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NorthPoint - March, 2015

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N O R TH N S W CO N FE R E N CE N E WS

MAR 2015

Leadership in the Local Church 2015 On the weekend of 6 to 8 February, 380 people from around the North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference met for the conference’s second annual Leadership in the Local Church weekend. Avondale College of Higher Education hosted the inaugural event last year, and it played host again this year — although the number of attendees meant that the meetings were moved from Ladies Chapel into the main church. The weekend featured top-quality speakers who led out in worships and workshops, encouraging and challenging church pastors and key church leaders. Pastor Gary Blanchard, Youth and Young Adult Director for the Texas Conference, was the keynote speaker. Kingscliff’s Pastor David Asscherick also spoke, as did Christian author and businessman Julian Archer. Pastor Justin Lawman, President of the NNSW Conference, says, “The weekend went gang busters! To open the Leadership in the Local Church weekend, David spoke on the Friday night about the journey Kingscliff Church has been on — how Sabbath mornings have become their main evangelistic program and how they now have 18 small groups, from tennis to Daniel and Revelation discussion groups.” The straight-talking, faith-focused content continued in the Sabbath programs. Pastor Lawman says, “Gary really challenged us in his talks, reminding us to be faithful to our Adventist message and not to be pastor-dependent as churches. He spoke three times on Sabbath and twice on Sunday, and was excellent.”

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As well as an ever-so-slight change in location, there was a more deliberate focus in the workshops on offer at Leadership in the Local Church 2015. Pastor Lawman explains, “As a change from last year, we really narrowed down the number of workshops we offered because we want to make an impact in specific areas — retaining our young people, and faith and finance. Our Youth Ministries leaders Pastor Rick Hergenhan and Michael Chapman ran the youth workshops and did a really great job. Julian spoke about faith and finance, and it was awesome.” As well as exploring financial issues in a faith context, Julian’s focus was on doing what God leads you to do in life. In Julian’s experience, the “busyness of business” was taking a toll on his spiritual life. This led to him “retiring” in his 30s and starting the Faith vs Finance ministry. His workshops were well-attended and enjoyed, with people asking some big questions. He also shared his personal testimony and techniques for helping church members who are struggling. The Youth Ministries workshop sessions were also popular, as the team looked at ways of retaining young people. Pastor Hergenhan says, “The data is very clear that young people leave the church in droves — up to at least 60 per cent. The statistics we have for our conference show we’re not immune from it either. The most recent church census points to the fact that the 18- to 30-year-old group is the smallest demographic (Continued on page 3)

Page 2: From the President: The codependent pastor Page 4: Busy summer for campers Page 6: Seeing God’s work first-hand through the Brewarrina Church Plant N O RT H P O I N T // 1 Page 7: “Back to Coffs” day planned to celebrate renovations

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NorthPoint - March, 2015 by Adventists North New South Wales - Issuu