Joshua BrettSOUTH AUSTRALIA

Entering 2021 there are so many great reports coming in from around the State from churches adding new services through to high numbers of salvations and water baptisms. We have seen our ACC pastors embrace and navigate this unusual season and come through with strength, vision and passion. South Australia is in good health and believing big for our future.

Leadership: President: Josh Brett – Enjoy Church Vice President: Rob Santostefano – One Heart Church Secretary/Treasurer: John Griffiths – Lifepoint Church Executive: David Hall – Lifepoint Church Josh Greenwood – Influencers Church Greg Johnston – Influencers Church Darren Braund – Light Church

Stats: • Number of Churches – 59 • Number of OMC’s & PMC’s – 200 pastors (121 OMC / 59 PMC / 20 SMC) • Credentialled in 2019 & 2020 - 32

Training & Resources: Like everyone else we have looked at how we can swing more to online platforms. We believe this will provide greater saturation across the State. Josh Greenwood has taken on the Church Health Portfolio in 2021 and is excited to increase our resourcing of churches and pastors.

Wellbeing Check In October 2020 we engaged NCLS to undertake a wellbeing check through an anonymous online questionnaire. The results revealed areas of good health but also highlighted a few areas to focus on going forward. We are committed to the health and wellbeing of our pastors and will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen in this area. This is a conversation we have had with the Alphacrucis team in Adelaide, who in February 2021 hosted a webinar on the topic “Looking After a Weary Soul.” This webinar link has since been shared with all credentialed pastors.

Highlights: Online Church: In the past 12 months we have been encouraged by the strength of the Church in Australia. To see churches of all sizes adapt to online services was incredible. The physical doors may have closed but the ministry doors did not.

State Conference 2020: We were able to gather as a State in September for a shortened conference. This gathering was one of the best we have had in recent years with record registrations seeing our conference sell out. We celebrated as the ACC family and were encouraged to have our Premier attend where we could thank and pray for our government as they navigate Covid.

New Initiatives: Expansion Fund: Throughout 2021 we are building a financial ‘war-chest’ that will be used to sow into Leadership Development, Evangelism and Church Planting in greater ways. Goals and Vision: In 2020 we communicated our focus as the ACC in SA. All of our resources and energy will be directed toward:

• Pastoring Pastors • Producing Leaders • Planting Churches

The State Executive all carry portfolios that link initiatives towards these areas of focus.

A passage we all know very well is Matthew 16:18 when Jesus said “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” This Church we have the privilege to be co-labourers in, is being built by Jesus. This truth provides a simple reminder that Jesus builds and our part is to disciple. I am loving the realignment to the Great Gommission that is happening around the nation and the globe. Our mandate as followers of Christ, as pastors and leaders, as churches is to see SOULS SAVED and DISCIPLES MADE. For all the craziness of 2020 there is a newfound passion emerging in our hearts for the Great Commission. These are the greatest days for the Church in Australia.

JOSHUA BRETT State President: South Australia

It remains a privilege to serve our churches and lead Tasmanian State Executive Team, as we have grown and seen God increase and strengthen us despite the Covid pandemic in 2020. All of our churches have commenced meeting physically after restrictions in 2020.

I am proud, thankful and grateful to God that our churches have remained vigilant during the Covid period and most have reported growth and increased engagement. We have embraced technology during this difficult time and took on the challenge of meeting wholly online in 2020 and have now gradually reverted to having both physical meetings, and maintaining online meetings as well in 2021.

Leadership

As President, I’m ably supported by a great team: Vice-President – Matt Sharples

Secretary – Gus Yearsley

Treasurer – Martin Oravec

Church Planting & Health – Ian Kruithof

Executive member – Peter Shurley

Executive member – Peter Fletcher

In addition, Matt Sharples is Youth Alive Director and Alix Morse overseers ACC Women in the State.

Stats

The current number of active churches in Tasmania is 17. We are expecting an increase over the next two years, with some church plants that are well into developed planning stages, as we progress into 2021 and beyond. Training & Resources Technology: Due to COVID19, there were limited physical meetings in the first three quarters of 2020 however, we have fully embraced technology which has enabled us to connect via online. For that, we are forever thankful to God for innovations in technology. Church Planting and Health: As we continue to build healthy churches, our health team is headed by Ian Kruithoff, leading a small team, maintaining dialogue in building healthy churches and church planting. Youth Alive Tasmania: Youth Alive Tasmania, along with every ministry around the country, had its challenges in 2020 with most events postponed or cancelled due to restrictions of both movement and gathering size. However, the work of caring, connecting, partnering and offering relational support across the State, to pastors and leaders within and outside the ACC denomination, continued to flourish. Youth Alive Tassie continues to lead the charge for unity, growth, health and strength. In 2020 we continued to unfurl the banner of love and the vision for #savetassie

Youth Alive Ministry is picking up well and responding to challenges that we are facing in our communities. Events

We had State conferences in 2019 and 2020. We were blessed in Tasmania to be able to meet physically in 2020 with a strong online engagement. A Senior Pastors’ Retreat was held in September 2020 with 15 in attendance via online streaming. The objective of the retreat was to encourage each other and to continue to enhance relationships. We are thankful to God for churches and leaders who continue to connect well. We are a smaller State and we have capitalised on that. Despite the Covid pandemic, we have seen growth in our churches. Highlights: Despite not being able to gather, we still built momentum, as exemplified on 20th February 2021, where Pastors and Youth leaders from around the State gathered for one of the best and biggest leaders’ meetings we’ve seen in many years. So regardless of Covid and its impediments to gathering, Tasmania continued to grow in unity and faith. We are so expectant to see what the next two years will see us advance in and taking possession of. New Initiatives

A number of churches are working on plans to plant and a number of them taking significant steps at this time, going forward. Our focus in the State has shifted to church planting. Goals

Our overall goal is to develop a coaching model with a ten-year vision to develop healthy pastors and churches who will raise up a generation of leaders and church planters. I am thankful and appreciative of the support and efforts of my Executive team, as we continue to maintain our belief and the nature of Christ in serving for greater harvest for God’s glory.

Whilst 2020 was certainly challenging, we are thankful for God’s grace in enabling us to resume more normal activities before most other States. We believe God is doing a new thing in the part of the world as Tasmania attracts increased interest, we are planning to be ready to respond to increased opportunity We have a good and easy working relationship here in the State of Tasmania with the advantage of being a smaller State, which makes it easier for people to connect. We have to have big hearts and big spirits to embrace what God is already doing, and we are doing exactly that!

DAVID MORSE State President: Tasmania