Introduction
 
I begin this discussion by teasing out some remarks I made on the subject of humility in the first article of this series, Identifying our Distinctives.
 
The nature of our humanity defaults to the dark side, and it creates a competitiveness in us that wants to get to the top of the pile and be the star. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus demonstrated, and highlights the difference between the example of servanthood and that of the chest thumping Pharisee who stands where all can see his bogus greatness.
 
This counterfeit prominence destroys authentic community, and isolates many leaders and congregants leaving them feeling defeated, devalued, and a failure. The level of devastation that this God dishonouring behaviour causes is widespread, and nothing short of evidence that the enemy of us all is at work to steal, kill, and destroy at every opportunity in the life of leaders. Put simply, I see this dark side of leadership as an extreme abuse of power.
 
One of the most common discussions I have had with church leaders during my time in vocational church work has revolved around feelings they have even in the crowd. They feel loneliness, pessimism, a lack of appreciation, and a disappointment that  leaders without biblical humility create too often in the environment of church leadership. 
 
When dealing with broken people in our congregations there is a level of grace given to the church leader which protects their heart from disreputable behaviour, as life transformation is taking place. But the assault on their spirit that comes with the self-importance of some prideful leaders is unexpected, and blindsides them and is therefore all the more damaging to the wellbeing of the leader.
 
A leader without biblical humility harms the reputation of Jesus in the earth, and reinforces the cynicism many irreligious Australians have of church leaders.
 
Biblical humility as a distinctive
 
We want to be a movement that is known as one where every leader is included and encouraged, and able to celebrate authentic community one with the other. We want A2A to be a safe place where a church leaders regardless of the size of his church, and regardless of how measureable their success might be can come and be celebrated for who they are, and for the sacrifice they make in faithfully serving God.
 
A distinctive is a visible distinguishing characteristic about a person or organisation. It is encouraging for us that visitors to our gatherings where leaders are together regularly make a spontaneous and telling observation about the environment of our get-togethers. 
 
Consistently church leaders from mega churches, large churches, large independent ministries, small churches, and as individuals say we stand out in the Australian context as an all-inclusive group of church leaders who are comfortable in our own skins and enjoy an authentic level of community not commonly seen on the Australian landscape. I know Australian leaders who regularly tell me that the spirit we have amongst the church leaders at A2A does not exist anywhere else. 
 
Least we become immediately prideful of these welcome appraisals, it is not impossible that regardless of the overall healthy environment, there is someone who feels isolated and dishonoured. We are doing ok, but we have not arrived. To think more highly of ourselves than we ought will quickly put us on a slippery slope towards prideful God dishonouring habits that will quickly destroy what God has done in us.
 
Defining biblical humility
 
Humility is generally defined as unpretentiousness, modesty, self-effacement, and similar words of explanation. Biblical humility certainly contains all of these characteristics, but more. It is the more that makes the difference and gives us the key to the way we should pursue humility. 
 
Biblical humility is placing our gifting, our strengths, and the power gained by our position in leadership in submission to God so that they are always under His control. 
 
Understanding the biblical basis of humility
 
In the greatest sermon in history, Jesus includes a few lines about humility. Matthew records his words in chapter 5 verse 5; Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. This comment is the foundational thought that should effect all of actions in Christian leadership.
 

1. Meek is an old fashioned word that does not have much usage in the 21st century. Meek is better translated today as humble. Meek in the Greek language had much imagery attached to it, it reflected a lion which had been tamed to perform in an arena, even though a lion can be trained to sit on a small stool, it still has immense strength and the lion tamer would not dare turn his back on the lion. It simply has its strength under the control of the lion tamer. It was referred to as a meek lion, but you would never think of it as weak or insipid. 

 
This is the biblical picture of meekness or humility. Humility is having your strengths under the control of King Jesus. In this section of scripture we learn that the person who puts their strength under the domain of the King [king-domain/kingdom] gains their inheritance. The implication is that if you do not humble yourself before King Jesus, you will not gain your inheritance. This is a law of the kingdom.
 
Jesus was the greatest example of humility. He had great strength and power yet he resisted the temptation from Satan to use it. As he approached Calvary in the moment of his greatest testing, He did not call down ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set himself free. He put his power under the Father’s control and as a result he gained his inheritance and sits at the right hand of God today. And we are part of his inheritance.
 

1. Failure to submit our power as leaders to God is the reason so many leaders are not successful, and why some who appear successful because of what they build loose it.

