The Australian Union Conference (AUC) highlighted the Church Next consultation and its outcomes as one of the special focus areas at this week’s constituency meeting.
The Church Next consultation, which happened in May, was a joint initiative of the 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.
Reverend Professor Philip Hughes, from the University of Divinity, a keynote speaker at Church Next, presented a snapshot of his research around the topic of religiosity in Australia during the constituency meeting.
Kellyville Seventh-day Adventist Church elder Stephan Chan, who was also a keynote speaker at Church Next, gave an update on the progress of the Elders’ Development project, which came out of the initiative.
Following the presentations, delegates had the opportunity to discuss key questions in their focus groups and provide feedback.
Delegate Jean-Claude St Mart, from Casey Seventh-day Adventist Church in Victoria, shared, “It has been good to be able to contribute to the vision and direction [of the Church]. Looking at different aspects of the Adventist Church in Australia versus the other churches in Australia and [examining] how we’re growing and not growing then [considering] the why . . . These were all important things to discuss.”
