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IN CONVERSATION Singer/songwriter, Colin Buchanan talks about his career and his quest to let his natural life be spiritual. PAGE 12 >>
FEBRUARY 2021
“God wants to reach out to each person, to connect personally with them, through people.” ANDREW TURNER PAGE 13 >>
End of an era for Mark Pastor Mark Wilson’s 14 years as the Baptist Churches Western Australia (BCWA) Director of Ministries is concluding in March, as Australian Baptist Ministries has appointed him the National Ministries Director. connection with the health of its pastor.” Tom Price Baptist Church Pastor, Gavin Douglas is one of the many pastors who experienced Mark’s support firsthand. “I have loved how Mark is for the pastor – Mark stood alongside us, listened, empowered and championed for us.” Alongside his service as the Director of Ministries, Mark has served on numerous foundation boards for Western Australian Baptist ministries including the Baptist Relief Fund. This fund partners with local Baptist churches to help individuals and families who have been affected by natural disasters, including the South West fires in 2016. Mark also served as Chair of the Western Australia Heads of Churches for five years and will continue to serve as a Vice President for the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, helping to revitalise the body that represents over 33,000 local churches and 63 conventions in 22 countries across the Asia Pacific region. In its announcement to Baptist churches regarding Mark’s appointment, Australian Baptist Ministries National Chair, Reverend Steve Ingram said, “We are delighted that Mark Wilson will be stepping into the role.” “Mark brings excellent experience and understanding for the position and we are excited to see where God will lead us as a national movement over the coming years.”
Hospital pastoral care team organise a flash dance >>
4 Crossway’s new service Affordable Bible-based counselling commences >>
10 Persecution rises COVID-19 has intensified persecution of Christians >>
We are stronger when we work together BAPTIST CHURCHES WESTERN AUSTRALIA Photo: Supplied
BCWA Council Chair, Martin Alciaturi in a communication to pastors and churches shared that Mark had overseen 14 years of service and significant achievements as the Director of Ministries. “Mark leaves BCWA a significantly transformed organisation and we are very thankful for the numerous changes he has pioneered,” Martin said. Council member, Pastor Karen Siggins shared the Council’s excitement on Mark’s new appointment: “Mark has led Baptist Churches Western Australia with integrity and skill – the Council is delighted that Mark will have the opportunity to make even more of a difference for the Kingdom, at a national level.” In an interview with The Advocate in 2007, Mark shared that even though Baptist’s were a “big denomination”, there was a place for churches to “work together with one vision to make a difference”. In his tenure, Mark along with BCWA staff committed to finding ways to fulfill the vision of being an empowering movement helping pastors, ministries, churches and their communities say yes to Jesus. A defining example of this was revitalising the pastoral retreat for pastors, chaplains and their spouses. Mark’s Executive Assistant, Matthew Chapman said Mark was very committed to ensuring the organisation had healthy churches. “Mark’s commitment to the health of those in ministry is remarkable,” he said. “Mark is passionate about the health of pastors – spiritually, physical and emotionally – his strong belief is that the health of the local church has an intrinsic
3 A flash of hope
Baptist Churches Western Australia Director of Ministries, Mark Wilson will be concluding in March to take up the role of National Ministries Director for Australian Baptist Ministries.
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my view FEBRUARY 2021
My desk diary My desk diary for 2021 arrived and for a moment I thought that all would be well again. The clean slate is so appealing. Like the unused exercise book at the start of a new term, it promises productive days ahead.
Rhidian Brook Rhidian Brook is an award-winning writer of fiction, television drama and film and regularly presents BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’.
Its colour coded symmetry and tastefully curated poems set alongside the seven days of the week suggest an ordered world. It’s filled with potent blank spaces. There are pages of notes at the back for ideas as yet unhatched. Future disasters are unacknowledged in this clean, uninfected ledger. It invites me to write in some things that might happen. It’s calling me to make plans. Then I look at 2020’s desk diary. And I think you didn’t see that coming did you? It’s a brave person who makes any plans in
such times. The only things that happened as expected and written down were the public holidays and Christmas Day, which thankfully weren’t cancelled. It is an itinerary of the crossed out, the cancelled and the postponed. That planned trip to the desert. Taking my friend to a footy game. Having my aunt to tea. It wasn’t to be. Reviewing this year’s diary entries is to be confronted with the full meaning of Robert Burns’ line about the best laid plans of mice and men going awry. Only the desk diary’s poems have stood the test of these times.
I’d planned to read one a week. But I got distracted by long days and dog days, repeating but not rhyming. But I’m catching up now before I bin the year. There is Wordsworth with, “The world is too much with us”; Larkin saying, “There’s nothing to be said.” Blind Milton worrying about his future and hearing God’s reassurance in the darkness. And this week’s poem The Oxen by Thomas Hardy, who wrote that if someone had asked him on Christmas Eve to “Come, see the Oxen kneel,” he would “go with him in the gloom, Hoping it may be so”.
There are warnings in Scripture about making plans and getting too far ahead of ourselves. And there’s that line that if you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans. But I’ve always thought that quip does people and plans and God a disservice. People are, after all, creatures that plan and most of us make them in the hope and expectation of good things. I believe plans matter to people; and that plans matter to God. And sometimes they rhyme. Christmas could be seen as a plan. A cosmic and parochial plan to include all people. An everrecurring poem of redemption and rescue in which a God comes among us. And we are invited to go and meet Him in the gloom. Hoping it may be so.
A new years’ revolution Here we are, a moment or two into a new year and I wonder how those resolutions are going. Did you choose something? Maybe a goal, a healthrelated target or a new venture perhaps, or was it not doing something.
Tara Conradt Tara Conradt is part of the team at Hillsong Perth, and is an aspiring teacher/lecturer and lifetime student of theology.
No sugar? Eliminate single use plastics? I see that hand. Now, how many, a few weeks in, are still working? I wonder if there might be a better way to see change. As a student and practitioner of addiction counselling many years back now, one critical dynamic was clear. That is, that successful change is not so much about what we are giving up, or not going to do, it’s about what we are going to do instead. Setting up new patterns or rhythms in our life is much more likely to yield positive results. It seems that
not only modern mental health practitioners figured this out. The early church and the people of God throughout Scripture were onto it too. From feasts and festivals to sabbath and jubilee, rhythm and ritual patterned life for the people of God. Jesus could have set the disciples a goal to take seriously the community of fellowship He instigated, but instead He set the table and said that whenever you eat and drink, “do this in remembrance of me” [Luke 22:19b]. A new habit. Marking the new year with reflection and necessary
correction is its own kind of pattern, and you may have already heard the Isaiah 43:19 ‘new thing’ quote once or twice at this time of year. Even while beckoning the new, the prophet’s words call to memory an old story familiar to his original audience [Exodus 17:1-7]. Weary in the desert wilderness the Israelites need fresh water. God tells Moses to go to a rock in the company of the priestly elders and with a staff, and water flows. The elders represent tradition, law and ritual; the staff invokes memories and gratitude for Gods miraculous
intervention parting the waters during the liberation from Egypt. What if we approached a desire for renewal in the ‘company of the elders’, considering what wisdom, ways and patterns we might lean into, with gratitude and memory of God’s faithfulness in hand. If I act differently, I may see a different outcome; if I form a habit, I have become a different person who will then act differently. If you could reframe your resolution as a habit or pattern, what would it be?
On curiosity … I am old enough to remember the saying, “curiosity killed the cat”. Until now I’ve heeded the warning and expressed no interest in this proverb’s origin, but recently it struck me that the sentiment is outrageous.
Dr Brian Harris Dr Brian Harris is the Director of the AVENIR Leadership Institute and lectures at the Vose Campus of Morling College.
Perhaps intended to stop four year olds from asking why for the seven hundred and third time, it implies that curiosity is wrong – which it assuredly is not. Most proverbs contain a nugget of truth, so I decided I should dig deeper. Did you know that it wasn’t initially “curiosity killed the cat” but “care killed the cat”? Though some think it originated with Shakespeare’s 1599 use of it in Much Ado About Nothing, it turns out that Shakespeare snitched it from a play of Ben Johnson’s doing the circuit a year before. No wonder
Shakespeare didn’t want too many questions asked. Why “care killed the cat”? Originally it warned against allowing the worries and cares of life to weigh too heavily on you – lest worry killed you! Why was this linked to cats? Beats me. Our neighbor’s cat is completely free of care and sprawls across our driveway glaring at us if we toot at her to move so we can exit our property without flattening her. If that cat knew what I thought of her, she would be a lot more worried!
