Photo: Fresh Hope’s Ethos Committee recent meeting at Liberty Church, Greenacre.
by Anne Simpson
The Ethos Team met at Liberty Church, Greenacre recently to reflect on feedback from Collective participants. The team comprises a group of leaders from across the Churches of Christ network in NSW/ACT.
Team member Kym Dixon said they were greatly encouraged by the overall resonance with the draft statements presented to the network’s pastors and leaders in November.
She said the feedback, acquired through small groups at Collective, reflected how the ethos statements had stirred the soil of our network’s Restoration roots.
“There is more for us to explore afresh as a network in this season,” Kym said.
Ryan Graham, Ethos team member and senior pastor at Campbelltown Church of Christ, added:
“Collective felt like a reset moment; it had a different tone, and it raises the question of what the culture and purpose of Collective is to be moving forward.”
The team will meet again in February 2022 to work on version two of the ethos statements.
Steven Martin, Ethos team member and Living Hope Maitland senior pastor, noted that the feedback offered “a list of suggestions geared towards improving rather than correcting the statements”.
Key Milestones
Engagement with our ethos, which began at Collective 2021 in November, will be a 12-month process.
The process includes reworking the ethos statements and engagement locally and regionally before Conference Executive approves a final version.
Collective 2022, to be held 9-12 November will be an opportunity for our network to covenant explicitly to a way of being together as we love and serve Jesus.
What Happens Next
We would like to invite your church to participate in the ethos journey through engagement with the revised statements that will be released in early 2022.
In March, a resource pack will be sent out to help you prepare to engage your church community with this project. In May, we’d encourage you to set aside some time to do this work as part of Restoration month. In June, we look forward to bringing an ethos update to the regional gatherings.
Dates will be confirmed after consultation with local churches. This will be a time of connection and further conversation around our ethos.
Restoration Month
May 2022 has been earmarked as a month to celebrate our identity as a restorationist movement.
It will be an opportunity to recognise our distinctiveness as a network and explore how that might shape our future.
How would you like to celebrate your distinctiveness as a community? Who are the ‘living legends’ in your church? What story of faith does your church’s history tell? How are you connected historically and currently to the wider network of churches in Churches of Christ in NSW/ACT?
Our communications team will continue to share stories and resources over the coming months that could form part of a restoration focus for your church.
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