 
Peter wrote to Christians scattered all over the world with some sensational advice. What he said is found in 1 Peter 5 verse 5; ……All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
 
I say this is sensational for these reasons;

1. Peter says put humility on like you would a set of clothing. It’s something you have to do. Then he tells us that our humility will position us to direct this distinctive towards others. He makes it clear that humility should be directed at others. Humility is meant to make others feel included, valued, and celebrated.
2. Then he says something sobering. He says if you do not do this God will oppose you. I am not sure how you respond to this statement, but I know how I respond. I do not under any circumstance want to have the most powerful identity in the universe oppose me. I do not want the God who with a word created all things oppose me. It scares me to consider that God would ever oppose me. Much better to humble myself.
3. None of us is perfect or ever will be this side of heaven. We are all capable of slipping effortlessly to the dark side of our nature. If we are serious about placing our strength at the feet of God, the same all powerful God who will pull us down will also extend grace to us.

I love the way David who let his sexual juices get out of control, and allowed his emotions to drive him to murder was forgiven and lifted up. There is only one reason for this. When Nathan counselled him regarding the ugliness of his dark side, instead of using his great strength and power as king and reacting, he responded. He humbled himself and David’s days following were even greater. That works for me.
 
Have you ever considered the delusional aspect of pride. Leaders without humility are deceived. They believe their own propaganda. They think everyone thinks as highly of them as they do themselves. They think no one notices when they are positioning themselves for the best seat at the table. They think no one notices when they drop a name, or look over your shoulder when you are in conversation with them. Most of all they think God will not notice.
Pride, which of course is the opposite of humility, is the single reason why seemingly successful leaders are brought down. In the decades I have been in vocational ministry I have seen great leaders on the national and international stage come crashing down. I have been personal friends with some of them. In recent times one of the most prominent leaders of the church in the western world has come crashing down because he did not place his strength and power under the hand of God. God opposed him.
Peter finishes his thoughts on humility with these equally sensational words. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 
This is the key to success not only in vocational church work, but in the market place, wherever God has placed the Christian to serve him. 
 
Walking in humility
When God spoke clearly to the National Leadership Team in February 2017 and helped us to identify our distinctives, humility was not the entirety of what we heard about humility. The Holy Spirit talked to us about walking in humility.
A form of the word walking is used about 130 times in the bible. It always has with it a sense of plodding along, travelling along, treading along through life. It has the feel of consistently doing something about it. 
On that February day I am certain that the Holy Spirit was telling us to keep this distinctive of humility as a constant in the life of our movement. We are encouraged to live in humility so that we can continue to be a life giving movement to each other, and not a life sapping movement to each other.
Conclusion
I believe there is a genuine humility becoming more and more visible in the culture of our churches. It is something to be guarded at all cost so that all of us can enter into our inheritance which scripture tells us is the right of every believer.
I look forward to walking in humility with you all.
 

It’s amazing to realise that most of 2018 is now behind us and Christmas is just around the corner. Where has the time gone?
It’s been great seeing so many A2A churches taking steps to engage in a greater way with their local communities and to be more missionally effective. I think that we all want our churches to be like the church in Acts 2 that was so engaged that they enjoyed the favour of all the people in their city with the result that more were being saved and added to their number every day!
Thats a wonderful focus for us to have as we embrace the great commandments and the great commission. As Rick Warren says, a great great commitment to the great commission and the great commandment will build a great church! And of course to do this, requires great leadership.

National Leadership Team Update
At our last National Leadership Team meeting we discussed ways in which we as an NLT could add value to the churches across the movement. One of the ways we thought may be useful was to make ourselves more available across the movement to help catalyse change. Ralph Moore in his book MegaMultiMultiply makes the following comment:
An apostolic leader, whether in a large place or small, feels the need to keep moving. Some, like Paul, move from city to city. Today, most shift from project to project while extending the boundaries of the gospel. These people are catalyzers. If this is you, you naturally spark change.
Just to be clear, we are not calling ourselves apostles, but we do believe the the NLT can add value by functioning in an apostolic fashion. What this means is that:

• The members of the NLT have agreed that they are willing to minister in other A2A churches if they are invited. This is of course subject to their schedules. The practical reality of leading a church means that mid week ministry may be more possible than Sunday ministry for some of the members.
• The members of the NLT are happy to contribute in this way without expectation of an honorarium. Just a side note here; if you do make a commitment to paying a visiting ministry an honorarium, please follow through with this. There are too many stories across churches in this country of honorariums being offered and even love offerings taken without being forwarded on.
• If your church cannot afford travel costs in respect of the visiting NLT member, A2A may be able to assist to some extent.