Perhaps that’s why care morphed to curiosity over time. Now the proverb warns against poking your nose into other people’s business, or being a busy body, desperately hoping to find some titillating morsel of scandal to distribute far and wide. That’s fair enough, so long as you don’t take the proverb too literally. Curiosity is not the path to death, but an invitation to life. Which is why a longer form of the proverb says: “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” In other
words, a question answered is a resurrection of sorts. Cats famously have nine lives, so even if curiosity eliminates some, there are others to spare. It is worth the risk, because if we aren’t curious, we are saying that the world God created is of little interest – and that’s pretty insulting to God. That lack of curiosity could diminish us …
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FEBRUARY 2021
A flash of hope for patients In what was a particularly tough year for many people, the dance was a way to recognise this and gave participating staff the opportunity to express their emotion. Fiona Stanley Hospital Chaplain, Clare Oudman organised the first flash mob in 2019, which was well received in the hospital and had over 150,000 Facebook views. Leading into the holiday season CIare had not planned to create a dance, but many members of staff were expecting another opportunity to dance and kept asking when she was coordinating it. Clare soon realised that the dance was a way for the staff to connect and create new work friendships and relationships as well as shake some of the stress of their day off.
“Initially I had no inspiration, so I decided that I would take a short prayer walk around the hospital and place the matter before the Lord,” Clare said. “By the time I finished my walk, I felt very strongly about the theme being ‘Hope’ – the soundtrack song choice and editing flowed from the moment I sat back at my desk.” During the five weeks leading up to the big day, staff members across all areas of the hospital, from the Chief Executive South Metro Health Services, Paul Forden, Executive Directors and leadership team members to clinical, allied health and hospitality staff, met up in different locations to learn and practise the steps. The first story, reflecting on the beginning of the year and remembering all that was lost
First female state director
Photo: Phil Farano
For the second consecutive year, the pastoral care team at Fiona Stanley Hospital organised a flash mob to lift the spirits of their patients and staff in the lead up to Christmas 2020.
The pastoral care team share hope and a bit of fun with staff and patients at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
due to COVID-19, was conveyed by the staff dancing to Fight On, Fighter by For King & Country. The staff lit candles and placed them on an alter below a sign that read COVID as the words “fight on, fighter the Spirit is alive inside ya”
played. The second song, Together by Sia, spoke about unity and all being in this together. The dance concluded with staff celebrating the health care workers and wider communities’ resilience to the soundtrack of Katy Perry’s Roar.
“Although the dance did not explicitly reference God, the hope and the community that the experience created was only possible through His inspiration,” Clare said.
A more A more rewarding rewarding home care home care
Reverend Dr Melinda Cousins was unanimously endorsed to be the Baptist Churches of South Australia Director of Ministries for the next four years. Melinda will commence in February when Reverend Mike Mills ends his term as State Executive Minister. Melinda’s appointment adds an entry into the Baptist annals as she becomes the first female Baptist state leader since the Baptist movement commenced in Australia. The decision was made by more than 130 South Australian Baptist delegates and pastors as part of their deliberations when
they gathered at Gateway Church in Albert Park for their Spring Assembly in mid-November, just prior to COVID-19 restrictions being reinstated due to a new outbreak. Melinda describes herself as being “passionate about God’s Word and God’s world and loves seeing people get the big picture of how they come together”. Author – Matthew Chapman
Join or switch to Baptistcare Home Care and we’ll reward you with a $250 EFTPOS card.* Baptistcare Home Care has been rewarding West Australians with personalised service and quality care for over 45 years. And now, for a short time, Baptistcare is also rewarding you with a FREE $250 EFTPOS Card. It’s yours when you join or switch to Baptistcare for your home care package.
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Photo: Joshua Baldwin
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1300 660 640 baptistcare.com.au Elliot Keane and Karen Walker introducing Melinda Cousins (far right) as the new Director of Ministries at the South Australia Baptist Assembly.
*Terms and conditions apply. Go to baptistcare.com.au/tac/reward
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Counselling service opens North Beach Baptist Church Senior Pastor, Grant Hendry explained the service, financially subsidised and sited next door to the Church, is open to people from any church and the wider community. “There is definitely a need for Biblical counselling to support and encourage people day-today,” Grant said. “We live in challenging times – reaching out for help is a sign of strength that is to be admired.” The service is available for everyone, at any stage of their life, whether that’s overcoming grief, relationship breakdown, anxiety or family issues. “We see our role as providing a reliable, safe, quality, service that is there for all who need it, when they need it – we will never refuse anyone counselling over lack of funds,” Grant explained. The first counselling session will be provided free of charge, with a sliding scale based on income for subsequent sessions. Crossway Counselling Centre Practice Coordinator, Leanne Sharp explained that it is important that the counselling centre is located separately from the church. “This is a confidential, safe space where people can
feel comfortable entering and discussing what is important to them,” she said. With six trained counsellors from within and outside of North Beach Baptist Church and a reception service from volunteers within the Church, Crossway welcomes anyone over the age of ten experiencing problems or difficulties whether they have a faith or not. The consulting rooms are tastefully decorated, however the journey to convert the house into a counselling centre was not straightforward. The project has evolved over time, first being discussed seven years ago when North Beach Baptist Church first commenced a small biblical counselling ministry. Then 18 months ago, a development team was set up to decide if it was viable to establish a more formal service. “The building was a house that has been owned by the church for many years, but even so, we had to navigate some very costly and stringent local government processes in order to get permission to use it as a counselling centre. That, and COVID-19 led to a delay in commencing services,” Grant said.
Photo: Sally Grandy
Crossway Counselling Centre opened its doors for the first-time last October with the goal to provide affordable counselling which aligns to biblical truths.
North Beach Baptist Church Senior Pastor, Grant Hendry and Crossway Counselling Centre Practice Coordinator, Leanne Sharp outside the freshly converted Crossway Counselling Centre premises.
However, in the end the delay worked in the team’s favour, as it gave them time to establish what they wanted to achieve out of the service and to make the building more suitable for clients. Grant is in no doubt that it will be a success, explaining that it is a biblically-focused service because of the deep conviction of
the church that God’s truth and God’s grace will be the greatest driver for lasting change. “I know that biblical counselling works as God is good and understanding the grace of God and its impact on life will always be profoundly helpful,” he said. “Faith isn’t about following a list of rules, it is about being
inspired, shaped and prepared to be challenged to face life with confidence on a daily basis.” For more information, visit crosswaycounselling.org.au Author – Sally Grandy
Fútbol scores a new friendship at Baptistcare
Several times a month, Colombian volunteer Felipe Angel pops in to say, “hola” to 88 year old Spanish Baptistcare resident and Real Madrid fan Pedro Lopez. The conversations are always, naturally, in Spanish. “In Colombia people do not volunteer as they do not have the time. So, when I came to Australia seven years ago and my wife got a volunteering job it sounded like a good thing to do,” Felipe said. “Losing my job during the pandemic was my opportunity to do volunteering work.” The lockdown meant the Felipe and Pedro met for the first time via FaceTime, but now the new friends catch up in person, chatting about everything from family life to politics and football. Pedro’s wife, Paulina, has Alzheimer’s and is also a Baptistcare David Buttfield Centre resident, often joins her husband for the catch ups.
“Pedro and Paulina tell me what their lives were like in Spain and I tell them about growing up in Colombia,” Felipe shared. “We both love football and Pedro is a huge fan of Real Madrid – he tells me about the team 50 years ago and about the dictatorship before 1975.” “We also talk about our families. He has great-grandchildren and I have a 17 year old son.” Felipe has a new job now but has kept up his visits to Baptistcare David Buttfield Centre, where Pedro and Paulina have lived since May 2020. “It makes me feel good to go to Baptistcare and chat to Pedro,” Felipe said. “You don’t realise how rewarding it is to do volunteer work until you do it.” “I do it because I know it will make Pedro happy.” Staff at Baptistcare David Buttfield Centre said that Pedro has a big smile on his face and a
spring in his step when he knows Felipe is going to visit him. Felipe is one of several bilingual volunteers at Baptistcare. Between them, they speak Spanish, French, Mandarin and Cantonese, but more volunteers fluent in a second language are always needed. Baptistcare Volunteer and Engagement Consultant, Lily Meszaros said the aged care provider was currently looking for volunteers who spoke Italian, Macedonian, Dutch or Malay. “We continue to see increasing cultural diversity in our facilities, which means bilingual volunteers have become more important than ever,” she said. “Not only do residents enjoy opportunities to chat in their native language, but some revert back to their childhood languages.” “Our volunteers can really help when communication between the resident and our staff becomes more difficult.” For more information, visit baptistcare.com.au/volunteering
Photo: Baptistcare
Real Madrid, the Spanish football team have helped forge a new friendship at the Baptistcare David Buttfield Centre Residential Care in Gwelup.
