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National Chairman's Welcome
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On behalf
of EFAC (Australia), I welcome you to this national
consultation of evangelical leaders lay and ordained on
the theme "The Church of the Future, Leaders of the
Future." |
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On behalf
of EFAC (Australia), I welcome you to this national
consultation of evangelical leaders lay and ordained on
the theme "The Church of the Future, Leaders of the
Future." |
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We come
from all over Australia – Far Nth Qld, WA, SA,
Victoria, ACT and NSW. There were to be delegates from NW
Australia, Tasmania and Brisbane but they have been the
victims of the collapse of Ansett Airlines. |
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It is a
pleasure to have our President Archbishop Harry Goodhew
with us, Vice President Peter Brain – along with our
Australian presenters Olivia Moffatt (Melbourne), Marcus
Richardson (recently of Armidale and now in Melbourne),
Kanishka Raffel (Perth) and Ed Vaughan (Sydney).
Archbishop Peter Watson and Rev Tony Nichols give their
apologies. |
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We
especially welcome our keynote speaker Paul Blackham,
Associate Minister, Curate Theologian at All soul's
Church Langham Place and his wife Liz. |
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We thank
our mentoring team for their presence to offer insights
and counsel. |
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EFAC
(Australia) is part of the worldwide fellowship of
Anglican evangelicals committed to maintaining and
promoting a strong Biblical witness to advance the cause
of the Gospel through the Anglican Church in Australia
and beyond. |
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EFAC was
founded in England by John Stott in the early 1960s. A
few years after becoming the Rector of All Souls Langham
Place, John Stott formed a fellowship for Anglican
evangelical clergy under forty modelled on the Eclectic
Society founded in 1783. |
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The
original Eclectic Society's foundation membership
included John Newton. Members met fortnightly to present
papers on practical ministry issues. One such paper,
addressed the topic "The Best Method of Planting the
Gospel in Botany Bay." They also were responsible
for the founding of CMS. The programme for John Stott's
newly constituted Eclectic Society in the late 1950s
included a Bible exposition, a paper on a prepared topic
by one of the members and a free period for informal
sleep. |
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As he
travelled around England and the Anglican Communion, John
Stott saw the need for evangelicals to network and
fellowship together for spiritual nurture and gospel
purposes. |
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So EFAC
was founded in 1961 to meet this need. It was centred in
the United Kingdom with Regional affiliated branches
throughout the Anglican Communion. By 1974 there were
five branches in Australia – Perth, South Australia,
Victoria, Sydney, Armidale and Queensland affiliated
separately with the international body. In the same year,
a decision was made for the five to affiliate as one
federal fellowship. |
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This
year, Armidale, Canberra and Goulburn and Sydney have
formed a NSW Branch. Over the years of its existence,
EFAC branches and EFAC Australia has provided
opportunities for articulating evangelical distinctives
and equipping for ministry initiatives through national
conferences, smaller consultations and workshops. Many
have benefited and the kingdom of God has been advanced. |
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This
consultation has been organised for younger lay leaders
and ministers from across the Anglican Church of
Australia. The purpose of this is to provide an
opportunity to gear ourselves and our churches for the
challenges we face in building the church Christ is
building in contemporary Australian Society. |
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We have a
fine panel of presenters who have written informative and
provocative papers. |
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Our
keynote speaker will stretch our thinking and challenge
us. On behalf of the organising committee, I pray you
will all have a stimulating and productive time. I
believe you will. |
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Thank
you. |
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This
year, Armidale, Canberra and Goulburn and Sydney have
formed a NSW Branch. Over the years of its existence,
EFAC branches and EFAC Australia has provided
opportunities for articulating evangelical distinctives
and equipping for ministry initiatives through national
conferences, smaller consultations and workshops. Many
have benefited and the kingdom of God has been advanced. |
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Ray
Smith
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