The bottom line is that we want to do what we can to help local church leaders spark change to help their churches become more missional effective.

ELI (Emerging Leaders Initiative)
The first year of ELI has by all accounts been an outstanding success with some wonderful testimonies from the emerging leaders who have taken part. The recent trip to Canberra was an incredible experience for all involved. 
Whilst in Canberra, the participants had their worldview significantly expanded with substantial input from politicians and other key individuals in relation to our nation’s history both politically and militarily, the workings of the constitution and High Court and of Parliament House. Meeting our Prime Minister was surely also a highlight for all.
Special thanks to Mark Ansell and the team form Gateway who run ELI, and to Phillip Mutzelburg who arranged the trip to Canberra.
If you are a young or emerging leader, or you have emerging leaders in your church, I encourage you to consider next years ELI program. Please Contact Mark Ansell or Tina Silk on 03 9785 7500 & eli@a2a.org.au for more information about ELI. ​

Mentoring
The NLT is delighted with the uptake that has occurred with credential holders entering into mentoring arrangements. We are particularly pleased that nearly all A2A Senior Leaders are in a mentoring arrangement. We see mentoring as being key to the ongoing health of a leader. 
One further initiative that we will be instigating in the near future is introducing a short form agreement that can be used between the mentor and mentee to ensure a few key components to mentoring are agreed upon and to a degree formalised.
You can find out more about A2A mentoring here  or by contacting Mark Ansell 03 9785 7500

Revised Marriage Rites
Religious bodies, such as A2A, may be granted permission by the Attorney General’s Department to endorse religious marriage. Ministers are permitted to solemnise marriages on the basis that they conduct marriages within the rites of their denomination. 
The NLT has revised A2A’s Marriage Rites, with a copy being sent to all credential holders registered to solemnise marriages. A copy of the Rites is available here.

Leaders Together
We are just about to complete our latest round of Leaders Together. Here is some of what we have covered as well as links to resources
Keeping Fresh In Ministry
We revisited Mark Conner’s excellent teaching about Keeping Fresh In Ministry, from the 2018 National Conference.  Mark reminded us of the Theology of Self Care and the 5 habits of healthy leaders. We watched Mark teach first 2 habits (Retreat Regularly and Deal With Your Internal Stress) and then had a time of discussion. You can watch Mark’s excellent teaching on Keeping Fresh In Ministry here.

Developing A Strategic Plan
Rod Dowie presented the strategic planning process that he and the team at Coast and Vines have been putting together. They have come up with a brilliant template that could be used to help your church to develop your own strategic plan.
Their founding scripture is Isaiah 61:4 “And they shall rebuild old ruins. They shall rise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolation of many generations.”
CLICK HERE to hear from Rod.  The document templates they have developed are available below.

Fringe Benefits Exemptions For Pastors 
Most pastors would be aware that there are certain fringe benefits exemptions that may apply to pastors. Following is a brief summary of how that works. 
Under tax law in Australia, income is generally taxable. When instead of receiving income, a person receives a benefit, this is generally subject to assessment under the Fringe Benefits Tax legislation. So any form of remuneration that is not assessed as income is generally regarded as a benefit.
The FBT legislation however provides that benefits paid to pastors and church workers may be exempt from FBT under certain circumstances.
The Draft Taxation Ruling issued in July of this year provides three important tests that must be passed for a benefit to be exempt. 

1. The provision of benefits must be made by a ‘registered religious institution’. A ‘registered religious institution” is an institution that maintains current ACNC registration with a subtype ‘advancing religion’. If you lose ACNC registration, you will lose your eligibility for exempt fringe benefits
2. The provision of benefits must be to to an employee who is a ‘religious practitioner’, or the employee’s spouse or child. The Draft Ruling elaborates on what this means, but can include a minister of religion or a student at an institution who is undertaking a course of instruction in the duties of a minister of religion. The Draft Ruling then outlines certain characteristics of their employment.
3. The provision of benefits must be principally in respect of pastoral duties or directly related religious activities’ that are related to the practice, study, teaching or propagation of religious beliefs.

These are explained further in the Draft Ruling which can be found here.

