More than 350 church communicators, pastors, content creators and ministry leaders gathered in Auckland from June 19 to 21 for the Digital Discipleship Conference, where speakers highlighted growing opportunities to reach people searching for faith online.
Organised by the New Zealand Pacific Union Conference (NZPUC), the event aimed to equip church members to share their faith in an increasingly digital world. NZPUC Missional Ministry Development leader Pastor Victor Kulakov said digital discipleship is about living out faith authentically online rather than simply producing content.
“Imagine if every church member was authentically present about their faith, about their hobbies and everything online. Imagine if we stopped just pushing content and became disciples everywhere, including in digital spaces,” said Pastor Kulakov.
Several presentations focused on the opportunities digital platforms present for mission. Dave Adamson, director of YouVersion Australia, said the Bible App has been installed more than 8.4 million times in Australia and almost 2 million times in New Zealand.
“And we just know, from church data, that 8.4 million Australians aren’t going to church, 2 million New Zealanders aren’t going to church. So there are a lot of people who, for whatever reason, have the Bible app on their phone,” said Mr Adamson. “People will experience your church online before they experience your church onsite. So we give them that opportunity.”
Speakers also highlighted the global mission challenge. According to Hope Channel International vice-president Sam Neves, 3.6 billion people—43 out of every 100 people worldwide—have little or no access to the gospel.
“Technology now gives us the opportunity to enter territories where they would expel the missionary or kill the missionary. This is an opportunity we cannot miss.”
Attendees said the conference encouraged them to consider how digital ministry can strengthen mission in their local contexts. French Polynesia Mission communication director Ambroise Colombani said online platforms provide new opportunities to connect with people across the territory’s 118 islands.
“It’s really hard to reach other islands. But they are all connected with high-speed fibre internet. So that’s why it’s encouraging for us to also think about how to reach those people, apart from the traditional way of going into churches, into villages, to give Bible studies, to do evangelism,” said Mr Colombani.
Blake Penland from Central Coast Community Adventist church in Australia said the conference reminded attendees that innovation has always been part of the Church’s mission. “Innovation is not betraying our heritage. Innovation is our heritage,” said Mr Penland.
“And when we look at it, the Advent movement has been on the front line of so many things throughout the world. We’ve got schools and hospitals and churches and all sorts of infrastructure that we’ve built over the decades, now centuries almost. Now the new space that we need to be Advent pioneers is online,” he added.
The conference also equipped attendees for upcoming digital mission initiatives, including OneVoice27, which will launch across the NZPUC next month with a new online platform designed to support members in sharing their faith.
“We want to put the whole idea and resources at the fingertips of our members, so they actually live their discipleship journey on digital platforms, share their faith and share the gospel,” said Pastor Kulakov.
To learn more about OneVoice27 across the NZPUC, including the upcoming launch event, visit 1Voice.nz. Details about the 2027 Digital Discipleship Conference are also available on the conference website.
