We had a great conference this year at our annual ‘together’ Baptist Pastors Conference held in Mandurah. This year about 200 Pastors, chaplains and other pastoral staff came together for a great time of fellowship, food, fun and losing wedding rings on the beach.

During our annual massive volleyball game one of the pastors lost his wedding ring about 2 minutes into the game. He spent the best part of an hour looking for it. It is quite incredible how something shiny and hard, admittedly small, can be seriously lost so quickly. Fortunately he was able to hire a metal detector and find the little but significant piece of jewellery much to his and his young wife’s relief.

The sessions with Derek and Dianne Tidball from the UK were focused and packed full of content. The worship times were creative and there was a real sense of community as we met together.

 Derek Tidball Expounding on Galatians

Something that was really great was the amount of young leaders there. I caught up with many of them at a game of ‘werewolf’ and there was around 30 of them enjoying each others company. I remarked to a older friend that this sense of community amongst our young leaders will sustain them through the pain and hard work ahead. Leading churches will not get any easier, although they are coming into much healthier Baptist Communities than many of us did.

Young Leaders Playing Some Weird Form of Handball

There is a real cultural and spiritual shift happening amongst Baptists in WA at the moment. A real sense that God is moving us to places of greater openness to the move and voice of His Spirit. Its a great place to be.

 Mark Wilson Giving a Stirring Spirit Filled Challenge and Exhortation