ASSOCIATION of BAPTIST CHURCHES of NSW & ACT MINUTES OF THE 148 TH ANNUAL ASSEMBLY & EXTRAORDINARY MEETING Saturday 2 nd April 2016 WINDSOR DISTRICT BAPTIST CHURCH 739 GEORGE STREET SOUTH WINDSOR NSW
Morning Session Leaders: Louise Bartlett, Coordinator of Families and Children s Ministries Rev Ken Clendinning, Director of Ministries Rev Dr Viv Grice, Associate Director Pastoral Development Business Session Chair: Dr June Heinrich, Interim Chair of the Assembly Council MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY ATTENDANCE Delegates appointed under paragraph 8.3 of Constitution: 64 Alternate Delegates: 0 Principal or lead ministers from each affiliated church: 8 Accredited ministers of the Association: 65 The Director of Ministries: 1 - Rev Ken Clendinning The Principal of Morling College: 1 - Rev Dr Ross Clifford Director of Global Interactions: 1 Rev Andrew Palmer Members of Assembly Council: 7 Dr Jennifer Allen, Rev Matthew Arkapaw, Colin Earnshaw, Dr June Heinrich, Mr Alan Kelshaw, Rev Jamie Long, Rev Scott Morrison, Alan Rice, Mr David Slinn and Rev Kel Willis* Members of Morling College Council: 3 Rev Ian Deane, Rev Angelo Gratsounas and Rev Kel Willis* Member of both Assembly Council & Morling College Council OTHER PARTICIPANTS (NON-VOTING) Non-voting participants: 26 TOTAL NUMBER OF ATTENDEES: 175 TOTAL NUMBER OF CHURCHES REPRESENTED: 72 Live Streaming of Assembly - This Assembly was live streamed on-line. Eighteen people viewed the Assembly using the live stream. Apologies were received from: APOLOGIES Cheryl Clendinning, Keith Mitchell, Des Ong, Graeme Chatfield, Phil Grebert, Bill Laudenbach and Neil Checkley.
Matters for the Annual Assembly were called for in an Association email dated 18 th December 2015 from the Secretary to the Assembly Council (APPENDIX 1). Nominations were called for vacancies on the Assembly Council, Morling College Council, and Baptist Churches of New South Wales Property Trust by Association email dated 18 th December 2015 from Ken Clendinning (Director of Ministries) and June Heinrich (Interim Chair of the Assembly Council) (APPENDIX 2). The Assembly was officially notified by Association email dated 29 th January 2016 from Jenny Casey (Secretary to the Assembly Council). Registrations were also called for in this email (APPENDIX 3). An Assembly Guide was produced containing the Agenda, Profiles of Candidates for Election, Annual Reports, 2016 Church Partnership Support Budget, Extracts from Constitution of Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Relating to Motions. (APPENDIX 4). 0900 Registration 0930 Opening of Annual Assembly * * * * * Welcome Rev Ken Clendinning, Director of Ministries, welcomed all to the Assembly, including those viewing Assembly on-line & opened in prayer. He thanked Windsor District Baptist Church for hosting the Assembly. 0933 Focused Worship and Prayer Louise Bartlett and the Windsor District Baptist Church Worship Team. Worship Songs 10,000 Reasons; O Praise the Name (Anatasis); Jesus You are All to Us. The Assembly gathered at eight prayer stations to pray for the vision, and that God would lead and direct the day s proceedings. Everyone was encouraged to leave their thumbprint as an expression of their individual uniqueness and also our corporate identity. The thumbprints became the Association logo which was displayed at the front of the building. 1000 Welcome Rev Ken Clendinning introduced Pastor John Lustre for Devotions. 1002 Devotions Led by Pastor John Lustre, Pastor of the International Congregation at Central Baptist, on finding our beauty in God and seeking relationship with him from James 1:23-25.
