Here at the Diocese of the Northern Territory, our primary focus in all the Aboriginal parishes is the support of church leaders and their ministry in these communities, however the harsh reality is that our attention, at times, must turn to the buildings, the places of worship and shelter in these Anglican communities. 

It is in Ngukurr, a community of approximately 800 people some 300 kilometres south-east of Katherine and over 850 kilometres from Darwin that the church and rectory are now requiring our attention.

Lately maintenance and improvements have been carried out on the Ngukurr church, St Matthew’s. In the past couple of weeks, we have had four lads, Lee, Dave, Josh and Matt working on the replacement of the Ngukurr church roof.  We thank God for these people in giving up their time to serve in this way. We must also give thanks to the generosity of St Matthew’s, Wanniassa in Canberra, which raised funds and sent a team of volunteers to complete a significant refurbishment of the Church. 

Now we are turning our attention to the rectory/church worker’s residence in Ngukkur as we address the aging infrastructure, safety concerns and restore it to basic modern living standard. We would like to bring this residence up to a good condition ensuring it is suitable for ongoing ministry purposes. Our priority is to repair the damage caused by years of wear and tear and address safety and security concerns while limiting further degradation. However, we would also like to implement additional improvements to reduce future maintenance and operational costs while delivering some limited comfort improvements. We are striving to reduce the need for further significant investment over the next 5-10 years.

Refurbishment of the rectory must also be carried out while there is no one in residence as it includes (but is not limited to) removal and replacement of windows, flooring, electrical upgrades and replacement of essential facilities in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet. A bit too much for a missionary or family to live through we think!

We had allocated funding for the refurbishment work in our 2024 budget, however with recent increases in the cost of labour, materials and transport (Ngukurr is a long way from Darwin remember!!), the amount allocated falls short of what is needed to fully complete this project.

To achieve this objective, we here at the Anglican Diocese in the Northern Territory are seeking donations to enable the refurbishment work at St Matthew’s Church and rectory in Ngukurr to continue.

The target figure for this appeal is $150,000.

All gifts, no matter how BIG or how small will help us!

If you are able to contribute a monetary donation, please see the details below:

Account name: The Synod of the Diocese of the Northern Territory Inc

BSB: 705-077

Account Number: 0004 1298

If you would like more information please contact us on admin@ntanglican.org.au