Auckland Church Leaders' Day
Telling the Story of Jesus: a fresh look at evangelism in New Zealand
Laidlaw College is hosting a professional development day for church leaders on Wednesday 19 October, and would like to invite you to attend.
Nowhere is the distance between dominant culture and our Christian faith more keenly felt than in the area of evangelism. Traversing the gap between God and people in our lives and community who do not know or acknowledge him is a critical aspect of our role as the church in the world and one that many churches struggle with. The purpose of this day is to take a fresh look at evangelism, with the hope of restoring confidence in the power of the gospel and the transformative nature of an encounter with Jesus, and to encourage church leaders to lead well in this area.
The upcoming Church Leaders’ Day will look at the theological foundations of the gospel and evangelism and provide you with resources and strategies for reaching families, children, youth, Pasifika people and ‘interested spectators’ within your community with the story of Jesus.
We'd love you to join us.
Date: Wednesday 19 October 2011
Time: 9 am to 3.15 pm
Place: Laidlaw College Auckland Campus, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson
Cost: Admission is FREE. Lunch will be provided.
RSVP: by Friday 14 October to Mary Hockey on 836 7818 or mhockey/laidlaw.ac.nz
Click here to download an invitation (PDF 716KB).
Programme
| 9.00 am |
Registration and Coffee |
| 9.30 am |
Welcome and Introduction Rod Thompson |
| 9.45 am |
EVANGELISM AND THE BIG STORY Mark Keown |
| 10.30 am |
INTRODUCING CVIC Howard Webb |
| 10.45 am |
"LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME": connecting with children and their families Mary Grant & Nikki Watkin |
| 12.15 pm |
REACHING PASIFIKA PEOPLE: bringing faith alive through music Adrian Helu and B.A.S.I.C. |
| 12.45 pm |
Lunch (with entertainment by B.A.S.I.C.) |
| 1.45 pm |
REACHING THE INTERESTED SPECTATORS Rob Harley |
| 2.45 pm |
Final Reflections and Prayer |
| 3.15 pm |
Close |
Speakers and Topics
Dr Mark Keown
Senior Lecturer, Laidlaw College (Auckland)
Mark’s address, Evangelism and the Big Story will explore biblical and theological grounds for the place of evangelism in the life of the church today, and look at the big story of the gospel that is the ‘good news’ we tell.
Mark became a Christian in 1985 and went into full-time service in 1987 doing community outreach work with St Columba’s Presbyterian Church in Pakuranga. He completed a BTh with first class honours at Laidlaw before undertaking a year in ministry at St John’s Presbyterian. Mark then completed ordination training at the Dunedin School of Ministry and served as a minister alongside his wife Emma at Greenlane Presbyterian Church from 1997-2003 and then at Mt Roskill Baptist. In 2005 he completed his ThD, looking at a mandate for evangelism in the Pauline Epistles, and joined Laidlaw College.
Mary Grant & Nikki Watkin
Faith4Families
In “Let the Little Children Come to Me”: connecting with children and their families, Mary and Nikki will explore some of the issues and influences that shape the lives of families and children today. They will offer church leaders practical ideas for reaching out to families within their community and meeting them at their point of need so that relationships are established and opportunities created to tell the story of Jesus.
Mary Grant is the co-founder of Parents Inc., with a background of teaching and 30 years youth work in Youth for Christ. She has instigated and developed many innovative programmes for young people and parents including parenting and marriage seminars, The Attitude programme for high schools, the Toolbox parenting programme, a number of books and a parenting magazine.
Nikki Watkin is a trained theologian with a background in social work and a history of creating and implementing imaginative programmes for children. With her husband, Richard, she shares ministerial responsibility for the parish of Kohimarama Presbyterian Church, where she runs many community programmes.
In 2010, Mary and Nikki joined forces to establish Faith4Families (a non denominational Christian charitable trust) and to develop the Faith Box, a tool to help parents nurture faith and character in children.
Adrian Helu and B.A.S.I.C.
Current Laidlaw College student
Adrian was serving a prison term for drug dealing when he heard about Jesus from members of a prison ministry team. In Reaching Pasifika People: bringing faith alive through music, Principal Rod Thompson will interview Adrian and invite him to share some of his journey to faith. They will discuss strategies for connection with Pasifika people, issues around effectively sharing the story of Jesus with people who have a cultural rather than personal knowledge of God, and the power of music to convey the gospel message.
Adrian Helu is in the first year of a three year Bachelor of Ministries degree at Laidlaw College’s Auckland Campus. He and members of his family have formed a singing group, B.A.S.I.C., with the intention of reaching Pasifika People with a message of God’s love and his offer of redemption and renewal.
Rob Harley
Great Journeys
In Reaching the Interested Spectators, Rob will share some of his experience of communicating with ‘interested spectators’ – those people to whom God is an irrelevant concept – in order to generate a spiritual curiosity that will start them on their journey to faith.
Rob Harley co-founded Great Journeys in 2004, a non-for-profit communications and production company made up of Christian creatives and communicators who devote their energies to exposing the heart of God through the words, images and stories of ordinary people. He is an investigative journalist whose passion and professionalism has seen him win numerous international and local journalism awards, and an accomplished writer, having published four books. His passion for storytelling sees him fill the roles of documentary director, creative director and trainer for Great Journeys in order to create productions that engage the “interested spectator”.
