Conference business items 2012

Monday, 23 January 2012 13:08

Some of the important business items churches need to be aware of for 2012:

AFFINITY | SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

10am, March 3, 2012 at Doncaster church

Affinity will be presented for approval at a Special General Meeting (SGM) of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania Inc. planned for March 3, 3012. This SGM is being called in accordance with Constitution clause 8.4. Its primary purpose will be to approve Affinity as the document that fulfils Constitution clause 5.4, and also to accept several related Constitutional amendments. Full details of the proposed Motions will be available to churches following the February 1 meeting of Council.

Churches are encouraged to distribute the Affinity document as widely as possible. Please feel free to make copies or share it electronically. 

In preparation for the March 3, 2012 SGM, please prayerfully consider the appointment of your church’s delegates to this important special meeting. The SGM Delegates registration form is here. This includes an opportunity to place a lunch order.

If your church is unable to appoint any delegates, the Executive Officer according to Constitution clause 9.4 can appoint proxy delegates on your church’s behalf. We hope to have a close to 100% participation in this decision, through the appointment of delegates or proxies. The Request for Proxy Delegates form can be used for this purpose, including any voting instruction.

AND | A Festival of Ideas, Imagination and Stories

May 3-5, 2012 at One Community Church

In 2012 the All Ministers and All Churches Summits and the AGM are being folded into a three day Festival. On Saturday May 5 AND will include a brief AGM of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania Inc., conducted according to the Constitution, and on Friday May 4, an evening celebration event where new churches will be affiliated and new ministers prayed for and ordained.

Partner Departments will report to AGM Delegates in the normal manner. Notices of Motion from churches are invited, however Council reserves the right to refer them to a second SGM planned for later in 2012. This will provide more time to consider themes and topics.

In February further correspondence will be sent containing more information about the AGM and other related matters. Churches will then have the opportunity to nominate Delegates for the AGM, possible members of the Council of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania Inc., a Conference President for 2013-14/15, and to propose Notions of Motion. More details of these matters can be found below.

It may be helpful for you to follow the attached 2012 Timeline.

More details about AND, and registration forms will be released in February 2012. But please mark these dates in your diary and church calendar now!

REGIONAL CONVERSATIONS

Several regional conversations around a proposed preamble to the Constitution reflecting our commitment to the First Peoples of Australia will be held before May. One conversation has already been held in Shepparton and others are being planned for Warragul, Geelong and Footscray in February and March.   

NEW CHURCH AFFILIATIONS

We are currently in conversation with several churches considering affiliation at next year’s AGM. Under the Constitution Applications for Affiliation are to be received by the Executive Officer by Thursday 22, March 2012 and churches will be notified of any affiliations one week after that date.

NOTICES OF MOTION

Any member in good standing of an affiliated church may propose a resolution for consideration at the Conference AGM. According to Constitution Clause 10, the Executive Officer must receive notice of such a motion by Thursday 22, March 2012. Given the focus of the AND Festival, Council will refer these matters to a further Special General Meeting being planned for October 2012.

COUNCIL—  2 VACANCIES

You are also invited to be prayerful about possible nominations for the two vacancies on Council. According to Constitution clause 13 any member in good standing and fellowship with an affiliated church (excluding Conference employees) can be nominated as elected members of Council. Elections will held at the AGM, and to be elected nominees must be approved by at least two-thirds of voting delegates. In 2011 delegates can elect up to two members of Council. The Council member co-opted through 2011 is eligible for nomination. The Executive Officer must receive nominations for Council on the prescribed form by Thursday 22, March 2012.

ROLE OF COUNCIL

The Council oversees the life and work of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania in accordance with the Constitution. Its primary role is to ‘oversee the spiritual health and direction of Conference’ (see clause 14). Membership of Council is a privilege and a responsibility. It is vital Council members have a deep faith commitment to Jesus Christ expressed in their personal life journey and their local church, community and work involvements. A shared commitment to our Common Mission To be a movement of the people of God gathering around the central figure of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, living out his Way in our local contexts and inviting others to do the same is also important.

Qualities for Council membership include:

• A deep commitment to the primacy of mission in our movement, the capacity to exercise mission-shaped thinking and imagination, and to encourage experimentation in mission and ministry.
• An ability to interpret the life of the church strategically, in the context of the 21st century.
• A commitment to the future vision of Churches of Christ.
• A capacity to exercise leadership and visionary thinking.
• A capacity to bring a Christian spiritual focus to issues.
• A pastoral concern for the life and work of Conference and affiliated churches.
• A capacity to think broadly, beyond the perspective of the local church.
• An ability to guide and assist in policy development.
• An availability and commitment to attend all Council meetings and to participate in its processes, including additional committees or task groups, as needed.

The current membership of the Council consists of:

• Five elected members and one co-opted member (asterisks denote retiring members):

         Rod Brown (Boronia): Elected 2011

        Cheryl Catford-McCallum (One Community): Elected 2011

        Sarah Deutscher (Red): Elected 2011

        *Milton Oliver (Roxburgh Park): Co-opted until May 2012, and eligible for nomination

        Michael Ratcliffe (Northern): Elected 2011

        *Greg Warmbrunn (One Community): Elected 2006, 2008 and 2010 and ineligible for re-election

• Max Carr: Nominee and Chair of the Trustees of the Properties Corporation (Doncaster) Until December 31, 2011
• Terry McCredden: Nominee and Chair of the Churches of Christ Community Care Board (Northern Community). N.B. Terry has been appointed Chair of the Trustees of the Properties Corporation, and a new Community Care Chair will be appointed by its new Board in 2012.
• John Sharpe: Nominee and chair of the Stirling Theological College Board (Ringwood)
• David Brooker: Nominee and Chair of the Mission and Ministry Board (Southern Community)
• Paul Burnham: President 2011-2013 (One Community)
• Paul Cameron: Executive Officer (Connection)

PRESIDENT

We also request your prayerful consideration regarding a President of Churches of Christ in Vic/Tas for the term 2013–2014/15. As the current President Paul Burnham is a ministry person, and in keeping with the rotation principle we generally follow, we are seeking a non-ministry person for this nomination.