Baptistcare David Buttfield Centre resident Pedro Lopez and volunteer Felipe Angel catching up about their shared passion – football.
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A story of hope and healing
The story follows the hope and healing of Keith Truscott, the Pastor of Mount Zion Aussie Indigenous Church (MOZAIC) in Belmont. Keith made the conscious choice to follow his faith in God despite the separation and dislocation that occurred in his early life. The film allowed Keith to express these feelings and emotions in an honest and open way. “I am honoured for people to hear my story of resolving my past, and I am looking to help support the next generation as they find their sense of belonging,” Keith said. “One of the jobs of the church is to bring the ‘outsider’ to become the ‘insider’ where wholeness and healing occurs.” The brief documentary at only 27 and a half minutes was produced by Ema dos Santos. “The idea that an individual person can be reconciled with their past, present and future,
Photo: Josh Lohmeyer
On the afternoon of 5 December 2020, 70 people gathered at Bentley Baptist Church to celebrate the launch of the DVD Finding Family.
The group that gathered for the Finding Family documentary launch at Bentley Baptist Church, 5 December 2020.
and to hear what it was like to grow up in this Land was the catalyst to produce this film,” Ema said. “Freedoms expressed in this country are not like many others, and we have lots to be grateful for, but at the heart of this nation are Indigenous people who have been misunderstood.” “Addressing the ways we were brought up, and the choices we make are intrinsic to ‘becoming’ better individuals and a collective people, in any culture.”
When creating the documentary, the film crew did not know Keith’s full story till the interview was filmed, so together they witnessed his story emerge. “The ‘becoming’ of Keith is what the story is all about, and the film invites us to join in, to face aspects of his past, and see choices that Keith makes,” Ema said. She explained how honouring and listening to Indigenous people from this Land, from the shared expression
in God’s ways through faith and Word is important. Baptist Churches Western Australia Church and Leaders Support Pastor, Mike Bullard believes the DVD will be a “useful tool” for Baptist churches in workshopping Indigenous issues. “Churches should be involved in the ongoing reconciliation of individuals to allow healing to occur through discussion and dialogue,” Ema said. This film could be used for this purpose, as well as in raising
awareness and addressing themes, including family ties, community, belonging to ‘country’, missions, identity, human dignity, the Stolen Generations, healing storylines, forgiveness, reconciliation, faith, impact of Christianity on Indigenous peoples and Indigenous languages, history, policies and education. For more information or to purchase Finding Family, email ema@eaglescope.com.au
Baptist World Aid prepares for 2021 challenges
East Freo Baptist celebrates centenary
When 2020 came to an end, many in humanitarian work were signalling COVID-19’s ongoing impact on poorer communities for the upcoming year.
On 7 March, East Fremantle Baptist Church will celebrate a significant milestone in its history – its centenary.
Photo: Baptist World Aid Australia
Those who were just emerging out of poverty fell back into it when the pandemic hit, through lose of work, housing or food.
This Bangladeshi woman and many others in her country continue to rely on the work of Baptist World Aid Australia.
Experts are now warning of a humanitarian crisis that has not been seen since the Second World War. In response, Baptist World Aid Australia began its preparation for a year of pandemic related challenges with its Christian partners in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and Syria. Staff are digging deeper into God’s Word, knowing that 2021 will require constant reminders of the hope they believe Christ offers. “Hebrews 6:19 tells us we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” Baptist World Aid Australia CEO, John Hickey said. “We know this isn’t going to be an easy year, especially for those already in vulnerable situations.” “So, we’re wanting to look more to Jesus, the author of our faith, as we work together in caring for those in poverty.”
This means Baptist World Aid teams will look further into how Christian formation shapes its responses to injustice in working toward a more compassionate world. With new resources for churches, prayer calendars and Bible study guides, the international organisation will also step up its advocacy effort towards chocolate and fashion companies to ensure fair treatment of workers and suppliers. Plans for deepening ongoing partnerships and opportunities for giving towards children and families in poverty as well as disaster relief assistance are underway. “Together, as God’s people, we want to respond to those in need throughout 2021,” Hickey said. “It’s going to require prayer and wisdom and sacrificial generosity in ways that might stretch us, but what a privilege it is to join in such work for God’s Kingdom.” Author – Jo Kadlecek
East Fremantle Baptist Church Senior Pastor, Ray Forlin stated that the church was originally known as Woodside Baptist Church, which was an outreach from Fremantle Baptist Church. “It started from cottage prayer meetings in 1907 and the Fremantle Baptist deacons prayed for the establishment of a new church in the East Fremantle area.” The first services were held at East Fremantle Town Hall, on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918. At the services, Rev. William Gilmour of Fremantle Baptist Church announced that a block had been selected where the church still stands to this day. The foundation stone was laid on 30 October 1920 and the very first service in the new church was
conducted on 11 March 1921 by Rev. Frederick Shiner. “We are so thankful for the vision and faithfulness of those early believers who had such strong faith to work towards establishing such a beautiful building where God’s Word could be preached,” Ray said. “Over the next 100 years, believers will continued to minister and pray for the local community and this work which is still going on this very day.” “We celebrate this milestone with grateful hearts and thank God for his grace and love over these years and pray that He will continue to bless our church so that the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached for the next 100 years and beyond.”
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Online gaming at Riverton All churches, including Riverton Baptist Community Church, were anticipating full lockdown and suspension of church ministries and gatherings. In the Next Generations department at Riverton Baptist Community Church, Pastor Andrew Binns met with his team to look at how to engage their high school students who would no longer be able to gather in the building. “Fortunately, pivoting ministry to this digitally fluid generation can be somewhat easier than older generations less familiar with technology,” Andrew said. “However, that brought other challenges particularly in what platform to use and safety concerns with online ministry.” “Rather than try and reinvent the wheel yet again, our Next Generations team looked at where their students were gathering online and what platforms they were using.” Andrew shared that the team developed a plan involving an open world game, familiar to many parents and students called Minecraft. That was the platform of choice for many of the students connected with Riverton Baptist Community Church’s youth ministry. In using an incarnational approach to this online ministry, the team soon discovered that many elements that are a part of familiar student ministry existed. “The Minecraft platform allowed people to be a part of an
online community, connect with each other and adult leaders, play games together, solve puzzles, receive devotional and gospel content as well as provide a relevant, trusted space to invite friends who would never step into their church,” Andrew shared. There were still a few questions left to answer and many of these involved safety concerns and how to keep this platform safe. Online ministry was still new to the team at Riverton Baptist Community Church. The team gathered key principles from the Safe Church program and adapted and utilised them to develop a safe space that was monitored by adult leaders – chat features were recorded, and language and spam filters were used throughout. The server was online for students to connect with three times a week, which were Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school and Saturday mornings. With safety concerns addressed, the team worked on building a virtual community, and they developed a virtual copy of their church’s building within the Minecraft game. The idea behind this was students could invite their friends to virtual church, hangout virtually online at the church and its surrounds and be a part of the church community online as they gathered in the Minecraft server. Students could meet in the virtual auditorium, play simple games together there and find resources for playing other
Photo: Andrew Binns
Early March 2020, COVID-19 was in full progression in Perth, Western Australia.
Riverton Baptist Community Church’s move to the online gaming space sees a new entrance to its building.
aspects of the game. The team was able to develop the virtual church building as a central hub and meeting point for anyone entering the game. Andrew explained that this covered two important aspects of online ministry for the Next Generations team. Firstly, the server could become a community and secondly, it acted as a front door for the church, much like a church website or Facebook page may lead someone of a different generation to visit in person. While lockdown remained a large part of the community in
Perth, Minecraft proved to be a valuable space where students could gather and have community together. The team soon discovered that after lockdown and the return to in-person gatherings, weekend sport and other social activities meant a sharp decline in engagement with the Minecraft space. It became apparent Riverton’s students were overly engaged online and wanted a break from online connections and interactions. “We plan to relaunch the server that hosts our virtual church in 2021,” Andrew said.
