Lara became a Christian at Georges River Life Church when she was 18. A couple of decades later, Georges River Life Church is still her home and her family.
Lara has worn many hats over the years. These days, she works as the Site Pastor for Peakhurst, their largest site. “I was given a significant role that I didn’t feel prepared for,” reflects Lara.
Lara knew she didn’t have a massive amount of time to dedicate to equipping herself. She asked the team at Transform Southern Sydney what she could do to give herself the skills for this new and significant role at her church.
The team suggested she look at the LiteHouse program. “I wouldn’t have signed up if I didn’t think it was worthwhile and going to be great,” says Lara, “and it exceeded my expectations.”
LiteHouse was developed to train new or future pastors in practical areas of ministry life that may not have been covered in their theological training. It’s a practical program which equips participants with the skills, mindset and resilience needed to navigate the complexities of leadership in today’s dynamic ministry context.
Lara was part of the first cohort of LiteHouse which, after participants asked for it to be extended from 12 to 18 months, finished in June 2025.
“It was such a joy to engage in training with our first LiteHouse cohort,” says Craig Corkill, Associate Director of Discipleship and Leadership Development, “my hope is that the training in both practical skills and deeper Godly character will continue to equip the participants for more effective ministry in the months and years to come”.
“You do LiteHouse because you want to be there,” explains Lara, “I look around that room and there are people leading churches, leading significant parts of their church, raising families… They’re all busy and living full lives. But they’re making time to do LiteHouse. Every time I’ve left, I’ve been so encouraged and want to reflect on the things I’ve learnt and bring it back to my church and ministry.”
Lara has loved every part of LiteHouse. Her favourite part has been the “What I Wish I Knew” segment each afternoon, where Senior Pastors share their learnings and their failures. “I’ve been hanging off every word,” says Lara.
“The devotions are always really heartening,” she reflects, “and the guest speakers have been a great variety of voices.” In particular, Lara studied at Morling College with Grant Wilson and was greatly encouraged when he came and talk about his story, and his experience of change management in a church.
“I liked there were high level strategy and vision but also deep, spiritual foundation and character,” explains Lara, “we did a whole session on church finance – not to make us feel dumb but to empower us. There’s so much involved in leading church. They can’t possibly cover it at Bible college.”
Lara has also loved being part of a cohort of people all passionate and looking to equip themselves in their ministry context. “There’s a lot of maturity and experience in the room, and I loved being in a room with people who’ve been doing this for many years,” says Lara, reflecting on the time spent fellowshipping with others in the cohort and sharing wisdom and experiences.
Having reached the end of the LiteHouse program, Lara is looking forward to applying what she’s learnt over the last 18 months in her role at church. “I would recommend LiteHouse to anyone with significant leadership roles in their church who is willing to learn and share,” says Lara, “I’m really glad I said yes.”