1015 Update on Vision and Strategic Direction Rev Ken Clendinning, Director of Ministries, provided an update on the Vision and Strategic Direction of the Association of Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT accepted at the 2014 Assembly. (PowerPoint Presentation APPENDIX 5 & Notes APPENDIX 6) 1025 Rev Ken Clendinning welcomed to the stage Belinda Lakelin, the new Evangelism Consulant for the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT. Belinda shared a little of her background and how her coming to faith has given her a passion for sharing the Gospel. Belinda s role is to empower churches to share their faith through resources, training and support. 1043 The David Brown Rural & Regional Scholarship was awarded to Pastor Ian Davie of Moree Baptist Church. A short video of a skype interview between Ken Clendinning and Ian Davie was played. 1052 Morning Tea 1115 Focused Worship and Prayer Louise Bartlett and the Windsor District Baptist Church Worship Team. Worship Song In Christ Alone. 1120 Discipleship Taskforce Interim Report - Rev Dr Viv Grice (Associate Director Pastoral Development) and Suzy Lee (Chair of Discipleship Taskforce/Seaforth Baptist) brought plenary input on the background of the Discipleship Taskforce (APPENDIX 7). Geoff Holland (Student Life/Community Life Church Cherrybrook) gave results of the survey conducted by the Taskforce (APPENDIX 8). 1148 Assembly broke into small discussion groups, using the Discipleship Taskforce Worksheet (APPENDIX 9). 1220 Welcome - Dr June Heinrich, Interim Chair of Assembly Council, gave her own welcome. 1222 Election of Scrutineers June Heinrich, Interim Chair of Assembly Council, brought the following Motion: That the following people be elected as Scrutineers for today: Grae McWhirter Blakehurst Baptist Chris McGowan West Ryde Baptist Steve Shooter Dapto Baptist Eric Cowan Frenchs Forest Baptist This MOTION was MOVED by John Macindoe (Pennant Hills Baptist) and SECONDED by Ian Deane (Castle Hill Baptist). Being put on VOTE the MOTION was CARRIED.
1224 Nominations Committee Report on Director of Ministries Recommendation (See Assembly Guide - APPENDIX 10, page 36) - Assembly Council brought the following Motion: That Rev Dr Steve Bartlett be appointed the Director of Ministries for a period of five years on the unanimous recommendation of the Assembly Council. June Heinrich spoke about the interview process using a powerpoint (APPENDIX 5). Background information on Steve Bartlett was provided (See Assembly Guide APPENDIX 10, pages 6-7). 1230 Lunch Prayer for the election of the Director of Ministries, thanks for the work of Ken Clendinning and grace given by Rev Pete Davies & Rev Ian Altman During Lunch Voting was completed for: Director of Ministries Assembly Council members Morling College Council members Morling College Faculty Baptist Churches of NSW Property Trust members 1330 Prayer Small groups met and prayed together using the Together in Prayer guide (APPENDIX 11). 1345 Closure of Voting June Heinrich officially closed the voting process for the positions of Director of Ministries, Assembly Council members, Morling College Council members, Morling College Faculty and the Baptist Churches of NSW Property Trust members. 1346 Annual Reports Hard copies of the Annual Reports were distributed to all Assembly participants on registration as part of the Assembly Guide as well as being made available online to all churches for delegates attending the Assembly (See Assembly Guide - APPENDIX 10, pages 31-86). The following Annual Reports were received: Association of Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT Reports: Assembly Council (Submitted by Dr June Heinrich, Interim Chair) Committee for the Ministry (Submitted by Tim Burns, Chair) Finance and Administration Report (Submitted by David Slinn, Chairman of the Finance, Audit, Compliance and Legal Committee and Heidi Tak, Associate Director of Finance and Administration) Nominations Committee (Submitted by Dr June Heinrich, Chair) Director of Ministries (Submitted by Rev Ken Clendinning) Global Interaction NSW & ACT (Submitted by Rev Andrew Palmer, Director)