“We also plan to develop other online discipleship tools such as online Zoom Bible studies with youth.” “In addition, we hope to strike a better balance between online and in-person ministry,” Andrew concluded. This article was original published in the Crossover PRAC Spring 2020 magazine and is kindly republished with permission
Alta-1 expands to Katanning Kobeelya, formerly an Anglican girls boarding school followed by a Penrhos College co-ed school, which closed in 1985, is now home to the Katanning Baptist Church’s Alta-1 campus. Katanning Baptist Church Senior Pastor, John Harris shared that Kobeelya, as well as being the location of the Katanning Baptist Church, also doubles as a function and conference centre with many amenities used throughout the year by a wide variety of community organisations. “A three-year dream of commencing an Alta-1 campus in Katanning has finally become a reality,” John said.
“Approval for the College from the Government came through at the end of Term 3, with Term 4 commencing with eight hand-picked students with the prospect of increasing that number to 20 at the beginning of Term 1 in 2021.” A special service to dedicate the staff and students took place in early November, with guests coming from Perth and Albany to celebrate the event which was followed by a traditional country lunch. Alta-1 was founded in early 2000, by three Perth couples who wanted to make a difference in the lives of youth who were struggling
Photo: Alta-1
Alta-1 College in partnership with Katanning Baptist Church has opened a campus in Katanning.
Alta-1 College, who specialises in providing alternative education program for young people, has expanded to Katanning in partnership with Katanning Baptist Church.
to engage in mainstream schooling, by providing a unique Christian-based model of alternative education. In addition to the Katanning Campus, Alta‑1 also has campuses in the Perth
metropolitan area as well as throughout Western Australia. It consists of a community of principals, teachers, chaplains, education assistants, counsellors, youth workers, administrators and psychologists that work with
students to make a difference to their education. For more information, visit www.alta-1.com.au Author – Matthew Chapman
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Gallaghers concluding with Global Interaction In 1972 Keith and Pam Gallagher first stepped onto Zambian soil to begin their cross-cultural ministry, almost 50 years later and they haven’t stopped following God’s lead.
Change of approach to mission work Keith and Pam were around when Global Interaction (Australian Baptist Missionary Society at the time) took over from the South African Baptists in Zambia. It was in the early 1970s and Australians sought to change the focus of ministry among the Lamba people. Up until that time the only way a Lamba believer could have regular Bible teaching was to attend the Fiwale Hill Bible School, which was beyond the financial reach of most. Keith, along with his
colleagues Les Haydon and George Stubbs, decided to take the Bible to the people rather than make the people come to the Bible. They embarked on a program called Regional Bible School (RBS) whereby one of the cross-cultural workers or Lamba church leaders would regularly go out into the rural areas and teach the Bible for several days to village churchgoers. The result was amazing! Rural believers had the means to learn about the Bible which helped to develop their own spiritual lives. In many ways the RBS was the forerunner to what is being done today in training of teachers in rural areas. It paved the way for future ministry where cross-cultural workers went and lived in the rural areas rather than remain at the mission compounds. Keith and Pam themselves led the way later by living in Mkushi, and at one time travelling up and down the Mkushi road living in a converted bus! The relationships Keith and Pam are very relational so naturally they developed relationships with everyone, from the local people to fellow cross-cultural workers and everyone in between. Their work with Ba Kabilo along the Mkushi road remains a benchmark for cooperative ministry. Many times when the Gallagher family went on holidays, they would take with them one or more of the single women in the team or even other missionary families. These relationships have stayed long after they left Zambia. If you want to know where a former crosscultural worker is today, ask the Gallagher’s! They have kept those relationships strong. Such is their impact over the years. It is the relationships with national leaders that Keith built while in Zimbabwe and Zambia that has driven his ministry as Country Consultant. Those relationships will remain. Almost 50 years of ministry for Keith and Pam, what a testimony to God’s faithfulness! In 2020, Keith began transitioning out of his role as Country Consultant and passing the baton onto David O’Brien. He plans to return on a final trip to Africa when this is made possible with the global travel situation. In December, Pam concluded her Executive Assistant role in the Western Australia State Office. Over 13 years in the role, she has encouraged a wide and growing network of supporters, and
provided support for missionaries preparing for service and during home assignments, always with a smile. In her parting words to supporters, Pam said: “I look forward to seeing God working on our fields, hearing of those who have become followers of Jesus and seeing God’s call on people to serve cross-culturally.” This article is a modified version of a story originally in Global Interaction’s Vision magazine, and published with permission.
Photos: Supplied
On-field colleague and good friend Roger Kemp honours 50 years of faithful service and shares his reflections of the Gallagher’s. “Don’t you ever stop asking questions?” was my initial reaction to Keith when I arrived in Zambia in 1977. I was trying to adjust to my adopted country, and he was asking question after question … aaahhh! Not long after, I began to appreciate his inquisitive nature as it made me think through issues I may have overlooked otherwise. And that’s Keith: inquisitor, straight shooter, wheeler-dealer, backyard mechanic, stirrer, evangelist. Oh, how God used his personality to expand His work in Southern Africa – particularly in Zambia and Zimbabwe but also in Malawi and Mozambique! You see, dig beneath the surface and you’ll find a selfdeprecating, soft-hearted, hospitable and generous man. He may have got ‘up the noses’ of some mission administrators but on the field, we needed his directness to cut through the bureaucracy. He got things done! Pam’s hospitality and efficiency has been experienced by hundreds of people. Her thoughtfulness expressed in practical ways is legendary. Pam is always there for people, providing whatever help she can. Crosscultural mission is Keith and Pam’s passion. They have given themselves selflessly to God’s work in many places. Since they have returned from life in Africa, they have still remained connected, Keith as a consultant for Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Pam as the Executive Assistant in the Global Interaction State Office in Western Australia. There are many facets that could be mentioned in reflection of this faithful couple, but I’m going to mention just two.
Photos from Keith and Pam Gallagher’s service over the years, showing a small snapshot of their time in southern Africa.
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feature FEBRUARY 2021
Australians have a spiritual hunger and local churches can meet that need by uniting in their diversity
The Future is Ice Cre Australians have a spiritual hunger and local churches can meet that need by uniting in their diversity, according to a national report released on 5 November. The Future of the Church in Australia by McCrindle Research distils the input of 30 Christian leaders from various denominations and states, interviewed in May and June 2020. Among this broad, cross-denominational survey group are: Compassion CEO, Claire Steele; Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne Archbishop, Peter Comensoli; Anglican Diocese of Tasmania Bishop, Richard Condie; Convey of Hope Regional Leader, Joel A’Bell; C3 Church Global Founder, Phil Pringle; Geneva Push Executive Director, Scott Sanders; and Alpha Australia National Director, Melinda Dwight. “If there is one theme that I could embed in every church leader it would be, confidence that Australians are spiritually hungry,” Dwight told Eternity News about the findings from a report commissioned to analyse Australia’s changing social and religious landscape. According to the McCrindle report, the COVID-19 pandemic only increased a spiritual hunger trend fuelled by family breakdown, declining mental health and rising loneliness. For Dwight, who has seen the introductory Christian course Alpha adapt to run around 1,200 online courses in Australia [in 2020] – local churches are best placed to meet this appetite by embracing their own distinct flavour. “There are lots of flavours of ice cream and that hasn’t negated our desire for ice cream,” Dwight said, using the tasty analogy to indicate how churches can provide different versions of the same core offering. “I’ve travelled around much of the Church world and it’s too beige. Everything is the same.” “There is an opportunity to find out who we are and the unique way we can reach our community. So, not being threatened by the fact that there is a diversity of churches. We have to say, ‘who are we called to be and what’s our unique contribution?’”
“I hope that builds confidence in local churches to say we have a mission and, underlying this, I would love it if we thought that what we have in common is far greater than what divides us. Let’s not compete, let’s co-operate.” Planetshakers Church Global Senior Pastor, Russell Evans agrees in the report, “If I was trying to minimise growth in the church, I would get everyone to speak a totally different language that no one understands. And that is what the church is doing.” The leaders in The Future of the Church in Australia report share a desire for relationship and unity, according to Dwight, who helped organise the various leaders to be involved in the report. Other key findings include church leaders realising the opportunities of digital connection, that church members (not only staff) should be empowered to evangelise and disciple, and improved pathways for raising leaders are required.