School Holiday Programmes
It was discussed that School Holiday programmes and other programmes that churches undertook where with children under the age of 13 years, where parents or guardians were not on premises may require licensing as a Child Care Centre.
There is an important exception to this under the Education and Care Services National Law where it can be shown the programme or service is being conducted principally for the purposes of religious instruction.
This could have substantial ramifications on a number of activities that churches may run, including camps.
The take away from this is to document the purpose of the activity and why and how it is being undertaken for the purposes of religious instruction.
Link to Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (p17)

This past week I have spent time with the mob at Kyogle.
We drove up into heaven country for a women’s soul retreat.
As I stepped out of the car I could feel the spot was magical.
It was perfect for a women’s soul retreat.
 
The delicious invitation to rest, renewal and delight.
 
 I was expecting love and life to happen but what I wasn’t expecting was the beauty.
The beauty of the environment was simply delicious.
I could feel myself slowing, resting, nestling into God’s luscious palms.  The flowing creek, the shafts of sunlight finding its way through the tall trees and shrubs.
The bower birds penetrating the silence with their pinging sounds.
 
But it wasn’t this beauty that truly captured my heart.
 
What captured my heart was the sound of lives turned from brokenness to wholeness; from pain to hope; from messy to life and love.
Over the coming days I was privileged as girls time and time again shared their story of surrender.  The moment when they turned their will and their life over to God.
 
The heart sharing always began with a smile, a giggle and then the  story of how God turned their hard, their broken, their messy into love and love.
 
I loved the child likeness, the simple delight of “I was once lost and now I’m saved.”
 
There was Janet who came to faith because her daughter went to youth group and then wanted to go to church.  Janet recalls how her first service was filled with unexplained tears.
 
There was another who saw a sign advertising the church, went home and googled, saw their was a small group meeting on in the evening and simply turned up.
 
I love what God is doing in this church.  First generation Christians.  Story after story after story of families discovering Jesus for the very first time.
 
There was this child like wonder.  “God’s done this for me and my family.”
I loved BJ who every day says to Jesus, “Okay who are we going to love together today?  Who are we going to give dignity to?”  I love the heart.
 
I want to give a big shout out to Danielle and James and their team for creating a space where people who are far from God feel safe enough to explore, to bring their broken soul and have it redeemed and healed.
 
May Kyogle continue to be blessed and to be a blessing.

Most bible based Christian churches would claim to do “Spirit empowered mission” and this claim is not argued as all Christ followers have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them in mission from the moment of conversion.

A2A would consider that there is an extra dimension of the Holy Spirit available to every Christ follower, which gives them a dynamic empowerment to do mission. 

We believe that Jesus makes it clear that we should wait until we are baptised with the Holy Spirit before we do mission. For this reason, it is worthwhile giving further comment to this important biblical truth. 

The Baptism with the Holy Spirit defined
The baptism with the Holy Spirit takes place when a Christ follower who earnestly and diligently desires it, makes themselves available for Jesus to immerse them in the fullness of his power. 

Unfortunately, due to the undue emphasis and consequent excesses of some charismatic and Pentecostal groups, this biblical truth is seen in some circles as highly controversial, and even something to be avoided at all costs. For these reasons it is considered important to make some statements about this amazing phenomena which Jesus called a gift.


a. The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not a relatively recent addition to Christian belief:
 
The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not charismatic, Pentecostal, or “third wave” theology; it is New Testament theology which was embedded in the experience of the early church.  It has been identifiable through every season of church history since the inception of the church. There have been seasons where it almost entirely disappeared in practise, but in more recent times it has once again been restored since the renewal took place at Azusa Street in the early part of twentieth century.

b. There are several reasons every Christ follower should seek the baptism with the Holy Spirit:

1. Jesus was baptised with the Holy Spirit because he needed it to do the mission he was sent to do. He was baptised with the Holy Spirit at the Jordan when he was baptised in water.
2. Jesus considered that we needed it for mission. He told his disciples to wait until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
3. It was a common experience for Christ followers in the early church. There are numerous examples in the book of Acts.
4. It is a command. Jesus told the disciples to “wait in Jerusalem until they had received it.”
5. The writer to the Hebrews suggests it is an elementary teaching for Christians on their way to maturity. The writer says we must progress beyond the doctrine of baptisms – note the plural. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is one of several baptisms mentioned in the scriptures.
6. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is for all in the church age. The prophesy of Joel and the statement by Peter at Pentecost confirm this.

