NorthPoint - July, 2019

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NNSW Conference ‘Largest Improvement in the World’ - Really?

Julian Archer - NNSW Conference Project Manager

NNSW Conference’s Natural Church Development (NCD) Coordinator, Gillian Knight, rarely opens an email that she needs to read two or three times to be sure she’s reading it correctly, but it happened recently.

The news that she received was amazing, but it created a question in her mind, “When should we openly report and celebrate God’s blessings, versus just humbly continuing to do God’s work in God’s way?” That can be a tough decision for a humble Christian to make. At the risk of being misunderstood, the NNSW Conference office team would like to share this amazing news as we feel that members across the conference will be blessed by hearing it too. After all, you made it happen!

The email that Gillian received was from Adam Johnstone, the Director of Natural Church Development (NCD) Australia and Co-Director of NCD International. By studying our Conference’s annual NCD survey results, Adam has been observing the health of the Adventist churches in NNSW for many years. The NCD surveys, completed by many members across the conference, give a powerful insight into the general health of our churches by assessing the following criteria:

• Empowering Leadership

• Gift-based Ministry

• Passionate Spirituality

• Effective Structures

• Inspiring Worship Services

• Holistic Small Groups

• Need-oriented Evangelism

• Loving Relationships

OK, so what’s the good news? Well, the churches in NNSW Conference have made some incredible progress in the last five years. We’ll let Adam Johnstone explain it himself, “The data shows that between 2013 and 2018 there was an unquestionable level of healthy cultural change” across NNSW conference. “Seven points overall progress, from 46 to 53 points, in five years, is the largest collective improvement we’ve come across in an Adventist Conference anywhere in the world.”

But wait there’s more!

“Furthermore, it is the largest collective improvement I’ve personally come across in any region of any movement around the world.”

Did you catch that? It is the largest collective improvement in the health of churches that Adam has seen in any denomination around the world!

Adam continued, “The NNSW NCD strategy is the most consistent and deliberate one I have encountered. Plenty of local churches and

Conferences think about where they would like to be in five years’ time, but few are willing to stay the course to see the kind of results emerging in NNSW.”

Adam concluded with, “If the NNSW Conference remains focused on church health development, maintains its current momentum, and continues to learn along the way, there is no reason to doubt that the same level of progress can be seen over the next five years, which would move it into very rare fruitfulness territory as a collective body of the church in the global context.”

Adam encouraged us to send this report to members with, “Please ensure there are appropriate celebrations surrounding that most fantastic reality! Be sure this progress that is almost undetectable day-by-day, or month-by-month is celebrated from the hilltops!”

NCD has been a big part of the Conference for ten years and it has taken a lot of prayer and persistence to get it where it is. So, what’s the take home message? Let’s keep moving forward on our knees as we humbly seek God’s leading and blessing on our churches and the communities we serve.

And P.S. Congratulations!

North New South Wales Conference News

Healthy cafés and restaurants have been a shining light of the Australian Adventist landscape for 120 years, well at least they used to be.

For the nine decades between 1899, when the first Adventist health food store and café opened in Maitland NSW, and the late 1980s when our stores across the land had all but sold their last Rediburger patty, Adventist cafés were often popular and profitable. They were a front-line ministry where people received hope and healing, but as we moved towards the twenty-first century, enthusiasm waned and most cafés were closed.

Now that healthy lifestyles, vegan menus and plant-based diets are as mainstream as smashed avo on toast, many church members are asking whether there might be an opportunity to revitalize this proven outreach method.

Two progressive leaders who have put their energies into this health-centred field of relationship evangelism, and also happen to be accomplished chefs and business operators, are Jeremy Dixon of Revive Cafés in New Zealand and Bryce Wegener of Manna Haven Café in Byron Bay.

Julian Archer recently spoke with both men in an attempt to glean some of their hard-won wisdom and to better understand the essentials of their café success. If you want to know the secrets to running a successful, healthy café, look up the full article on the conference website.

Julian Archer

NNSW Conference Project Manager

Change My Life SPD Faith & Science

The NNSW Conference’s new outreach magazine and content platform is designed for sharing with the community. The 3rd edition is available at your local church this weekend. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and let’s create a warm and welcoming community of faith. Visit changemylife.org.au.

Also If you would like to stock the print magazine at your workplace or business, we would love to drop some off for you.

Kingdom Come

Are you looking for Bible prophecy resources to share with your friends?

Kingdom Come is the perfect way to share the Adventist prophetic message with the community. This 28 minute world-class documentary is a must see for anyone interested in global events today.

Join expert historians and thought leaders including David Asscherick, Professor Andrew R George, Professor Paul Cartledge and Dr Steve Kershaw on a whirlwind journey through the mightiest kingdoms of antiquity; from the golddrenched city of Babylon, to the mighty metropolis of Rome; examining the courageous deeds of Alexander the Great and the bloodstained triumphs of Roman generals.

Ultimately, the story climaxes in our very day, where we see that an ancient prophecy predicted the next move in our world’s timeline. Available as a digital download or single DVD. Order now at kingdomcome.com.au.