I think the Church is already going down the track of engaging with its local community, but I think we need to build on that because we are the only infrastructure that has the capacity to really reach the community.
feature FEBRUARY 2021
of the Church
eam
While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed plenty, Dwight and the other leaders surveyed indicated how the pandemic forced a mutual understanding of issues to the surface. The report also confirms that community Christian leaders know how the Australian public has lost trust in the capital ‘C’ Church and its associated institutions. “It’s been a challenging few years for the Church,” Dwight said. “We’ve had Royal Commissions, institutionalised church finding challenges with resources and things like that. You’ve also got the decline in attendance, Millennials who don’t want to share their faith, so you’ve got this whole sort of trend affecting everyone. So, probably [all churches] have been coming back to ‘what’s core business? What should we be doing?’” As Wayne Alcorn, Australian Christian Churches National President, put it in the report, “Jesus is our message, but people aren’t hearing the message because there have been so many other messages about the church.” As the report noted, the Australian Census data indicates affiliation with Christianity has trended down. In 2006, almost two thirds of Australians (64 per cent) identified with Christianity. One decade later, that proportion decreased to 52 per cent (2016). Over the same period, the number of Australians identifying with ‘no-religion’ rose from 19 per cent (2006) to 30 per cent (2016). With loss of trust in Christian organisations being one factor in this decline, Dwight believes living out your faith locally is the powerful road back to connection and relationship. “The research over the years has been showing that people separate organised ‘anything’ from an individual person. So, someone might say, for example, ‘I really hate the … Church and I hate the institutions but, boy, I like Melinda.’”
“People change their views based on personal relationships which is why nine out of ten people still go to anything, because someone invites them. Earlier research by McCrindle found two out of three people would go to church if someone invited them.” The Future of the Church in Australia report summed up this opportunity as, “The gospel is too valuable for Christians to take a retreating position and stop sharing it with society. In order to rebuild trust, Christian leaders believe the church needs to be serving the community in the hardest places with a spirit of humility and authenticity.” Dwight believes the report is for any Christian who wants to apply its findings to their context. “I think the Church is already going down the track of engaging with its local community, but I think we need to build on that because we are the only infrastructure that has the capacity to really reach the community.” “We know who the people are and where they are.” To view the full report that was created in partnership with Baptist Financial Services, visit cityinfield.com Republished with kind permission from Eternity News, eternitynews.com.au
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10 world news FEBRUARY 2021
COVID-19 raises persecution COVID-19 has intensified the persecution and discrimination of at least 340 million Christians around the world, according to the Open Doors World Watch List annual report released in January 2021.
It is a terrifying thought that another human would use the fear of COVID-19 as a tool of conformity when it comes to one’s faith choice.
Photo: Open Doors
for human trafficking, especially that of women and girls for the sex trade. It has raised significant concern by gender specific religious persecution experts.
Christians are being refused COVID-19 aid in countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including women like Debbie from Sri Lanka.
International Briefs Cross-cultural workers update
Ninety percent of experts surveyed by the Religious Liberty Partnership agree that COVID-19 has caused an increase in trafficking of women significantly or moderately. There was also an increase in vulnerability to domestic violence during lockdown, particularly with Christian converts and women. Reports of kidnapping, forced conversions and forced marriage of women and girls increased during this time. The study identified the impact of increasing saturation of technology into daily life meant that in many places, governments can watch their citizens more closely than ever before. Surveillance cameras, facial recognition software and biometric-based systems were used to monitor and target Christians in several countries. “The World Watch List is important because in many ways it paints a roadmap of successful Christianity, a tool that should inspire, encourage and compel the Western Church to act, to stand up and stand with their fellow Christians, world over, who pay a high price for the freedoms we too often take for granted,” Gore concluded.
Global Interaction crosscultural workers, Glenn and Liz Black and their family successfully returned to Thailand to continue their work with the Thai people. In November, Sally Pim successfully returned to Massangulo, Mozambique having attained a visa for an additional 12 months to be able to continue her work with the Yawo people. Jonno and Heather Crane returned to Australia for their home assignment. For further information about Global Interaction and their ministry for least reached people groups, visit globalinteraction.org.au
World Congress moves to virtual event
Source: Open Doors
The World Watch List 2021 Report, produced by the global charity Open Doors International, highlights that COVID-19 has been a catalyst for discrimination against Christians, which included the denial of emergency relief. Some were told, “Your church or your God should feed you” and that the virus was created and spread by Western communities. The report, which studied the most dangerous countries to be a Christian in across the globe, once again found North Korea to be the most dangerous country for Christians for the twentieth consecutive year. However, for the first time ever, all countries in the top 50 score levels of at least ‘very high’ persecution. In India, 80 percent of those receiving emergency relief from Open Doors’ partners were first excluded from official distribution. The violent Islamic extremist group, Al Shabaab, in Somalia blamed Christians for COVID-19, announcing it was spread by the crusader forces who had invaded the country and the disbelieving countries that support them. Open Doors Australia and New Zealand CEO, Mike Gore stated that this is a sad but true reality of persecution and discrimination around the world. “The persecutors use whatever tools possible to inflict the most harm and the greatest consequence on Christians who choose to follow Jesus,” he said. “It is a terrifying thought that another human would use the fear of COVID-19 as a tool of conformity when it comes to one’s faith choice.” The top 12 countries scored ‘extreme’ levels of persecution, which is up from 11 in the previous year. Beyond the top 50, four more countries also scored ‘very high’, showing the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. Overall, 74 countries, which was one more than the previous year, experience extreme, very high or high levels of persecution, affecting at least one in every eight Christians worldwide. “This is an alarming trend and one that Western churches and governments need to be mindful of and proactively address,” Gore continued. “Religious freedom is coming at a greater cost each year and now more than ever before we need to use our voice to advocate for persecuted Christians.” The report also uncovered the deliberate targeting of Christians
To download the full World Watch List 2021 Report, visit opendoors.org.au/report Author – Esther Joliffe The top 12 countries with the most severe persecution of Christians from the World Watch List 2021 Report.
The Baptist World Alliance is transitioning the 22nd Baptist World Congress to be a fully virtual event for 7 to 10 July. This decision was made in prayerful response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, as a result of collaborative discussions with global Baptist leaders. The Congress was originally scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July 2020. “2020 was a year of unexpected challenges, but it was a year of innovation. The physical doors of many churches remained closed, but praise God that new spiritual doors were opened to live out our gospel-centered mission through the use of technology,” Baptist World Alliance General Secretary, Elijah Brown said.
world news 11 FEBRUARY 2021
Bible keyword trends in 2020 The year’s top keywords searches show trends in what moved the hearts of digital Bible users throughout the year. A review of the most common search phrases in 2020 on the YouVersion Bible app and the BibleGateway website revealed trends in search terms corresponding to the state of the world and critical news events throughout the year. Early in the year, people most frequently searched the Bible app for phrases such as ‘new year’, ‘Bible in a year’ and ‘fasting’, according to YouVersion. Although by the middle of March as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated, the number one search term was ‘fear’. Soon after, the fastest growing search terms week over week were words like ‘peace’, ‘hope’ and ‘faith’ while the pandemic continued. During 2020 the trending Bible app searches also included ‘justice’, which rose to the top in late May, and again in towards
the end of August and September. The search terms ‘healing’, ‘peace’ and ‘love’ were also consistently among the top results. “These top search terms really show what’s been weighing on the hearts and minds of people around the world at key points throughout the year,” YouVersion Founder, Bobby Gruenewald said. The multilingual internet Bible resource BibleGateway identified extreme spikes in keyword searches which can be grouped into four main themes, this included: social (e.g. racism, justice, equality and oppression), pandemic (e.g. disease, pestilence and plague), political (e.g. praying for government and obeying government authority) and end times (e.g. signs of the end times and end of world). Searches in each of these four main themes occurred at least ten times more in 2020 than the previous year, with social related terms searched over 100 times more following the death
To find your local Baptist church visit baptistwa.asn.au
of George Floyd in May, in America. According to BibleGateway, the top two most popular keyword searches in 2020, were the same as they have been year after year: ‘love’ and ‘peace’. However in 2020, ‘hope’ moved up to the third position, from being fifth position throughout 2019 and 2018. Notably, ‘fear’ moved up to the sixth most frequent search term, from its position 13 in 2019. Overall, YouVersion Founder Bobby Gruenewald celebrated record-breaking levels of Bible engagement through the Bible app in 2020, with nearly 600 million searches within the app last year. “While 2020 is a year so many say they would like to forget, we see it as a year to remember how God used the Bible app to help so many people who are searching for answers,” Gruenewald said. “Through every hardship, people continue to seek God and turn to the Bible for strength, peace and hope.”
