After more than a decade of prayer, planning, and persistence, the Parish of Dundas Telopea is preparing to open the doors of a brand new ministry centre in Rydalmere. Soon to be relaunched as Shepherd’s Wharf Anglican Church, the parish’s story is one of courage, faithful stewardship, and a shared conviction to utilise property assets for gospel ministry in anticipation of the generations to come.
A vision for gospel ministry
In 2013, the Parish of Dundas Telopea began a process that would set the course for a decade-long journey in property and ministry development. After reviewing their vision with an external consultant and the late Bishop Ivan Lee, the parish recognised that their two existing church properties were no longer suitable for the ministry needs of the parish in reaching their local community.
Alistair Seabrook, the parish’s rector, describes the local area as “a real mixture of different communities and different cultures… parts of it are leafy and expensive, but right next to that are some really socially disadvantaged areas. We’ve got Western Sydney University in one corner of the parish and an industrial zone along the Parramatta River in another. It’s a great place to be, because you really get the feel of how the city is changing.”
The parish had long wrestled with how to best locate and resource its mission. Since the 1960s, ministry had been centred on two church sites — St Andrew’s at Dundas and St Stephen’s at Telopea. Both were built during the area’s rapid suburban growth, but over the decades questions repeatedly arose about their sustainability, especially as they were only five minutes drive from each other.


“About every decade from the ’70s onwards, the parish had a moment where they asked, is this the right strategy? Both sites were small, hard to find, and had limited parking. Neither really met community expectations for children and families, and both fell short on accessibility and safety. And we always got stuck in the implementation, because we didn’t want to prefer one site over the other,” Alistair explains.
By AGM time in 2014, after prayerful review and consultation, the parish concluded it was time for a new path forward. A task group was formed to carefully assess the options, drawing on diocesan advice, council planning policies, and decades of past reports. The outcome was a clear and unified recommendation.
As Alistair recalls, “God gave us a common mind and we passed the motion overwhelmingly. We agreed to support the sale of all the properties held on trust for our parish and to purchase an alternative site in the local area where we could develop a new ministry centre.”
This decision marked a fresh chapter. Rather than dividing limited resources between two unsuitable sites, the parish committed to building one purpose-designed facility that could serve their diverse and growing community for generations to come.
A new home
In 2017, after careful planning, the parish acquired a warehouse and office site at 32 South Street, Rydalmere. This acquisition was funded by the sale of the St Andrew’s site at Dundas and the St Stephen’s site at Telopea.
The new site would not only provide space for current ministry activities but also allow the parish to have space to expand and adapt to the changing needs of the community. “We have a lot of different programs currently in different places around the community, including our Sunday gatherings at Tara Anglican School for Girls. To have them under one roof where you can make those connections much more easily will be fantastic, particularly as the population of Rydalmere is set to increase by 30% over the next 20 years,” said Alistair.
From the acquisition to construction, the parish’s journey involved nearly every aspect of property development. They obtained development consent for conversion of the existing offices on the site into a 200-seat church building, secured a mortgage, and successfully applied for a $600,000 WestInvest grant. They also managed tenant transitions, competitive builder tenders, and extensive planning amendments to ensure the site met the parish’s vision.
The result is a site that not only meets the parish’s current needs but also generates income through the leased warehouse, while positioning the property for future growth and service for generations to come.
The journey to a new ministry home has been marked by the faithfulness and skill of many. From the earliest days, parish warden David Sinclair was heavily involved, later in the journey Sharon Ford, along with her husband, treasurer Peter Ford, carried the vision with grit and grace, guiding the parish through complex sales, negotiations, and countless decisions. Property partners including project manager Tony Staveley from Balance Corporate Property, initial design by NBRS, and repurposed design at the final stages by Stanton Dahl, provided invaluable expertise and steady counsel, while diocesan property staff like Scott Lincoln gave support at key moments. All hands working together with care to ensure the site would not only serve present needs but also stand ready for generations to come.
The difference SAP has made
With the creation of Sydney Anglican Property (SAP) in 2024, the parish’s experience shifted dramatically. Alistair highlights the impact.
“The change in structures has been obvious. The wardens come out of their regular meetings with SAP staff encouraged, affirmed and with the support needed to progress the project to the next stage… finding a commercial partner to maximise the revenue of a site and being able to build a new property and get the kind of wisdom of those who’ve done building projects in other places… it felt like at the beginning we were having to do all of those bits ourselves. So the fact that that’s now just assumed that that’s what SAP is going to help you do is brilliant.”
The parish has appreciated the alignment, vision, and practical support SAP brings, allowing staff and volunteers to focus on the gospel rather than wrestling with bureaucratic hurdles.
Stewarding resources for the gospel
Construction of the new church building began in 2024 and is now approaching completion. The project was delivered under a Design & Construct (D&C) contract, a common method in the wider construction industry, but one not previously used in the Diocese. With input from SAP staff, and in partnership with project manager Tony Staveley, the parish determined that D&C was the most effective way to manage risk and ensure a strong outcome. Rather than defaulting to a traditional ‘construct-only’ model simply because it had always been the diocesan norm, SAP staff worked with the parish to identify the contract form that would deliver the best results for their project.
The parish plans a soft launch at the end of November 2025, followed by a larger public launch in early 2026. The new site will also introduce the church’s refreshed identity as Shepherd’s Wharf Anglican Church, reflecting its consolidated presence and forward-looking vision.


Alistair is excited about the opportunities the new space will bring. “It is good to be able to set the church up for its needs in the next 50 years as the generation of church members in the 1960s set us up in their time.”
Throughout the process, the parish has been mindful of stewardship, guided by the principle that resources are given for the effective proclamation of the gospel. Alistair advises other parishes considering significant property changes to ask the question, “Are we putting our resources to their best use, and are there ways we can be more effective in stewarding those resources?”
The parish has created a fantastic video chronicling their property journey (below). It is well worth a view.