Pastors & Leaders eNews - July 2024
Welcome to Insights eNews for July 2024.
Last week we added another image of violence and conflict to those which will fill the 2024 scrapbook. Donald Trump, bloodied face, with fist defiantly punching the air, calling for the crowd to “fight, fight, fight” after surviving an attempted assassination. This is on top of images of deadly conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and the ongoing human tragedies in Myanmar and Sudan and other parts of the world.
As we consume the news, we can have lots of responses, from anger, to fear, to being inspired to advocacy, engage in heated political debates or disengage completely because it is just all too much.
As fellow disciples, we follow the Lord, the Prince of Peace. This is no simple task in a world short on peace! It may be a time to remind ourselves of what it means to have peace with God, which brings peace in our hearts and overflows in spreading peace to others.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:12-15)
May God bless you as you seek to live in and share the peace of Christ in your leadership, service and ministry across our movement.
As we consider our service of Christ, the Prince of Peace, we want to encourage you to engage with some great stories and articles in this month’s eNews such as:
- Stories about raising young leaders in Canberra, the recent State Kids Camp and this year’s Asia Pacific Baptist Federation Gathering in Malaysia;
- An invitation to pray;
- News about the upcoming State Youth Camp;
- Opportunities to engage in events about healing prayer (at Insights online), a marriage enrichment course and the upcoming annual Freedom for Faith conference.
Grae McWhirter
Associate Director, Strategic Support and Regional Development
Story From Assembly - Leadership Development 101 Training Young Leaders in Canberra
At the Gathering Incorporating the Annual Assembly held in June we heard from different Association teams about developments happening in their spaces as we head towards our shared Gen1K Goal.
One of the things that the Gen1K Leadership team shared was about the Leadership Development 101 initiative. Launched in 2023, Leadership Development 101 is aimed at seeing some of our youngest leaders being developed as they begin to step into ministry. The content is delivered by teenagers, so peers are hearing it from one another and those only a little bit older than they are.
Watch the video below to learn about Hughes Baptist Church’s journey with Leadership Development 101 and how it has been impacting their upcoming leaders.
Praying Together for Leaders & More!
In this winter season, our 4 x 4 Prayer spotlight is Leadership. We invite you to join us praying that God will raise up women and men as leaders:
- in your local church
- throughout our movement
- across generations
- from a variety of cultural backgrounds
- for the regions and the cities
- planting new churches
- growing existing congregations
- to be formed and trained
- called to lifelong ministry and mission wherever God would lead.
Please pray for the Association and Morling teams as we invest in developing, shaping and equipping Kingdom leaders.
Winter Season Online Prayer:
Once each season we hold an online Prayer Gathering for people from across all of our churches to join praying together. We hope you can join us:
Date: Wednesday 14th August
Time: 7.45pm to 8.30pm
Registration: Click here to register and be sent a link to our zoom meeting
State Kids Camp
Last week, kids from across our Baptist Churches gathered at Kiah Ridge for State Kids Camp 2024! Highlights included this year’s drama: ‘SKC News’, worship, digging into Psalm 23, creating content (an artwork, a stop motion video, a Lego build) to reflect further on our theme for camp, plus rock climbing, tie dyeing, a campfire and much, much more! You can check out a two minute highlight video from camp here. Stay tuned for details about State Kids Camp 2025!
State Youth Camp
Over 500 young people from over 20 churches over 4 days – That is State Youth Camp!
2024 is the 10th Year of State Youth Camp!
Register Your Youth Group
We already have a number of churches coming to SYC24 from throughout NSW/ACT – is your Youth Group coming too???
We’d love to see as many churches as possible come to SYC this year as we celebrate the great things God has done and will continue to do every September at Cataract Scout Park.
- Do you need help getting leaders to come along?
- Do you need help organising tents?
- Do you only have a small youth group or are unsure if SYC will be the right fit for your youth group?
We’d love to hear from you. Email syc@nswactbaptists.org.au for more information and to have a chat about how your youth can come to SYC24.
Volunteer to support SYC24
We need your young adults. We need your retirees. We need anyone and everyone in your church or your network who loves young people and can spare a few hours or the entire weekend to serve the youth and their leaders at State Youth Camp!
Camp runs from the 27th-30th of September at Cataract Scout Park, Appin, and we will have people on the ground from the 25th-30th of September to set up and pack down the camp site.
We need everything from prayer warriors to lights and AV support. Site safety, first aid and ushers. We need baristas and donut makers. Activities support and just plain ol’ “stick me wherever you need me” volunteers. We especially need people who can help set-up camp on Wednesday 25th to Friday 27th of September & pack-down camp on Monday 30th of September. Even if you can just give a couple of hours, a day or a few days to help make camp happen, we’d really appreciate your help.
Insights Online Gathering
Don’t miss Insights Wednesday 24th July, 1-2pm
“PRAYER FOR HEALING: Miracles, Mysteries and Ministry”
Join us for an enlightening online gathering with Craig Stephens, a seasoned Salvation Army officer, as he explores the profound and sometimes controversial topic of prayer for healing.
Craig’s sensitivity, nuanced perspective, and personal experiences will provide valuable insights, making this session a must-attend for pastors and leaders seeking to deepen their understanding and practice of healing prayer.