Photo: Kyle Smith
In a year marked by uncertainty and turmoil, 2020 had more people than ever turn to the Bible for healing, peace and hope, according to a report of two of the most popular digital Bible platforms globally.
Author – Ramona Humphreys Top search terms on digital Bible platforms show what has moved the hearts of people around the world at key points in 2020.
Nigeria added to list of religious persecutors
Pastor Vacancy Maida Vale is a fast-growing suburb located at the foot of the Perth Hills in the city of Kalamunda. Maida Vale Baptist Church is 60 people strong and has great connections with young families and children in the local area along with significant facilities and room to grow. We are seeking a Pastor who has a heart for Jesus and can effectively equip us for mission to the rapidly growing community around us. Please contact us for more information and an application pack for this role we are looking to fill in 2021 to take us into the new season God has for the life of our Church. For further, email MVBCApplications@gmail.com. Applications close Friday 19 March 2021. App
Although the south of Nigeria is predominantly Christian, Christian believers in the northern states have been experiencing persecution for years, including violent attacks by extremist groups and persecution under Sharia law. Nigeria joins Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on the US Department of State’s Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list which is updated annually. In addition, the Department announced that the Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua and Russia will remain on a Special Watch List for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom” but did not fully meet the CPC criteria. Nigeria was on the Special Watch
Photo: Ariyo Olasunkanmi/Shutterstock
The US government has added Nigeria to its list of the world’s worst persecutors of religious freedom in response to ongoing systematic violations of religious freedom in the West African nation.
Christians in northern Nigeria have been suffering from persecution for many years.
List last year before moving up to CPC status this year. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, ongoing state violations of religious freedom in Nigeria includes harsh convictions for blasphemy and
discrimination against religious minorities. Nigeria is the first democracy ever to be named a Country of Particular Concern by the US Department of State. Author – Ramona Humphreys
12 in conversation FEBRUARY 2021
Let your natural life be spiritual
How did you become interested in singing and songwriting, and then choose it as a career? A lot of what I do is what I call very appetite driven. And, I just always had an appetite for songs – fun songs, songs that told a story. I was never trained in music, but was always attracted to music. My parents would put records on at home, but none of our family played a musical instrument. So, we weren’t a highly musical family in that regard. However, I joined a bush band in my church when I was in my teen years and played the ukulele. I could play a few songs and really loved creating music – that was a real joy. I then learned the guitar and found that I enjoyed songwriting. I’d write all sorts of songs. It definitely came from being with church friends and being in the bush band – my friends were songwriters. They were writing songs for our church as well. I remember being quite surprised and delighted when a friend played a song. I said, “That’s nice.” And he said, “Oh, yeah, I wrote it with Margaret yesterday.” I was just gobsmacked. The whole thought of being involved in the creative process and being around that was really exciting. Over the years I’ve found so much to write about that’s related to my faith. That’s where a lot of the songs started. I was also listening to songwriters, folk singers and songwriters who ‘painted pictures’ and told stories, and that was very attractive as well. So, I found myself writing those type of songs too. The key moment came in 1988 when my wife and I – we’d been married for 18 months – went to live in a little Christian community in Bourke. I continued to write songs because that’s what I’d got into the habit of doing, but having lived in Sydney, I had not experienced anything like outback Australia and the people who lived there. So, I found myself quite stimulated to write songs, and those songs became an avenue into music. I remember John Williamson came through Bourke and I gave him a cassette after a concert. And, I vividly remember him saying, “I’ll listen to it, but most of the stuff we get is not very good.” In a way, he prepared me for disappointment. I later received a letter that said, “Oh, we enjoyed
the songs.” The following year, I gave a cassette to John Kane, a member of Flying Emus, a Sydney-based band. So they weren’t based in rural Australia, but they had great bluegrass songwriting. Friends had been very encouraging so I felt, “Well, John might be able to suggest what to do with these songs.” He wrote back to me and said, “I’ve played some of these songs to my publisher and my record company and they really like them. I think it would be great to make a record together.” I was very excited. I wasn’t trying to get into music. I was just trying to work out what to do with my songs. I was a schoolteacher and thought maybe after our Christian community experience, maybe I’d get involved in some sort of church ministry with kids or youth. But the door opened to music through that avenue instead. Those songs became my introduction to the music industry. Interestingly, some of the songs I’d written in church for Sunday school kids, and in my brief Christian school teaching career, became part of my kids Christian music. This again, quite unexpectedly. I’m really blessed that rather than a sense of pursuit, it was more like, I wrote the songs and then those songs did the talking for me. Whereas there are other people who have a massive drive to be an artist – I wasn’t one of those people. It sounds like God had His plan for you and you just didn’t know it. Yes, it’s quite delightful. In fact, the phrase that I’ve always had is, “The Lord opens the doors.” In one sense it’s not a particularly profound thing to say, but it really takes the pressure off, just thinking, “Well, He does go before you and He does what’s best for you.” He opens the doors, then I should follow faithfully with Him. How did you develop a faith in Christ and become a Christian? Church was part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents were churchgoers. Faith was, I guess, seen in terms of church attendance, and a moral respectable life, and perhaps the people, the community you identified with.
I was born in Dublin, Ireland and we went to a Presbyterian church. Protestants are a very small minority in the Republic of Ireland. I would be inclined to say denomination or religion defined my early life. I wasn’t so conscious about that as a kid, but I lived with that because of the sectarian difference. It wasn’t violent where we were, but Dad lost his job and I think it was because he was a Protestant and an Englishman. My parents didn’t talk about Jesus at home. The only prayer I ever heard my Dad pray was, “For what we were about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.” So, faith was very personal to my parents and I think it still is. We were attending church and I was encountering the Bible in a more personal faith, and that was something that really resonated with me. When I was seven, the suggestion that you could know Christ quite personally was very attractive to me. The way they put it was to ask Jesus into your heart. I thought, “Really? Yeah, I want Him to be part of my life.” As I got older I realised, gratefully, through a Sunday school teacher who taught us the gospel, that the problem of sin was a pervasive and universal problem. God provided Jesus to solve that problem, and that through faith you could know God, be forgiven of your sin, and have eternal life and be part of His family. I’d like to say that it was like being offered chocolate. I thought, “Why wouldn’t you do that?” It was a delightful, exciting prospect. I think faith became more personal. This created a bit of conflict in my family because I discovered a more evangelical faith, public faith, and their faith was a more private personal one, and to me, a bit more ambiguous. When my wife and I went to live in the little Christian community in my mid 20s, there was a phrase written on the back of a bus which said, “Let your natural life be spiritual and your spiritual life be natural.” I thought, “That’s a really lovely quest to have a pervasive faith in Jesus that just ran through the entirety of life.” So, that was part of what I carried into my music career as well. I didn’t go there for music,
Photo: Paul Hanna
Colin Buchanan is an ARIA, APRA and nine times Golden Guitar winning singer/songwriter whose remarkable career includes being an ABC TV Play School presenter, sought-after hit song collaborator, Australia’s number one Christian kids artist and regular panellist on ABC Radio Sydney Drive’s ‘Thank God It’s Friday’ with the cream of Australia’s comedy community. Vanessa Klomp caught up with Colin while in Sydney in December
Colin Buchanan has had an extensive music career and shares how the Lord has gone before him over the years, and how He is involved in his future.
