Category Archives: Church

Annual Baptist Pastors Conference 2018

April 20, 2018 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

I help organise the annual WA Baptist Pastors Conference.

I was reflecting on over 13 years of helping organise this conference. There used to be under 70 Pastors and leaders who attended when I first started. It was a conference where the worship team was assembled from whoever rocked up to conference. Different Pastors may present a paper they had worked on. The food was very ordinary and the organisation was adequate.

This year we had over 248 delegates attend over the three days of conference. The services were planned to the minute with great production values and elements designed to inspire, challenge and encourage. Our main speaker was Pastor Stu Cameron who heads up Willow Creek in Australia and is the Senior Pastor at New Life Church on the Gold Coast.

Pastor Stu Cameron

We had as a session speaker Karen Siggins who is the Senior Pastor at Lesmurdie Baptist Church. She challenged us to listen for the heartbeat of God, to love God, to love others. It was a memorable message from a skilled communicator.

Pastor Karen Siggins

Mark Wilson is our Baptist Director of Ministries in WA and sets the vision for the retreat. He has brought a wonderful culture into our movement and his session is always a highlight.

Mark Wilson

It is a challenge to have something which goes very well. Whenever something is effective and significant, different people want to hitch their wagon to the success. Keeping the main thing the main thing is always a struggle with any event such as this. My heart is and has been for Pastors. A few years back I received a prophesy which in essence said that encouraging Church Pastors was something God had for me. A number of different people and situations have confirmed this for me. So I see the Annual Baptist Pastoral Retreat in this light. It is for the encouragement and blessing of Pastors. That is its core value, and something I jealously guard.

Its also a wonderful event for developing team and many of the churches bring along their whole team. Its fun, encouraging and there is lots of space for team bonding and a great laugh.

Inglewood Church Staff Team

I also see Retreat as a space for creativity and new ideas to be given space. For different churches to see what works and what is effective in the area of worship and the arts. The Worship Team for retreat were in planning for about 8 months prior to retreat. Yet there is also space for spontaneity and last minute changes. If you plan well, you can respond well.

Pastor Jess Magowan Singing ‘New Wine”

Us pastors have a difficult role at times. We also have a joyous role at times. It is an incredible privilege, blessing and responsibility. All at the same time! Our Retreat reflects that. Perhaps the best part is in having the opportunity to share a meal, share a table, share a laugh, share a prayer, share a warm moment. To be together. Its a strange and unique journey at times. So the Baptist Pastoral Retreat is a precious time.

Church, Leadership, Spiritual Thoughts

Lets not just shuffle people around

February 26, 2018 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

There has been a lot of movement in church planting in Perth recently.
It is quite exciting to see so many churches being planted. Statistics will tell you that on a percentage wise basis new churches will see more people become Christians than established churches.

Many of these churches are vibrant, young and relevant. They are being planted out of more established churches in new areas with energetic and passionate leaders. Its great to see.

One thought of caution though. I believe as Church leaders our primary focus should be on seeking and saving that which is lost. Finding ways to reach those who are far from Jesus and far from Church. That is difficult. Yet that is our mission.

Church, Leadership, Media

On the margins

November 3, 2017 Mark Edwards 2 Comments

Those who are on the margins are generally at the forefront of change.

I was talking with a group of people about selecting songs for a combined event recently. There is no question that Hillsong is now mainstream. Has been for some time. That is no criticism of them. And they have different streams which are more on the margins. But church communities which perhaps at one stage would not do ‘Hillsong’ songs are now doing them. Maybe not from the latest album, but Hillsong has crossed over into general acceptance within the Christian community and has been for a decade.

What is next for the church. Well Hip Hop as a musical genre is huge. I have been musing on how it might be integrated within the church as a new generation grows up with Mcing, slapping bass notes and beatboxing.

Planetshakers have been on the margins for some time. There are some church communities which embrace their music, but it is difficult because so much of it is anthemic, and needs a huge sound to make it work, and generally a huge audience!

This is their latest release. Its on the margins. Its on point for todays youth culture. I like it! I can’t see it being replicated easily. But its worth a listen…and a look!

Church, Leadership

Thank you volunteers

October 31, 2017 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

Recently a friend and myself visited a evening event where the speaker was using a lot of visuals.

We were both quite distressed as the visiting speaker continually made sarcastic remarks to the operator of the visuals. Whoever the poor nameless person was, they were literally a second behind the speaker, earning his passive aggressive remarks.

How delightful it was to listen to Mark Conner speak as a guest speaker at a church and hear him acknowledge and congratulate the volunteer. I have had personal dealings with Mark where he personally went up to the volunteer and checked his slides, put them into the computer himself, and then explain what he wanted. He then thanked everyone. He could not have been more humble.
Watch here at the 6 minute 30 mark for an example of how to treat people well.

As church leaders we deal with volunteers all the time. They serve the church, they serve God and they serve the leaders of the church. They often have their own jobs, they have families, they are busy themselves. Yet they want to serve a greater purpose, be part of something significant. Let us treat them well, acknowledge them with respect.

Church, Leadership

Time to celebrate….

October 18, 2017 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

This Sunday I am speaking from Nehemiah 12 and the mandate to celebrate!
Speaking of which, here is my churches playlist of current songs….

Bible, Church, Spiritual Thoughts

Moving in the Spirit and hearing Gods voice

August 16, 2017 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

I have studied and been interested in hearing Gods voice and understanding the gifts of the Spirit most of my Christian life. Having attended a conservative bible college and been quite stringent in my views I found myself at quite the crossroads during a stressful and enlightening time in my journey.

What I needed and was experiencing from God was taking my faith deeper and into places I previously though biblically untenable. What I discovered was that my lack of experience was no reliable test to disregard the stories of peoples encounters with God as outlined throughout the bible and in the book of Acts in particular.

In fact the Bible is full of people just like us encountering a gift giving God intent on making our journey with him real and full of spiritual life.

Recently Reverend Allan Demond from New Hope Baptist Church spoke at Inglewood Church on this very topic. It was the best treatment of the scripture on this area I have ever heard.

You can listen here

Church, Leadership

Being flexible with authority

August 4, 2017 Mark Edwards Leave a comment

There is no need to be in charge. In fact being in charge may very well not get you what you want.

I lead a church, have done for over 22 years. I also lead the Annual Baptist Pastors Conference. Recently our church hosted the incredibly wonderful ‘Whisper’ conference.

In these three spaces I have needed to be flexible with authority. In my church we allocate responsibility to be matched with authority. If you take the responsibility for an event, the authority to creatively lead in that space is given to you. Not as a right, but a privilege. My young adults pastor organised the Whisper conference. He did a lot of the heavy lifting of organising teams. It was an incredibly well run and functioning event. Around 250 people from over 25 churches attended from all over Perth. It was our vision and our heart. His creativity, passion and skill led the event better than I could have.

If I had exercised my right to be in charge, the event would still have happened but with none of the skill and nuance my young adults pastor brought to it. I assisted him, resourced him, but ultimately let him lead.

With the annual Baptist Pastors Conference I work under the authority of our Denomination and particularly our leader. He gives me a lot of freedom. A benefit of having been involved in the conference for over fifteen years. And having his trust. If there is something he wants tweaked or changed, it is my role to implement this. I am a person under authority.

In our church I am responsible for the key leadership direction and vision. It is not a role I take lightly. There are times I need to make decisions which may not be popular with everyone. But leading is not about giving people what they want, but what they need. Often people cannot see what I can see, they are just not in that space. And that is okay.

Being able to be flexible with authority, understand where you fit in, and what is best for the kingdom, that is the fine line, the radical middle, the balance I try to walk along.