As you’d be aware, Insights was originally started to provide a weekly online update to pastors and leaders during the COVID pandemic. When COVID restrictions concluded, Insights transitioned into a monthly leadership development experience. With the Association now facilitating significantly more training options, we’ve decided to move Insights to every second month. (To check out the training options on offer, click here.)
If you are a Baptist leader do not miss this opportunity to invest in your leadership development. Be intentional in setting aside time to fellowship and grow with other Baptist leaders as we journey together to our Gen1K Goal of 1000 Healthy Churches in a Generation.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be inspired and equipped for your ministry at our ‘Insights Online Gathering’ on July 24th at 1:00 pm.
Use the link below to register for Insights!
Advanced Creating Safe Spaces
Are you committed to providing a safe place for all people in your church? Would you like to develop skills and grow in confidence in managing this important aspect of ministry? Would you like to do that with other pastors and leaders across our movement, benefitting from a learning experience together?
In July and August this year, Jonathan Bradford (Standards Manager, Baptist Churches NSW & ACT) will be hosting Advanced Creating Safe Spaces Training. This training for pastors, leaders, and safe church teams is designed to supplement the Creating Safe Spaces workshops run by the Baptist Association to further develop understanding of safe church practices. We will hear from industry and ministry leaders Carolyn Cousins (Director, Tunedin Consulting), Nathan Croot (Principal, Jefferson and Shea Legal) and Tim Williams (Manager Insurance NSW & ACT, Baptist Insurance Services) along with members of the Baptist Churches NSW & ACT Ministry Standards Team. These presenters have experience and expertise in creating a child safe culture in churches, trauma informed counselling, application of the law to safe church implementation and risk management. The training also provides an opportunity to discuss and formulate plans of action for scenarios that could arise within your church.
The purpose of these scenarios is to build skills and confidence in managing them and to give awareness of resources available to support you. The training is run over two days (2 weeks apart) both in person (TSS Ministry Hub, Hurstville – Day 2) and online (Zoom – Days 1 and 2). The cost is $80 – $120 depending on the mode of delivery you choose, with free tickets for subsequent registrations from the same church. This enables you to bring your ministry and/or safe church team.
For more information and to book, please visit the website HERE
We look forward to seeing you at ACSS!
OurStory
‘Our Story’ is where we share stories of our wider Baptist movement; stories from our journey towards our goal of becoming a movement of 1,000 healthy churches in a generation, stories of how Baptist Churches in NSW & ACT are navigating key issues, and stories from our affiliated groups.
Sharing stories is vital so that we can learn from each other, be encouraged to persevere in our ministries, and witness how God is working amongst his Church. We hope that OurStory will be an inspiration for you and your church.
Every five years, the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (APBF) which our Association is part of, holds the Asia Pacific Baptist Youth Conference to bring together youth and their leaders from across the region. The 2024 Conference happened on 29 May to 01 June in Melaka, Malaysia, and sought to build and strengthen the network of Baptist Youth Leaders in the Asia Pacific region, investing in the next generation of leaders.
Use the link below to hear more about some highlights of how God moved through the 2024 Conference shared by Steve Dixon, Chair of the APBF Youth Committee.
If you have a story about how your ministry, church, or region is stepping into the Gen1K vision send an email to hello@nswactbaptists.org.au with more details.
Gambling Advertising Campaign
Our friends at Wesley Mission are petitioning the Federal Government to act to stop the current ways that advertising occurs for sports gambling appears.
They have asked a number of Christian denominations and like minded groups to consider making this opportunity widely available. If you are concerned about the impact of sports gambling advertising, this link will lead you to an easy to use portal which assists you to construct an email to the Prime Minister and Minister for Communications, which will add to the weight of this campaign.
Better Marriage Australia Annual Conference
Better Marriages Australia’s 2024 Conference: Invest, Inspire, Ignite will be held on Saturday, September 14th, 2024 at Morling College, Macquarie Park.
This conference focuses on equipping couples with tools and resources to build stronger, more fulfilling relationships within their marriage and faith.
Keynote speakers, Gil and Brenda Stuart, from the USA will be sharing their expertise. Learn more about them on their website.
Here’s how your church could be a valuable partner:
- Spread awareness: We have a conference flyer with a QR code linking directly to the information page for the Better Marriages Australia 2024 Conference. The page also features a video message from Gil and Brenda and an easy online registration process.
- Consider a feature in your publications.
- Pre-conference workshop: A special workshop focusing on “blended families” will be held on Friday night, September 13th, also at Morling College. This could be of particular interest to families within your church.
Find out more and register at the Better Marriages Australia 2024 Conference website.
FREEDOM24 Conference
Freedom for Faith is hosting the FREEDOM24 Conference
When: 9am-4pm on Monday August 5th
Where: Village Church Annandale in Sydney.
Livestream tickets are free, to maximise access for those who cannot attend in person.
“FREEDOM24 Conference will develop your understanding of threats to religious freedom in Australia from historical, theological and policy perspectives.”
“Historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker will examine the history of religious freedom, while John McClean of Christ College will share a theological perspective on how the church is to respond to legal threats to ministry. We will also have a number of experts unpack the major religious freedom concerns in Australia, as well as implications and paths forward for advocacy.”
Get tickets and find out more information at fff.org.au/f24