The President works with Council and the Executive Officer in pursuing a common purpose and vision for Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. The President, where and when able, visits churches in a pastoral capacity, attends meetings of Council and Partner Departments, and represents Churches of Christ in inter-church settings. People nominated can choose to serve for one or two years.

I invite you to join Council in seeking wisdom and discernment about a person who can provide servant leadership through the role of Conference President.

Thanks for adding these matters to your list at this time of the year. Your prayerful consideration and suggestions will be appreciated. You will receive further correspondence about all of these matters, and all the appropriate forms, in February 2012.

Knoxfield News

Wednesday, 05 October 2011 11:21

Knoxfield News

After 46 years, the Knoxfield Church of Christ will be closing its doors.

Friends and former members are invited to a Thanksgiving Service to celebrate the ministry and witness of this community over many years.

The Service will be: 10am Sunday 23rd of October 2011 followed by light lunch together.  Visitors are invited to bring a plate to share.

Address: 429 Scoresby Road Ferntree Gully  (Mel 73 D2)

Though the church is coming to a close in its current format, Mission and Ministry Vic/Tas will be reviewing the possibility for replanting a faith community either on the same site or in the general area sometime in the next 2-3 years.

Melbourne Indigenous Church News

Thursday, 11 August 2011 15:14

Sign up to receive the Melbourne Indigenous Church News here. See part of their first edition below:

Radically Faithful

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 17:43

Giving, Asking, Ministering and Leading as Joyful Stewards

Never tell God what to do, and never tell God's people how much to give. You might just end up underestimating the generosity of both." (Fictitious character in Scott Rodin’s new novelette, The Third Conversion)

Christian Management Australia (CMA) is a good friend of Churches of Christ. Many of us appreciate their annual conference (to be held in Melbourne next year). CMA has recently launched a new (free) book and announced a one-day event in Melbourne, signalling their shift into a new area of focus for the organisation.

At their recent conference in Sydney, CMA launched the second booklet in its principles and standards series, ‘CMA’s Guiding Principles of Ministry Resourcing’. The booklet is written by Tim Matthews (Pilgrim International/Triumph Communications), with CMA National Director, Gary Williams, as series editor. It is not a ‘how-to’ guide for ministry fundraising, but looks instead at twelve key principles that can undergird the overall process of resourcing Christian churches and organisations. The booklet is available at no charge from CMA at www.stewardship.org.au.

With the booklet now being distributed widely, the next step is a one-day mini-conference:

Radically Faithful: Giving, Asking, Ministering and Leading as Joyful Stewards.

At the Assembly Hall, 156 Collins St., Melbourne (next to Scots' Church)

On August 31, 2011, 9am—4pm

Featuring speakers from USA (Dr Scott Rodin, former president of the Christian Stewardship Association), UK (David Jones, former CEO of the Christian charity, ‘Stewardship’), and a range of Australian presenters.

The purpose of the event is to explore the connected but distinct issues of generosity, stewardship and fundraising. According to Gary Williams, “for ministries who used to get by with low-key fundraising but are now faced with greater ‘competition’ in the non-profit world, there is a tendency to adopt the transactional techniques of the wider sector, without accounting for the God-Factor. There is plenty to be learned from a mature charity sector, but uncritically importing their techniques, without considering the bigger spiritual issues of generosity, stewardship and faith, represents a stunted view of ministry resourcing”.

The day will be a gathering of donors, ministers and pastors, fundraisers and ministry leaders, and we recommend it to you.

Full details and registration are available at www.cma.net.au/melbourne/.   

Paul Cameron—Executive Officer

Ballarat York St job advertisement

Thursday, 04 August 2011 13:39

York St church are looking for a Kindegarton Director. Please pass on the below ad and position description to any in your networks that may be interested.

Download Position Description here:

Movie licenses for churches

Monday, 18 July 2011 10:29

From our last email to churches...

About an opportunity for a discount on a license to show movies at your church shared with us by Craig Brown, Federal Coordinator, Churches of Christ in Australia:

There is no doubt that many of our ministries in our churches have become multi-media experiences. Movies, for example, have become a common way to introduce themes, build bridges to a wider culture and illustrate sermons and other oral communications in our churches. 

This letter that contains an offer from Heritage HM for Churches of Christ regarding movie licenses.  As a Movement, we have been able to negotiate a discount on a “big studio movie license” which enables your church to show any movie from the major movie studios. The annual fee for a Church of Christ that joins up will be $156.  I would encourage you to look at this offer, compare it to what you already have, and assess what is best for you.  

At the very least, use this letter as a prompt to check your current copyright compliance if you use movies in any of your church ministries.

Affinity 3.0 Church Discussions

Monday, 11 July 2011 00:00

Since 2007 the Council of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania Inc. has invited dialogue with affiliated churches about our shared identity and purpose. Emerging from this is the current conversation about what it means to be part of a network of churches being renewed as a 21st Century missional movement. This dialogue has taken place in a range of ways, including several Annual General Meetings, Dreaming Days (2007 and 2010), as well as two rounds of regional conversations and other less organised interaction too.

Go here for more information on our site about the latest Affinity 3.0 discussions or dowload the Affinity 3.0 PDF directly.

2011 Reflection: State of Conference

Thursday, 30 June 2011 16:55

In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; in the name of the One who is, who was, and who is to come, I greet you: Good morning saints! Good morning sinners!

To read more, please click here to download the PDF file.