Women’s Weekly & National Adoption Awareness Summit

The Australian Women’s Weekly together with National Adoption Awareness Week will host a breakfast summit in November.

Sydney will host the first Australian National Adoption Awareness WeekSummit, focusing on a range of issues confronting the millions of orphaned and abandoned children, with an Australian and Global context.A panel of special guests including Deborra-lee Furness from New York, will debate the complexities, propose solutions and set goals regarding this global humanitarian issue.The summit will take place on Monday 7th November at a venue in the CBD (more details to follow) between 7.30am and 9.30am.

If you would like be informed please email NAAW at enquiries@adoptionawarenessweek.com

 

Help Wanted

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ~ Matthew 9:35-38

I have noted before that the ratio of pastors/elders to people in a Church congregation in Australia will best serve growth when it sits around the 1:40 mark. This is both a strategic and preventative target. Strategic in that the senior/lead/teaching pastor can focus on leadership development and preventative in that the church is caring for their pastor(s) by mitigating against burn out.

When the ratio goes beyond that there will be a loss in the effectiveness of the pastor to build close personal relationships. There is reduced flexibility with how the pastor can use his time and there will be a loss in the quality of his ministry in other areas: sermons, administration, training, counselling.

I think 1:40 is an ideal to strive towards, not a hard and fast rule. Every man has a different capacity and the maturity of your congregation in caring for each other will also be a factor. The general idea though is that once you are consistently running 45-50 you appoint the 2nd staff leader. At 85-90 you are appointing the 3rd and so on. After that, depending on your polity and available meeting space you could be looking at multiple congregations and multiplying the staff to serve and support each congregation.

One of the biggest areas of resistance to multiplication of leaders is financial affordability. You could argue that for every 10 adults, you could support 1 full time pastor. However there are other ministry costs to consider as well so that brings me back to the 1:40 ratio.

That’s the reality. How we implement it is another question. How does your Church prepare for and raise up new leaders?

 

National Adoption Awareness Week Australia on Facebook

NAAW has a page on Facebook.

What’s NAAW Australia all about?

Mission:
Raising community awareness, encouraging reform, and empowering all Australians through education and communication for engagement with issues affecting adoption and orphans worldwide.

Vision Statement:
National Adoption Awareness Week advocates for best practice in adoption, including reform of Australian laws and practices to provide a more accessible, efficient and humane process for those wishing to adopt. We will establish a supportive, positive, and inclusive environment for everyone touched by adoption through education and awareness, ongoing advocacy, research, and outreach to the community. Recognising that adoption is not always possible or appropriate we will support and encourage efforts of those working to protect the world’s most vulnerable children in whatever circumstances and situations they are found.

 

Really Stupid

Image via Wikipedia

The recent spate of Harold Camping and an article by 60 Minutes in Australia on the idiosyncrasies of Westboro Baptist Church in the USA, had me thinking about some of the reasons Christians avoid or don’t like discussions about Biblical Theology. But bad theology is not a warrant to abandon it altogether. Dan Phillips has these suggestions for responding to excuses for being slack with theology.

I like the last suggestion Dan has listed.

 

Den of Thieves

The word “den” never really took off in Australia. As a kid I thought it strange that on T.V. shows like ‘The Brady Bunch’, the Dad would always refer to his “den”. It looked liked an office – but this word “den” was always used. What is a “den”?

According to dictionary.com a “den” is:

1. 1. the lair or shelter of a wild animal, especially a predatory mammal.
2. 2. a room, often secluded, in a house or apartment, designed to provide a quiet, comfortable, and informal atmosphere for conversation, reading, writing, etc.
3. 3. a cave used as a place of shelter or concealment.
4. 4. a squalid or vile abode or place: dens of misery.
5. 5. one of the units of a cub scout pack, analogous to a patrol in the Boy Scouts.

So, a “den” is a hiding place, or a retreat (in the case of Mr Brady). In which case if we were referring to an Australian context we’d be talking about the “shed”.

When Jesus refers to the religious mob making the Jerusalem temple into a den of robbers, he is, as Campbell Morgan points out, saying that it has become a place to which thieves run when they want to hide. The thieves in question are the chief priests and scribes who used the temple and its religious services to “cover up” their sin and hypocrisy.

With that in mind, if you’re a church goer, how do you treat your church building? Do the people in your community think of your church building as a house of prayer? Are all nations welcomed there? Do you flee to church on Sunday in an attempt to cover up your sins? Do you “go to church” in order to maintain your reputation or to worship and glorify God?

 

Supporting Domestic Adoption in Ethiopia

Seed Adoption is a project that will work with established local Churches and their pastors in Ethiopia to care for the orphans in their own community.

Inter-country adoption is a wonderful thing that blesses both child and family, but it will not solve the orphan crisis. In addition, problems with the international program between Australia and Ethiopia limit the opportunities for families here to support children via inter-country adoption. A more strategic solution is to empower and equip locals to generously care for their children. Seed Adoption aims to that end.