 

c. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is available to every Christ follower at or subsequent to their salvation experience:
 
Some Christians are baptised with the Holy Spirit at the time they make their first confession of faith in Christ. Others are baptised with the Holy Spirit subsequent to their salvation experience. Within our churches a Christian who has never had this experience is not considered a “second rate” Christian.

d. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is not the central doctrine of the bible:
 
The prominence given by some Christian churches to this teaching implies that it is the central doctrine of the bible. We believe all truth is important to our spiritual growth, and we endeavour to teach the whole counsel of God. 
 
We do not believe that being baptised with the Holy Spirit makes you a better Christian. We believe the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit at work within the Christ follower that changes us, and that it is this work evidenced by the “Fruit of the Holy Spirit” in our lives that makes us more like Christ.
 
e. Speaking in tongues is the most common evidence of being baptised with the Holy Spirit:
 
Speaking in tongues is the most controversial aspect of this dynamic experience of being baptised with the Holy Spirit. It is controversial because some Christians argue that unless you speak in tongues you are not baptised with the Holy Spirit. Within our churches we are resistant to this being a divisive issue.
 
f. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is the usual gateway for the Christ follower to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit:
 
This is also somewhat controversial as there is evidence that many Christians who do not claim to be baptised with the Holy Spirit, or speak in tongues,  function in some or all of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. Within our churches we are resistant to this being a divisive issue.
 
NB: The reader could be frustrated in some regards by the lack of a more detailed explanation of some of these views, and the lack of biblical reference to them all. This paper is not meant to be a comprehensive doctrinal document, but rather an overview of a distinctive of our churches. It is written with the commitment to the celebration of diversity which we enjoy in our movement.
 
The primary purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is to empower us to do mission
In many charismatic and Pentecostal churches, including those under the banner of the older traditional denominations who have embraced the “charismatic” experience, this primary purpose of the baptism with the Holy Spirit being an empowerment for mission has been ignored. 

Instead of the focus being outward, the focus has become inward. In some places the focus is about “my healing”, “my prophesy”, “my word of knowledge”. The mindset is the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for me. We would not suggest that the ministry of the Spirit should not be extended to the already convinced, but in the process of doing this the primary purpose of using this power to reach the masses of unchurched people in our community must not be lost.

Within our movement of churches there will be a constant challenge to use this dynamic power available to the Christ follower who is baptised with the Holy Spirit to do the main thing. And the main thing will always be the main thing, “to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples”.

The baptism with the Holy Spirit without the balance of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit disempowers effective ministry to the unchurched community.

Paul speaks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then makes an amazing statement about these dynamic gifts. He says “I will show you the most excellent way” and goes on to talk about the power of love over all the gifts. Becoming a person who loves at all times is a result of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love must overshadow our ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. When love is lacking the gifts regardless of how astonishing they may be, are lost in the intrigue associated with anything not easily explained. Without love, we are effectively disempowered in our effectiveness. Love must be evident so that the Spirit of God at work in them can be seen.

Developing a Christlike character must be our first priority if we want the dynamic of the Holy Spirit to do its work in the hearts of the unchurched.

Next steps

1. Do you teach on the baptism with the Holy Spirit often enough to give opportunity for your congregation to be equipped for mission? Remember the work of the ministry is to train up the believers for works of service.
2. Do you teach the balance between character and power? Ministry without the love of God only intrigues the unchurched, it does not transform their life.

 

According to the Hughes Scale, a missional church is one that is both biblically sound and engages effectively with the culture.

Ed Stetzer in Planting Missional Churches says that most churches tend to polarise around two points on the scale; churches that are bible focused but unable to reach the world around them, or that relate to the world but have lost the basic tenets of the faith.​

Churches that are found in Quadrant C, that are traditional and biblically illiterate will have very little positive impact and generally wont be around for long other than via generations of families that are committed to them.

To encourage A2A churches to grow in their missional focus and effectiveness, we would like all A2A churches to do four things:

1. Set a baptism target for this and every year
2. Initiate one new initiative to engage with your local community this year
3. Have a disciple making strategy in place
4. Have a leadership development process in place

We will use the Leaders Together days to provide ideas and information to help you in doing this.

As I write this, I have to tell you about something that happened at our elders meeting last week. I raised the issue of setting a baptism target for the next 12 months, and then suggested a target. I was immediately swamped with stories from the elders about people in their groups and ministries that they were discipling to be baptised. At that point the meeting overtook my expectations and we ended up setting a target for baptisms of about twice what I was thinking.

