NorthPoint - October, 2019

October 2019

northpoint North New South Wales Conference News

Constituency Meeting Results It is our privilege to publish this report from Stuart’s Point Convention Centre where the 57th constituency meeting of Seventhday Adventists in North New South Wales has just been held.

Over 430 delegates from around our conference have arrived for the meeting which began at 9am this morning. The meeting opened with a devotional from Pr Glenn Townend.

The event featured a report from each of the three executive officers, the delegates voted on the nominated executive officers and departmental directors for the upcoming quadrennium, as well as the proposed changes to

the church company constitution, proposed changes to the constituency process, endorsement of the Conference strategic plan and accepting new churches and closures. A full report of all changes approved will be provided in due course.

We would like to congratulate the new appointments to the executive team.

Pr Adrian Raethel has been elected as the President of the North New South Wales Conference. Adrian is currently serving as the General Secretary of the Greater Sydney Conference. Adrian has worked in our conference in the past and we welcome him and his wife Laurel back home as they serve here.

Pr Abel Iorgulescu has been elected as the General Secretary. Abel has worked within our conference since 2013 and is currently the senior pastor at Avondale Memorial Church. We welcome Abel into his new role.

Incumbent Russell Halliday has been reelected as the Chief Financial Officer. We congratulate Russell on his successful re-election.

Regarding the departmental directors, all but two incumbents have been reelected. We congratulate the successful incumbents for their re-election. The two new appointments are Pr Keith Stockwell as the ATSIM Director and Pr Cranville Tooley as the Ministerial Association Secretary. We welcome Keith and Cranville as they serve in their new roles.

We would like to thank the outgoing officeholders for their service in their roles. Lynelda Tippo - ATSIM director, Pr Neil Thompson - Ministerial Association Secretary and Pr Paul Geelan - General Secretary. We extend our greatest appreciation for their service.

Finally, we would like to particularly thank Pr Tom Evans for his service as conference president over the past two years. Your service and the sacrifices your family have made will be remembered.

We want to thank all our members throughout the conference for keeping the constituency meeting and delegation in prayer. Together, we all desire God’s continued leading and we look forward opportunities to minister together in our communities.

Summer Camps Staff applications and camper applications now open. Visit the conference website for details.

More News Online Addiction Recovery Training October 18-20 Young Adults Outback Mission Trip September 29 - October 5 Women’s Retreat November 8-10 New and Improved eGiving App now available for download.

More news and announcements on the conference website...

Message From Pr Adrian Raethel North New South Wales Conference President

Message From Pr Abel Iorgulescu North New South Wales Conference General Secretary

“It is both humbling and a privilege to be asked to lead this Conference. I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Pr Tom Evans, the outgoing Secretary Pr Paul Geelan, the CFO Russell Halliday and the three office teams for their dedication, commitment and vision during the last quadrennium. It is evident that God has blessed in many ways. Any leadership role is going to have challenges and this one is no exception. The good news is that, as the song goes, “we’ll never walk alone”.

God is faithful, and the psalmist reminds us that He is a Rock, a Fortress, a Safe Place, Someone who never moves and is always there. As Conference leaders and staff, we will be relying on Him every day. I look forward to building a cohesive administration and ministry team to serve the local churches and their various ministries and the Schools and Aged Care companies and their ministries.”

“I am honoured to be given the opportunity to serve you as the secretary of the NNSW Conference. This Conference is very dear to my heart because it is here where I first began my ministry and the team of pastors that we have are absolutely outstanding. I love the diversity that we have in our churches across the Conference. This enables us, as a prophetic movement, to connect in a meaningful way with people from various walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.

Pr Adrian Raethel

In addition to this, the excellence of our Schools and the high quality care provided by our Aged Care facilities enables the Adventist church in the NNSW conference to fulfil its God given mission.

I’m looking forward to continuing the good work that has begun and also to discover new things that God would have us implement at this time in Earth’s history. In the midst of turbulent times, I pray that you’ll keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ - the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He alone will be our source of truth, hope and love as we’re waiting and preparing for His soon return.”

Pr Abel Iorgulescu

NCD Pathway Holistic Small Groups

By Gillian Knight - NNSW NCD Coordinator In the last two articles the topic I addressed was Loving Relationships.

This time we will talk about Holistic Small Groups.

Often the question I am asked is, “What is a Holistic Small Group?”

All the questions in the survey relate to the degree to which the small groups in the church are places where “individual believers can find intimate community, practical help and intense spiritual interaction” (Color Your World with NCD, p116). The higher a question’s result, the greater its contribution to groups being “holistic”.

The questions are included in the survey because it has been shown to a high degree of accuracy in international statistical terms that they distinguish healthy growing churches from those in decline. In effect, churches with high scores for these questions are more likely to be growing, and vice versa.

The questions can be grouped into five main areas: 1. Essential foundations for growing meaningful relationships 2. Growing relational depth 3. Relevancy 4. Small group leader training 5. Growing in numbers not just maturity.

Let’s look at the first two areas as they are closely linked to Loving Relationships and it makes sense to continue on that path.

Two questions are linked to the essential foundations for growing meaningful relationships: Q90 – In my small group we trust each other Q65 – I am a member of a small group in which I feel at home.

Growing meaningful holistic relationships always depends on a foundation of trust which has been proven over time. Trust can be broken very quickly and easily but repairing that trust is agonisingly slow. Therefore, it is paramount that small group leaders have this in mind. If people “feel at home” they are more likely to open up about themselves. “Holistic” small groups will stand the test of time because close bonds and trusting loving relationships are built in groups that stay together, even through tough times.

This brings me to the next set of questions about growing relational depth.

Q49 – I am a member of a small group in our church where it is possible to talk about personal problems Q34 – My small group helps me grow in my spiritual life Q55 – I am a member of a group in our church where others will pray with me if I need it In the first article on Loving Relationships I talked about “The relational onion” and how growing relationships are like peeling away the layers of an onion and the closer you get to the centre the softer they are.

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When we think about our church and how we might be meeting the needs of the questions above, we may think questions 34 and 55 are a good example of a Sabbath school class, but could that be extended to meet the need in question 49? For some churches it might, but it is my experience that we can talk on Spiritual or theological topics but it would not involve me airing my personal problems.

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On the flip side, we may have several social or evangelistic groups which often develop shallow relationships for a short time, but often never develop into something deeper or more meaningful for the members.

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Don’t misunderstand me as I believe these groups are important. To contemplate small groups which largely do not help members grow in their spiritual life can be quite helpful in thinking about the place of small groups in the overall health and growth of the church.

If you are to “make friends” with the people in your community or neighbourhood, the first thing you would do is get to know them, find out the things they enjoy doing and what you have in common. Spend time with them, two people meet two people, which is the beginnings of a small group.

You will build a friendship, you will rely on each other, trust each other and eventually you will talk about Spiritual things. Share your story and offer to be with them and pray with them in hard times.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour.

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Enquiries

Editor Maddy Voinea Phone (02) 4951 8088 Email northpoint@adventist.org.au Website nnsw.adventist.org.au

Contributions We would love to share local news with the conference in print or online. Please send through relevant contributions to the above contact address.

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

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