Postponement of the face to face President's Conference 2020
It is with sadness that I advise that we have decided to defer the face to face President’s Conference, Called by God, until next year – Thursday, 29 April – Sunday, 2 May, 2021.
I have been deeply concerned for all of our communities that are being impacted by the growing number of COVID cases. The decision to defer has been made as a response to continuing uncertainty that comes with the second wave of COVID cases , and the precautions our states and territories are taking to protect their communities from the spread of this disease, that involve border closures, travel restrictions and the quarantining of travellers at their own cost.
While we hoped that a combination of online and face to face options might make it possible to offer the Conference to encourage participants in their faith and ministry at this time, we have decided to postpone the Conference in the hope that next year we may be able to gather together face to face. We will of course be monitoring this possibility, as we see what emerges in the control of the pandemic.
I will still be offering an opportunity for the Church to gather online on the first weekend of October to open up the conversation about God’s call to us in our everyday lives, but it will be in a shorter form, with a ‘taster’ of what the full Conference will hold next year.
On Saturday October 3, I will host a Webinar of three panel discussions that will showcase some of the content of the conference with the themes - Called by God, Every Member Ministry and Faith in Public Life
It is free to register for the webinar and we will be sending sign on details in the coming week - watch for this in the Assembly National Update and via the Assembly and my Facebook page. We hope you might join us online for these sessions.
On Sunday October 4, we will offer worship in two ways –
- Livestreamed through the Assembly Online Worship forum
- As a written liturgical resource and a short pre-recorded sermon that you may use with your own community.
The Webinars will be recorded and they will be made available for you to use in any of the many forums you have for Christian education in your community. If you decided to use them, I would be delighted to be invited to join with you online as you do this.
As the Church we have been called into spaces that we had not expected. This global pandemic on top of the crises caused by bushfire, flood and drought, has called us to deeply consider and reconsider how we might be bearers of God’s love, compassion, hope and comfort in this time of crisis. I have been encouraged and inspired by the ways our Church, our local congregations, faith communities, community service agencies, aged care organisations, schools, and Councils of our Church have responded with such grace, generosity, kindness and hope.
I hope that you will save the date for the deferred face to face conference and join us online for the webinar and worship on October 3 and 4. In the meantime, thank you for being the people of God, pilgrims on the way with Christ who continues to be our Light, our Hope and our Risen, Crucified Lord.
For more details on the upcoming webinar and to be registered for it click here.