Matt HeinsVICTORIA

The times we live in are both exciting and challenging. Exciting because of the new opportunities and realities we are all facing. Challenging for the same reason.

Leadership This is my first report as President of ACC Victoria, and I am amazed at the overwhelming support and enthusiasm as we move into a new season. At our State Conference in October 2020, we honored and celebrated Shane Baxter for 10 years of leadership and vision in Victoria which saw many great new initiatives introduced. We also welcomed Kerrin Wallis onto the State Executive and transitioned to a new state office administration and finance team.

We have new leadership in two of our State Departments with Shane and Millie Lepp taking on the Emeritus leadership and John and Robyn Murray in the Indigenous leadership role.

Statistics In this conference period, we endorsed 39 new churches and sadly closed 12 with a net gain of 27 but still reached the milestone of 300 churches. Victoria reached this milestone despite the heavy restrictions being imposed.

The State office processed 101 new PMC’s, 64 OMC’s, and 13 SMC’s bringing the total credential holders in Victoria to 923.

Our successful Senior Pastor Mentoring Matters program now in its 12 year has continued to give one on one mentoring to new and growing churches. To date, 121 senior pastors couples have engaged with this program led by Graham and Julie Shand.

Many ACC Victoria churches increased their community engagement footprint throughout 2020 in response to high unemployment. A survey of just 40 ACCVIC churches determined that we were supplying 20% of the state governments entire target for material food relief in Victoria. One ACCVIC church, Planetshakers, through their Empower ministry distributed the equivalent of 1 million meals during 2020.

Events 2020 was a year we learned to adapt in many ways. The COVID 19 Pandemic impacted Victoria more so than any other state. For eight months, churches had to conduct online services as they were restricted from meeting in person or travelling more than 5 kilometers from home. Many of our normal programs had to be cancelled or deferred. We held a one-day online State Conference in October.

The State Executive responded quickly to the pandemic by reducing State Church dues by 25% for all Victorian churches. We also gave additional financial support to state departments and some itinerant ministries. This amounted to a $200k investment by the state back into our churches and ministries.

We were also very active and successful in lobbying the government around lifting restrictions and over some legislation impacting freedom of religion. New Initiatives Our theme for 2021 is Impartation – Impartation of the Holy Spirit, of leadership, and of vision. Having already begun implementing this new season of leadership and vision, we still have much planned, including:

• An audit of all ACC Victoria churches to properly determine the value and impact of community engagement programs to the greater community. This will be of tremendous value in future engagement with government.

• Developing new online resources in church health and governance to support local churches.

• Formation of a new Church Life team to directly engage with churches needing specialized assistance. This team incorporates representation from church planting, regions, state office and mono-ethnic churches.

• Formation of a specialised Credentialling team of senior ministers to give greater scrutiny and assistance in the credentialing of new ministers. Phil Linden from the State Executive will lead this team.

• A reformation of our regional structure to better engage and assist with the growing number of churches in our state. This department is led by Tracy Shand.

It has been a tremendous privilege to visit each of the regional meetings around our state. There is a palpable sense of faith and expectation borne out of the resilience and the incredible commitment of the Victorian Church to seeing the Gospel advanced. I have been inspired by the ingenuity of our pastors and churches in pivoting to find new ways to reach their communities in the midst of a global pandemic. It fills me with great confidence that, after a year of constraint, 2021 is going to be a year of great expansion for God’s Kingdom in Victoria.

MATT HEINS State President: Victoria