At the Baptist Association, we are passionate about supporting ministry to grow, develop and truly make a difference for the Kingdom. To do this, we have developed many ministries that are designed and focused on the health of you and your church – to support you, your church, and your church ministries. There are so many support areas that we won’t be able to cover them all, but this article will highlight just some of these helpful resources (that you may not be as familiar with)!
- IMPACT Gap Year – A new one-year program for school-leavers with theological study opportunities, one-on-one development coaching (in the areas of gifts/call, mission, and adulting skills), a mission exposure trip, and local church partnership. If you have a young adult in your church community, we can encourage them to serve regularly in the local church context, and put into practice the things that they’ll be learning through this program. If you know any 17 – 21 year olds interested in looking at a gap year, point them to the website for more info: yourimpact.org.au
– - GIA (Global Interaction) Resource – A resource to help in understanding and preparing the vaccination response of your church. You can receive consultation, from a Christian expert, if you have questions around Covid/vaccination (in English, Cantonese or Mandarin). Email nswact@globalinteraction.org.au and ask for Daniel.
– - Balance Ministry Services – BMS offer affordable full-service bookkeeping, look after your payments and compliance reporting. The qualified team understand the unique needs of church admin, with fixed pricing or for one-off finance needs. If you ever want to engage with their services, check out balanceservices.org.au
– - Special Religious Education (SRE) in Schools – SRE provides a great opportunity for school students of all different backgrounds to answer the bigger questions of life and faith in a safe context. We have a large number of teachers retiring, and others affected by the new vaccination mandates. You can support and encourage those who teach (or taught) SRE in your churches – especially those who are feeling isolated. Get in touch if you have any questions: sre@nswactbaptists.org.au
– - Kiah Ridge – Temporary community experiences can be part of the life of your church community coming out of lockdown. Research has found that 1 in 10 people made their first-time faith commitment at a camp of conference, while 1 in 5 made a re-commitment. Kiah Ridge is your Baptist retreat centre, set in a beautiful bushland setting in Tahmoor NSW. Their amazing staff can do whatever your community requires – for small and large churches, mixed groups, youth or women. You can chat logistics, ideas, or get a virtual tour by checking out kiahridge.org.au
– - Church Multiplication – The team is responsible for: FORM (a festival of ideas, storytelling, masterclasses, networking, and team building – to shape evangelism and church planting), the NewStart Discernment Process (for those interested in exploring church planting), NewStart Grants and Coaching Sessions (for churches that have been approved as a NewStart Church Plant), SENT (a one-year course that equips leaders for ministry through practical application, relevant experience, connection with other pioneers, and training from top practitioners/theoreticians), and Catalyst Community training (a vehicle that brings together existing churches to establish collaborative mission-shaped networks).
– - Children & Family Ministries – The Children’s & Family Team is here to help churches welcome children as fellow disciples, and connect/equip leaders (paid or volunteer) to develop holistic ways of nurturing faith in children. The team is available to talk through the particular issues any local church is grappling with in supporting families, providing peer programs for children and connecting generations across the faith community. Annually, they support regions to host Connect Day – where kids ministry leaders and SRE teachers come together to encourage one another and learn together. From 2022, the Children’s & Family Ministry Team are launching a winter holiday kids camp for children. Follow their website, eNews and Facebook page.
– - Youth & Young Adults Ministries – The BYM Regional Support Team supports those overseeing youth and young adult ministry (in a relational manner). The BYM team is also responsible for Mental Health Resources, the Impact Internship (a 1-year program for those passionate about youth ministry, designed to equip for leadership, invest in your youth ministry and provide opportunities for further growth), and the monthly BYM email (where you can stay up-to-date with what’s going on in Youth & Young Adults Ministry and enjoy a spotlight on a different area of our team, a devotion from Steve Dixon and ways for you to get encouraged and inspired).
We hope that over time you will discover new ways that we can partner together to reach our Gen1K goal of 1000 Healthy Churches in a Generation!