My lesson was simple. Collectively we had greater vision than I personally had.

Credential Re Applications
Just a reminder that Credential Re-Applications were due by 30 June. If you haven’t yet submitted your re-application, you can do so using the online form here.
Please also remember that credential fees were also due 30 June and can be paid to:
A2A General Account
BSB 633 000
Ac 148 128 077


Annual Church Survey
The Annual Church Survey is now due. This provides important information for us as a movement and so we encourage you to complete it by the end of July.
The online form to complete the survey can be found here.
 
Working With Children / Child Safe Policies

You will note in the Annual Church Survey Form there is a question asking whether your church has yet submitted it’s Working With Children / Child Safe Policy with the A2A office. From now on, as we explained at the LT days, we will be asking annually for these policies to be submitted to us so that we can keep a copy on file. We won’t however be vetting them for completeness or appropriateness; that’s up to your own board to do.

Also a reminder in relation to your working with children status. Please make sure your state authority issued card is up to date and so is your training. We require all credential holders to undertake training every 3 years. Most A2A Credential holders will have 12 months to update their training, which can be done online through Childsafe. So please keep this in mind as needing to be attended to in the near future.

What To Do If You Have A Known Sex Offender In your Church?

 We raised and discussed at Leaders Together the issue of having a known sex offender in your church and implications for the church with regard to insurance cover.

​An important note was that insurance will not cover a sexual abuse claim in relation to the known sex offender.

This is regardless of whether or not they have actually been previously charged with a sex offence.

Where it is known that a sex offender does attend your church, it is highly recommended that a written agreement be put in place between the offender and the board of the church.

If you want more information in relation to this, you can download from here more information along with a sample agreement provided by ACS and a copy of an agreement an A2A church actually has in place with a known offender.

​These are only examples to help give you an idea. You may need to seek your own professional advice about any documentation, policies and procedures if you are faced with such a situation.

Is Your ACNC Reporting Up To Date?

The Australian Charities and Not For Profit Commission oversees 56,192 charities and not for profit organisations with a total annual income of $121 billion and they are starting to take action where organisations are failing to fulfil their reporting and other obligations. This action has at times seen organisations lose their tax exemptions.

Churches and other organisations registered with the ACNC are required to submit an annual report within 12 months of the end of their financial year, so if your church has a financial year ending 31 December, your ACNC return should have been lodged by 30 June.

 Sharon O’Neill shared how Mothers Day provided an unexpected opportunity to share with single mum’s, women who weren’t able to  have children and mum’s who had lost children. You can watch what Sharon had to say here.

We then looked at the following simple template that can be used to assist in developing a disciple making strategy around ideas for community engagement.

 Developing A Strategic Plan For Your Church

​In South Australia at the Leaders Together, Rod Dowie gave an excellent presentation on the strategic planning process he has been taking Coast and Vines through over the last few years.

What Rod has developed here will be made available to assist other churches in their strategic planning in the future.

​2019 National Conference
A reminder that the 2019 National A2A Conference will be held on the Gold Coast at the QT Resort from Monday 29 April to Thursday 2 May 2019. We are delighted to have Oscar Muriu and David Storer locked in as our key speakers.

Registration is free for Credential holders with the registration fee for non - credential holders being $220. A reduced registration fee of $150 will apply to first time attendees, emerging leaders and A2A recognised retired ministers $150. 

A 10% discount will be given to any who register prior to 31 December 2018. You can register now for the 2019 A2A National Conference here.


Next Leaders Together
If it’s not already in your diary, don’t forget to reserve the following dates for the next Leaders Together:

• 11 October - Tasmania @ Legana Christian Church, Registrations from 8:30am
• 17 October - Victoria @ Gateway Family Church, Registrations from 9:30am
• 18 October - Queensland @ Catalyst Church, Registrations from 9:30am
• 21 October - Out Australia @ Covenant Church, Registrations from 8:30am

You can register for the next Leaders Together using the online form here.

Going on holidays!
Sharon and I will be overseas for about 3 weeks from 8 July to 30 July first attending a meeting with Empart and then taking a break with our family. Can’t wait!
​
During this time, you can contact Liz Jesson on 03 63274538 or info@a2a.org.au.

Carl Mutzelburg will be acting President in my absence. You can contact him on 07 3813 4900 or carlm@catalystchurch.com.au.

Be blessed!

Tim O’Neill
President, A2A 
​