Conference

Don’t miss this fantastic event on July 16-19, 2019 at Avondale College. Speakers include: Dr Jim Gibson, Dr Jacques Doukhan, Dr Leonard Brand, Dr Tim Standish, Prof Art Chadwick, Dr Wendy Jackson, Dr Sven Ostring, Dr Anthony MacPherson, Prof Ross Grant, Dr Warren Grubb, Pastor Hensley Gungadoo and Dr John Ashton. Full registration will be $350 and Day Registration will be $200.

Want to be an SRE Teaceher?

Special Religious Education is a unique opportunity to minister to children in schools. The NNSW Seventh-day Adventist Church encourages all its members to be involved in Special Religious Education for the good of local school communities. This is a privilege we do not accept lightly and by accrediting and training our teachers we intend to support the high standard of education in our local schools. Contact the conference office to get involved.

Upcoming Events

Faith & Science Conference

July 16-19, Avondale College nnsw.adventist.org.au/news-and-events

Camp Survivor

July 16-21

Yarrahapinni Adventist youth Centre nnsw.adventist.org.au/news-and-events

Town Hall Meetings

July 29 - August 7

In preparation for the constituency meeting on September 15, “Town Hall Meetings” will be help in 8 locations explaining Constituency Meeting Logistics, North NSW Conference

Strategic Plan, Constitution Changes, Best Use of 112 Lake Road and to give people the opportunity to ask questions. Constituency meeting delegates and any interested parties are strongly encouraged to attend. More details at nnsw.adventist.org.au/news-and-events.

2019 Adventurer Camporee

Sept 27-30

Stuarts Point Convention Centre nnsw.adventist.org.au/news-and-events

Baptisms at The Bay

New AUC/ATSIM Resource

Our Biggest Little Giver

Hannah’s Story

More news and announcements online...

The Bell: Bellingen House Church

Rebecca Cheers

For the past two months, a group of believers have been coming together in our home each week for Home Church. Several months back, we had felt the Holy Spirit pressing upon us to start a house church, but it wasn’t until we began visiting with another young family who told us they were feeling impressed to join a house church that we realised it was time to start. Since then, our group has doubled in size with two other families worshipping with us and others who visit from time to time. We are overwhelmed and overjoyed at how quickly our group is growing. Half of those who worship with us have no Adventist background. On Good Friday we held an Agape meal and had 11 children come with their parents. Some had never had a church experience before. We were thrilled to see everyone engaging and participating in the worship service even those who had little or no previous Christian background.

Over the past two weeks, we have been blessed by Pr Peter Watts coming to present the ‘Is God For Real?’ program here in Bellingen. We have witnessed hearts being convicted through this program and expect our home church to grow as a result. We will be continuing the program in our home over the coming months. I sometimes say that I believe the Spirit of God is hovering over Bellingen as we daily see His working and are brought into contact with new seekers. Even a simple visit to the library or a playground results in Divine appointments and new contacts. Please keep us in prayer as we continue to minister to this community which has a strong New Age presence and is generally cautious of the Christian message. God is revealing ways to share His love and we are so excited to see Him at work.

Executive Report

Pr Paul Geelan General Secretary

I want to take the opportunity through this report to thank a number of people that do some incredible work behind the scenes that adds so much to the ministry and governance of the North New South Wales Conference.

Grey Nomads is a camp run at Stuarts Point each May for retirees. It is run in May because it works best for the northern migration of the Grey Nomads to the warmer climates. Pr John Lang heads up the committee that organises Grey Nomads and is really the heart and soul of the operation. He has been leading, worship co-ordinating, head of security, and the cultural heart of the show for eleven years now. By many reports, this year’s camp was the best ever with outstanding speakers, Pavel Goia and Michael Goetz, and an outstanding musical and workshop program. Almost 700 people were very appreciative of the work that John and the team did.

The work in preparation of the North NSW Constituency Meeting on September 15 is ongoing. The Nominating Committee is doing its very important work and I encourage you to continue to keep them in your prayers as they appoint leaders for the next four years. I want to thank Pr Jorge Munoz and Pr Michael Worker from the Australian Union Conference for their leadership and support through this process. The members of the Executive Committee are the representatives of the local church members, and the highest administrative body in the conference. The conference has been served with excellence, empathy and skill by the current Executive Committee. They have two more meetings on June 25 and August 27 before they complete their four-year stint. I want to take this opportunity to thank each one of them for their commitment of time, talent, wisdom and spiritual insight over the last four years.

Finally, I want to thank the Coonabarabran church for their warmth and hospitality when I visited them on June 1. The rigours of administration can get your head and your heart foggy and it was just a wonderful reminder of what’s real, what’s great and what’s fun about being a Seventh-day Adventist. Thank you Coonabarabran and Pastor Fomai for your kindness, faithfulness, and commitment to the message of Jesus in your local context.

Don’t miss out on the excitement. Get the conference news straight to your inbox! nnsw.adventist.org.au/ northpoint-bulletin

Listen to the latest NNSW Conference Newscast on our news and events page. nnsw.adventist.org.au/newsand-events

Enquiries

The NorthPoint Bulletin is printed 10 times per year by the Adventist Church (North New South Wales Conference).

Editor Maddy Voinea

Phone (02) 4951 8088

Email northpoint@adventist.org.au Website nnsw.adventist.org.au

Contributions

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Disclaimer: Articles express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.