but it was great equipment because I found myself in, at times, a public sphere and a very different environment that I’d been used to. I had a sense of I belong to God and it’s His world and He’s done a marvellous thing in His Son and that’s my treasure. So, I’ll walk into these type of situations understanding this. I certainly have not done this perfectly, but grace is a wonderful thing. Forgiveness is one-off in Christ, but I also continue to enjoy that forgiveness day by day. How has your Christian faith impacted your career? Does it bring any challenges? We had an interesting moment in the car during a family holiday some years ago. We had this little game where you pull out questions and answer them. They might be funny or embarrassing ones, but one of them was, “What do you admire about your parents?” Which, of course, my teenage kids thought was a bit of a set-up. Surely, we planted that question in there, but we hadn’t. My eldest son, interestingly said, “I really respect that Dad’s said no to things in his career that have perhaps disadvantaged his career, but has been the best thing for our family.” I thought that was a really amazing insight to hear from your child. There aren’t a lot of monumental moments when I think that some difficulty came
because I was a Christian. I tried to keep a posture of the priorities of a faithful Christian life and family, and church involvement, just trying to keep all of those things in balance. This means that there would be things that I wouldn’t do, like I wouldn’t tour for eight to ten months of the year. There would be times when I’m away from church, but I tried to keep a regular connection to my local church, which is the nuts and bolts of life in a community with people. It’s just the step by step walk of the Christian faith. I don’t know whether I’ve had missed opportunities. Being fairly public about my Christian faith might have made people say, “Oh, I just don’t know that we’ll consider him for that gig.” But, I haven’t really been aware of that. Although, I have gone quite public in my faith. I’ve made lots of kids Christian records, and they’ve lived alongside [my other records]. My career is an attempt of telling the story of “Let your natural life be spiritual and your spiritual life be natural.” But 30 years on in my music career, I think, “Well, in a way, that’s part of what my career is, a demonstration of – the attempt to do that.” Again, with mixed success. I don’t find that my Christian life fights with my other singer-songwriter life – that’s a nice place to be for anyone. Continued on page 15
growth 13 FEBRUARY 2021
When too easy is too hard Many years ago, I was chairing a committee that was tackling a complex problem. As far as committees go, it was a good one, well stocked with highly intelligent people and united in our purpose. It didn’t take too long before they came up with a very clever approach to overcome the problem. thinking, and thinking was their thing. And it got me thinking about mission, because, well, everything does. Does the mission of our largely white, educated, middle class movement suffer because our task is too difficult? Or is it too easy? People like us – like me – enjoy a good puzzle, a good debate, the wrestling with ideas, but not so much the wrestling with a lawnmower. If there’s a process, and it’s simple, then it should be automated. Done by robots. Or just by ‘others’. Once we’ve thought up a good way, well, the rest is boring. There are a lot of good books, conferences and discussion groups about mission, but the truth is that the way the Lord has given to us isn’t rocket science. It involves taking an interest in others, sharing meals, asking questions, serving, praying and the talking needed is hardly ever hifalutin. It’s labourintensive. God wants to reach out to each person, to connect personally with them, through people. That will take many of
us, even for a small suburb, but we prefer to fantasise about God ‘sweeping His hand across the suburb’ and getting it done without anyone having to get their fingernails dirty. But that’s not His way. I’m not saying we should stop reading, or doing great thinking about mission. But if we’re dreaming that our lab will suddenly mass-produce a vaccine to automatically Christianise everyone, we need to wake up. And attend to the patch that the Lord has assigned to us. There’s someone at hand that you can visit, call, share a meal with, share God’s love. Too easy, eh? Author – Andrew Turner Andrew is the Church Development Facilitator with Baptist Churches of South Australia.
Photo: Joshua Hoehne/Unsplash
“Well done! Sounds like a great way forward,” I said. The next month we met again, and to my surprise the problem hadn’t been overcome. “Oh, did it prove to be more difficult than we thought?” I said. But they assured me it wasn’t, and in fact it wasn’t very difficult at all. They laid out the series of simple steps needed and again I said: “Go for it.” After another month you’d think that this brilliant committee would have knocked it on the head, but once again there was our problem, undented. “Well, this one really is mocking us, isn’t it? We just can’t seem to win,” I said. But, again they assured me that this problem would really be no problem, no problem at all. Then it began to dawn on me. “Could it be, that you’ve found a great plan for solving the problem, and it’s not that the steps are too hard for you, but rather that they’re too easy?” I asked. Their eyes brightened. You see, this group of great thinkers were not great doers. The actual steps, once found, required little
Republished with kind permission.
We all meditate. Whether you like the influence of the word or not, in fact, you’re doing it right now. There are words flowing through your veins. There are beliefs that are carving either flowers or dark valleys in the crevices of our minds. These sacred pathways fill our hearts and lives, it is a pilgrim way. Each thought meditation and an offering, our life’s work of worship. “I meditate on your name all night, God, treasuring your revelation, O God. Still, I walk through a rain of derision, because I live by your Word and counsel.” [Psalm 119:55-56 MSG] Some days my meditation becomes my undoing. I think I need to have it all perfect, to take the next step towards finding the rest my soul longs for. Rest, rest, rest you seem so distant. In a season of so much disruption, how does my soul find its rest? I have found this place is an eternal Jerusalem, a place of pilgrimage and meditation. When I find myself worrying through the night, I just start to repeat Scripture, that reminds me of the power of my meditation.
When I worry, my heart starts to become hard with the weight of the challenge. It sits heavy on my chest. As I start to reframe those pathways, I remember the beauty once again. The Old Testament says it this way: “God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children’s hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live.” [Deuteronomy 30:6 MSG] Proverbs says it this way: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. [Proverbs 4:23 NIV] The New Testament writers describe it this way: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” [John 14:27 NIV] In this season, where things look very different, where we are questioning safety, we are immersed in the trauma of societal change. The cry of my heart is to walk lightly through these days of deep change. To love extravagantly
Photo: Jaromir Chalabala/Shutterstock
Meditation – the cry of my heart
and to believe the best in others. I can only do this when I change the meditation of my every day. Reframing the way that I think, worship and speak. Let’s remember what we meditate upon and its impact on our every day. Let’s meditate on that which brings life, truth and hope. Let’s meditate through.
And the gift of Psalm 119, in this season, is that it has been calling me back to the beauty of words written so long ago in the Bible and their relevance in my life today. What are you meditating on? Author – Amanda Viviers
Amanda Viviers is the author of ten books and co-founder of Kinwomen. She is the Head of Narrative for Compassion. She was on the leadership team at Riverview Church.
14 arts FEBRUARY 2021
Hillsong Young & Free gets Grammy nod
Let’s be bold, let’s teach young people about Jesus and let’s rally a generation. In a behind the scenes video that examined the creation of the album, pioneer of Young & Free Laura Toganivalu (Toggs) describes the methodology behind All My Best Friends, after they received feedback on their third album (III) saying it needed to be more youthful.
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Matthew Chapman Andrew Sculthorpe Alissa Cass Vanessa Klomp Loiuse Warren Peter Ion Sally Phu Sally Phu 5th of each month
“I think from the beginning, Young & Free was clearly the youth expression from our church,” she said. “To be honest, a lot of the feedback we got from III, was that it wasn’t ‘youthy’ enough and that it matured really quickly.” “And so, when we got feedback that we needed to be more youthy, I said I’ll give you the most youthy album you’ve ever seen!” “Let’s be bold, let’s teach young people about Jesus and let’s rally a generation.” “And if we can do that, I think God’s going to really bless it, breath over it and I’m believing that we will see something really cool.” Bandmate, Aodhan King said that it reminded them again of the importance of writing a song for a generation as he reflected on their latest album. Young & Free have been leading worship for Hillsong’s youth and recording since they formed in 2013 and currently has 13 members. The Grammys will be held on 14 March at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
ARIA win for Perth singer On 25 November 2020, Perth singer/songwriter Chelsea Cullen won the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award for the Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album.
Author – John Igglesden
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Hillsong Young & Free have been nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 2021 Grammys.
Cullen received the award for her recording of the motion picture soundtrack, I Am Woman, a biographical film about the singer, Helen Reddy, directed and produced by Unjoo Moon and starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey. Chelsea beat five other nominees to win the award that has been won previously by artists including Jimmy Barnes (2018), Josh Pyke (2016) and Paul Kelly (2013, 2006, 2002). Some earlier nominated artists include Tina Arena (2013), John Farnham (2000), John Lennon (1994) and Paul McCartney (1994). The 2020 ARIA Awards were hosted by Delta Goodrem with the most awards (five) awarded to Australian psychedelic pop/rock project, Tame Impala and the most nominations (eight) went to Australian pop rock band, Lime Cordiale. Chelsea currently attends Providence City Church with her husband Sam Wylde where they serve on the music team together.
Photo: Michael Tan
Young & Free was nominated alongside artists that included Cody Carnes, We The Kingdom, Tauren Wells and Kanye West. The album features 20 songs, including the singles Best Friends, which has over seven million streams on Spotify, and Lord Send Revival (Live), which has over eight million streams. Out of the 20 songs, 13 were recorded live at the Hillsong Youth Summer Camp.
Photo: Hillsong
Australian contemporary worship music group, Hillsong Young & Free received a 2021 Grammy nomination for their fourth studio album, All My Best Friends, in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Album category. The Sydney-based group had previously been nominated for a Grammy in the same category for their second album, Youth Revival in 2016.