Morling College Council (Submitted by Rev Kel Willis, Chairman Morling College Board) Principal of Morling College (Submitted by Rev Dr Ross Clifford) Affiliated Groups Reports: Australian Baptist Ministries (Submitted by Rev Ken Clendinning, NSW & ACT Baptist Churches Representative) BaptistCare NSW & ACT (Submitted by Ross Low, Chief Executive Officer and Dr Graham Henderson, Chairman, Board of Directors) Baptist Churches of New South Wales Property Trust (Submitted by P J Holding, Chairman and D N Evans, Hon Secretary) Baptist Financial Services Australia Ltd (Submitted by Owen Chew Lee, Chairman) Baptist Foundation of NSW Limited (Submitted by Matthew Duggan, Chairman) Baptist Insurance Management Limited (Submitted by Graham Warner, Chairman) Bedford College Limited (Submitted by Paul Holding, Chairman) Reports were taken as read and opened for questions individually. No questions were received. Peter Banks (Mortdale-Oatley Baptist), MOVED a MOTION the Reports be ACCEPTED, SECONDED by Aaron Veart. Being put on VOTE the MOTION was CARRIED. 1351 Church Partnership Support Budget 2016 - Assembly Council brought the following Motion: That the Church Partnership Support Budget target for 2016 be $1.7m based on the recommendation of the Finance Audit Compliance and Legal Committee. David Slinn (Chairman of the Finance, Audit, Compliance and Legal Committee) spoke to the Motion (See APPENDIX 5 for PowerPoint Presentation). This MOTION was MOVED by Matthew Arkapaw (Mortdale-Oatley Baptist) and SECONDED by Phil Dart (Frenchs Forest Baptist). With no questions, being put on VOTE the MOTION was CARRIED. 1401 Notices of Motion: Candidates recommended for Accreditation Assembly Council brought the following Motions:
That the Assembly welcome the individuals listed below and that they be approved to proceed to accreditation and after being set apart for ministry their names be added to the List of Accredited Ministers, on the recommendation of the Committee for Ministry: Mark Riethmuller, Rob Sweeney, Rob French, Anthony Gentle, Mike Jones, Kiran Skariah, Nigel Lyons, James Oosterveen, Daniel Walz, Kevin Jin, Shannon King, Matt Glowacki, Jamie Freeman, Mitch Forbes, Kaye Ryan, John Wilson and John Lustre. That George Habib s accreditation be transferred from Churches of Christ and his accreditation will be specialised in the area of chaplaincy and evangelism. These motions were spoken to by Rev Tim Burns (Chair, Committee for the Ministry) and then opened for questions. No questions were received. These MOTIONS were MOVED by Rev Tim Burns and SECONDED by Ian Altman. Being put on VOTE the MOTIONS were CARRIED. Church Affiliations Assembly Council brought the following Motion: That the Assembly welcome Manly Life Church as a church affiliated with the Association of Baptist Churches of NSW and ACT, having met all the requirements. Ken Clendinning advised that acceptance would be through Acclamation. Ken Clendinning then invited members of Manly Life Church onto the stage and June Heinrich presented them with a Certificate of Affiliation. Ken Clendinning prayed for Tim Giovanelli and the church.
1410 Announcement of Election Results Dr June Heinrich announced the following people were elected: Director of Ministries: Rev Dr Steve Bartlett (Bayside Community Church) Assembly Council: Rev Des Ong (Newhope Kellyville Baptist Church) Alan Kelshaw (Springwood Baptist Church) Rev Scott Morrison (Georges River Life Church) Rev Christine Redwood (Hornsby Baptist Church) Morling College Council: Bill Peirson (Macquarie Baptist Church) William Rusin (Windsor District Baptist Church) Rev Angelo Gratsounas (Narwee Baptist Church) Morling College Faculty: Rev Dr Mike Frost (Small Boat Big Sea) Rev Dr Ian O Harae (Narrabeen Baptist Church) Baptist Churches of New South Wales Property Trust: Paul Holding (Baptist Community Church Burwood) Graham Jones (Northside Baptist Church) 1412 Constitution Committee Ken Clendinning explained that the committee consists of Ken Clendinning, Andrew Hall, Steve Frost and June Heinrich. They are working through the constitution using the comment brought by various people and a revised document will be brought to the Annual Assembly in 2017. 1415 Annual Assembly CLOSED by Dr June Heinrich.
Signed as a correct record of a meeting of the 148 th Annual Assembly held at Windsor District Baptist Church on 2 nd April 2016. (SCOTT MORRISON) Interim Deputy Chair of the Assembly Council (JENNY CASEY) Secretary to the Assembly Council Date: 12 th April 2016 Date: 12 th April 2016