WE ARE ALL ABOUT THE MINISTRY LEADER
We believe that your call to ministry is like a crop to the harvest. The two are inextricably intertwined. Your call is the driving motivation for all you do and potentially impacts every context of life.
We also believe that responding to the call begins not in your ministry context, but somewhere deeper. It starts with you – the person. So Ministry Development [MD] is for you – the Ministry Leader. It aspires to help you shape how you respond to your call from God. At the heart of this guiding framework, brought to you by the Ministerial Association is our purpose and promise: to know you, support you, challenge and empower you to go forth in the boldness of the Spirit and fulfil this calling He has placed upon your life, for “ministry is the highest PRIVILEGE and the most fascinating adventure ever given to human kind”. Seventh-day Adventist Handbook for Australian Pastors, p. 6.
Welcome to an honouring of your call.
THE AUCMINISTERIAL MANIFESTO
OUR MISSION
The Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association within the AUC exists to serve the church in its proclamation of the everlasting gospel and in its divine mission to prepare people to meet their soon-coming Lord. The Association aims to accomplish this mission through its ministry to pastors/ ministers/ Interns, local church elders/ company leaders, their families and SDA Ministerial Association Secretaries.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to help the pastors and their families, the local church elders and company leader and the Ministerial Association secretaries to know, experience and share our hope in Christ, and to equip them to help those whom they serve to do the same.
OUR PURPOSE
A) To Pastors, Ministers & Interns:
The Association affirms the importance of the local church in the completion of Christ’s commission. To assist its pastors in fulfilling this task, the Association serves them in the following areas:
- Proclamation
Keeping the pastors ever-conscious that their first calling is for the proclamation of the Word to the church and the world, presenting Jesus as Saviour and Lord to all people regardless of race, gender, nationality, tribe, or economic status. - Personal growth
Encouraging pastors in their personal growth, fostering a vibrant relationship with God that yields a strong sense of self-worth and pastoral mission. - Professional growth
Promoting the professional growth of pastors in the study and practice of ministry, representing their interests at the South Pacific Division, and enhancing the image of the pastoral ministry so as to attract qualified persons and keep them in its ranks. - Church growth
Enabling pastors to nurture their congregations so they may be centres of loving concern, dynamic evangelism, and the presence of the living Lord.
B) To Pastors’ Families:
The Association recognises that in today’s complex world, ministry is no longer the concern of the pastor alone. The pastor’s spouse and children are involved in and affected by the person and the practice of the ministry. Therefore, the Association encourages the fulfilment of a family ministry and provides necessary support and resources to spouses who choose to serve as paraprofessionals in a team ministry.
C) To Local Church Elders/Company Leaders:
The Association recognises the biblical role of the local church elder, particularly in view of the ever-increasing demands on the church pastor and the need for lay involvement in the governance and ministry of the congregation.
Therefore, the Association aims to help the local church elders in their leadership role, as they serve their congregations and assist their pastors in soul-winning by:
- nurturing
- training
- motivating
- equipping