to Melbourne, particularly to the Greater Dandenong area. There are various people groups or communities, including Chollo, Bari, Dinka and Nuer. Most are Christian and were forced to leave the Sudan through war and persecution.

In September 2004 the Revd Stephen Goldit, an Anglican Priest from the Chollo community, was appointed to be priest of the newly formed Chollo community, meeting on Sunday afternoons or evenings. They worship in the Chollo and Arabic languages, with English translation provided where necessary. Vibrant singing and dancing with a choir, are essential elements of their worship. Many of this congregation also come from and attend Presbytarian and Roman Catholic churches.

In our morning congregation we have several families part of the Bari community. The combined Bari Fellowship meets every fourth Saturday at St James'.

We have a combined Sudanese-Australian management meeting which is chaired by our vicar. It seeks to liaise with each group and to share ideas and understanding about ministry.

Every Saturday morning an independent group called SAIL - Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning meets for two hours to have literacy training and interaction with English speakers using a "buddy" system. Volunteers and participants welcome.

Contacts:
Chollo Community, Revd Stephen Goldit, 0402 545 140
Bari Community, Bathwell Duku Wani, 9706 0114
SAIL, Nik Tan, 9819 5223