More than 100 leaders, administrators, academics and ministry practitioners from across Australia gathered recently at Foothills Convention Centre in Melbourne (Victoria) to explore the future of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in a post-Christian cultural context.
Held over three days, the Church Next consultation was a joint initiative of the Australian Union Conference (AUC) Ministerial Association and the Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission. The event provided space for participants to examine current societal, economic and political trends and to evaluate existing missional strategies within the Church in Australia.
The program featured table discussions, Q&A sessions, presentations and design-thinking workshops. Guest presenters included University of Divinity Reverend Professor Philip Hughes, Exponential national leader Tim O’Neill, design thinking facilitator and Kellyville church elder Stephen Chan, Trans European Division Adventist Mission director Pastor Anthony Wagner-Smith, Sanitarium senior business leader Rachel Glasbergen and Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission associate director Jonathan Contero.
According to organisers, outcomes from the consultation will inform new strategies for local and conference-level ministry. A plan for funding and implementation will be developed to support ministry teams in trialling and testing innovative approaches to engaging with post-Christian Australian culture.
“Church Next was just the beginning of a conversation and ongoing process to look at how we might better reach secular Australia,” said AUC ministerial secretary Pastor Lyndelle Peterson. “We, the Ministerial Association and the Adventist Mission Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission, are looking forward to guiding, resourcing and supporting these innovative conversations and outcomes.”
Director of the Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission and associate AUC ministerial secretary Dr Brendan Pratt added, “It was inspiring to see our conference, AUC and SPD leadership teams working on what it means to take seriously the challenge of ministry in the context of the 84 per cent of Australians who don’t connect with a faith community.”
He added, “The Church Next conversation and process is only just starting—at each level of our church life we need to think through the implications, including local church leadership and personal discipleship.”