Chelsea Cullen (left) in the studio where she recorded the soundtrack for I Am Woman with the films’ Music Producer, Bry Jones and Director,
Author – John Igglesden
Unjoo Moon.
coffee break 15 FEBRUARY 2021
Continued from page 12
Let your natural life be spiritual
Ross Clifford AM
You started out as a lawyer, what led you to the role of Principal at Morling? I was practicing law in the Northern Territory and had a real call from God to train for Baptist Ministry. While I was the Senior Pastor at Gymea Baptist Church, in NSW the leadership of Morling College asked me to consider a call to lecture in Theology. After testing this call with my friends, family and church leadership team, I began as a lecturer at Morling. A few years later I was appointed to Principal. For me, it is all about God’s call. While there has been some miraculous ways God has led my wife Beverley and I, for example delivering us from dangerous situations, most of the time for me it is a matter of hearing from God’s Word and Spirit, as well as interacting with Christian mentors. I must admit being Principal at Morling College, and even a pastor was not my idea! I was more than happy in law and pursuing other interests. God had to do a fair bit of work on me. What inspires you each day as you lead Morling College? Students! It is a blessing to be able to visit a church and witness Morling graduates ministering for the gospel. It is also very encouraging to hear the stories of our graduates on the mission field, and in particular have them share in chapel when they are on leave, back in Sydney. Horizons, a legal service for people facing domestic issues, now has its office on our campus and the lawyers involved are Morling graduates. Wherever God has called people to ministry, it’s a privilege to be part of their equipping. As you look to the future, what is your vision for the campuses of Morling, both in Sydney and in Perth? What do you think Morling will look like in a decade? My vision for both campuses is that we will be at the forefront in using our resources and skills for training and equipping students across Australia and into the Asia-Pacific region. With the Bible and theology in our heart, we will continue to spread into other disciplines that equip the Church and the wider community. I believe this is a God-given time and opportunity to help assist our churches in evangelism and mission. Historically a strength of both Morling College and Vose Seminary has been raising up a generation of people who can live and articulate the Christian worldview. What is a feature of Morling that you would like to share? What I really appreciate about Morling is its evangelical inclusiveness. There are not too many colleges that would have our diversity of faculty and students. This inclusiveness has strong evangelical boundaries. I believe it is an exciting place to teach and study.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible? A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.
letters to the editor
Photo: Morling College
Ross Clifford is the Principal of Morling College in Sydney. Ross is a theologian, author, political commentator as well as a passionate follower of Jesus.
What has surprised you most about your career? As the doors opened to do music, I had some sort of picture in my mind of what it might be like, and like lots of things, it’s a little harder work, a little less clean and tidy than you might imagine. I recall, quite early [in my career], I received what I thought was a polite knockback letter from Play School on ABC TV. I’d done an audition because I had been signed to ABC Music. So, I had gone in and done a little audition with my guitar and they wrote back and said, “Well, if we need a presenter guitarist,” just as Don Spencer was at the stage of hanging up his guitar and no longer doing Play School. I thought, “That sounds like a very polite knockback letter.” Then the phone rang and they said, “Would you come and do a location Play School at the Botanic Garden in Sydney?” So, I found myself down there early one morning with my guitar and I was doing Play School – singing The Ants Go Marching and acting out the Three Billy Goats Gruff and so forth. At the end of that day, I remember walking towards the Harbour Bridge and out of the gate, right next to the Opera House, swinging my guitar case, Maria-style from The Sound of Music, thinking, “I’ve just done a day’s work. I can call this work. I’m going to get paid for this and I did Play School – this is just amazing.” The funny thing is, it is an attitude because sometimes familiarity just masks the fact that we’re actually doing what we really hoped we would do one day, or something that is surprising that we would do it. So, it’s really great to just pull yourself up. It might be like, a few weeks ago, when I was playing to a crowd of maybe 90 people, social distanced, in Canowindra, which is in central-western New South Wales. Only a little gig, performing my country songs, and they’re all listening to them, and there’s something really delightful and wonderful about that. It’s really good to just stop yourself and say, this is amazing, you know, that you get to do this. You could just smudge over it, by saying, “What time does it start? How much am I being paid? How many people came? Where am I staying?” All the things that got to be there. But it’s good to just pull yourself up and think, wow! So, there’s something quite surprising and delightful about the day-to-day of what I do and it’s really important to pull myself up and say, “No, that’s a privilege. I should appreciate this.” Certainly, the variety helps that. I’ll do some kids’ stuff, then I’ll do some country stuff, and then I’ll do some writing, and I might do some collaborative songwriting, and a little bit of radio.
a bunch of great friends in Scotland and “Lord-willing” is injected into conversation, which I think is a nice little reminder of the old saying, “We don’t know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.” But, I do like to make plans. One of the analogies of a music career or a creative career is you lay the rails and then hopefully you’ll get to travel over them. So, you might write a song and it’s some time before that song might bear fruit, if at all, and becomes part of your livelihood. I think because of the restrictions on performing, and some connections that the Lord opened the doors to, He’s reconnected me to my country career. I feel like that’s a nice thing to do at this age and stage of my life, to try and build that a little bit more as an artist. I’ve been an active collaborator, but not so active in my own recording and performing. Due to social distancing, children’s gigs are a little bit impossible. So I’ve made, like I mentioned, a couple of trips to the Central West, New South Wales. I’m planning to do some more performing in that [country music] and I’d love to do some recording. I’ve got lots of songs that I wrote back in the day – they just haven’t been recorded. There are songs about Australia, things I’ve seen, stories and portraits. I released an Old Testament singalong album last year and I haven’t had a chance to go on tour with that, which is the classic way to promote a new album. Whether or not it will just become the album of COVID-19 [I don’t know], and God-willing we’ll get to create a new album. I like to call them song shoeboxes. They’re not actual shoeboxes but there’s scraps of paper and snatches of recordings, with ideas and nearly-finished songs. So, there’s another kids album waiting to happen – there always is. There is an incredible amount of energy that I get from just encountering people under the normal flow of life and that’s not been there [due to COVID-19]. So I am looking forward to, God-willing, just getting out there and performing again, and enjoying all the things that perhaps I didn’t appreciate or wasn’t quite aware of that come to my life from that experience.
What is on the horizon for you? That is – the great 2020 COVID-19 question. I think we’ve been taught to measure our answers with a grain of salt – everyone. The Scriptures express that rather than tomorrow I’ll do this or tomorrow I’ll do that, let’s say if the Lord wills it. I’ve got
send us your letters The Advocate welcomes your letters to the editor on topics of concern to you and the community. Send your letters of no more than 100 words to editor@theadvocate.tv by the 10th of each month.
Photo: Paul Hanna
A minute with ...
16 sport FEBRUARY 2021
Young adults putt with purpose Young adults from around Perth will slip off the isolation blues and get ready to put on some golfing shoes when they take part in Putt4Purpose on 10 February. The fundraising event will be held at Holey Moley Golf Club on the rooftop of Westfield Carousel in Cannington. There will be exclusive access to an 18 hole minigolf course, two escape rooms, two karaoke rooms, six tenpin bowling lanes, laser tag, dance floor, speed dating, food and refreshments at the alcohol-free event. Baptist Churches Western Australia Next Generations Pastor, Ed Devine said the aim of Putt4Purpose is to make a difference by raising support for the Hoppe family, who are new missionaries with Global Interaction. “As well as being a fundraiser, our hope is that Putt4Purpose is a unity-boosting, network strengthening fun-fest of epic proportions,” Ed said. Gunther and Sarah, along with their two boys, Josh and Michael, will be leaving later this year to live and serve among the Yawo people in Malawi.
“We really appreciate this support as we help the Yawo find their own distinctive way of following Jesus,” Gunther enthused. Global Interaction Western Australia State Director, Dan McGrechan said it is encouraging to see the next generation get behind those who are called to share the good news of Jesus in hard to reach places overseas. The initiative for the golfing event is in response to a need captured in a national survey of 113 Baptist Young Adults leaders conducted in July 2020 that reported a 74 percent drop of attendance in young adults from ministries during the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 seasons. “In Western Australian churches I have heard a similar theme of young adults remaining
detached from church after COVID-19,” Ed said. “In an attempt to encourage young adult’s reconnection to their local church, we hope to run Putt4Purpose to spark reconnection and an invitational space for Young Adults ministries to begin 2021 strongly.” “We are praying this event will open a door for people to get to know Jesus and for Christian young adults who have wandered from the family of God to reconnect and to continue their discipleship journey.” All profits will go to sending the Hoppe family to the Yawo people. For more information, visit trybooking.com/BLWXR
Photo: Matthew Chapman
STUDY SHOULD BE FLEXIBLE
Ed Devine practising his bowling skills for one of the activities at the Putt4Purpose fundraiser.
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