2016 Research Day and AGM

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Friday 25th November 2016

Trinity College Theological School, Parkville

10am to 2.45pm

AGM 3-4pm

 

Presenters:

Sean Gilbert, Uniting College, SA –

‘Why the Art of Christian Ministry?’

 

Peter Francis, Malyon College, Qld –

‘Developing Genuinely Reflective Practitioners’

 

Cecilia Francis, Trinity College Theological School, Vic -

‘Formation for Leadership in a ‘Missional’ Context’

 

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Notice of

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Friday 25th November 2016

to be held at

Trinity College Theological School,

Royal Parade, Parkville, Vic

 

Agenda:

ANZATFE AGM Minutes 2015

President’s Report

Treasurer’s Report

 

Election of Office Bearers

- President

- Vice-President

- Secretary

- Treasurer
- Committee Members

 

General Business:

- Committee Meeting dates 2017

- ANZATFE Conference 2018

 

Current Office Bearers: President: Michael Kelly (VIC); Vice-President: vacant;

Secretary: Cecilia Francis (VIC); Treasurer: David Burke (NSW)

 

Current Committee Members: Linda Flett (NZ), Sean Gilbert (SA), Mark Johnston (NZ),

Monica O’Neil (WA), Catherine Spiller (VIC), Sue Withers (VIC)

 

RSVP: Friday 18th November 2016

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President’s Report

ANZATFE AGM 25 November 2016

Trinity Theological College, Royal Parade, Parkville, Vic

Time seems to have moved quickly since our Conference at Whitley College in the early days of December last year. The theme was “New Horizons: Ministry in a Questioning Age.” There are happy memories of the various keynote addresses from Emily Click from Harvard Divinity School, Les Ball from the Brisbane College of Divinity and Sydney College of Divinity, Kevin Ward from Knox College and myself as the dinner speaker. We are also indebted to those who offered papers and workshops. In addition to those who gave public addresses, there was a small dedicated team who made the event happen and it is to both the Executive and their team that I want to express our gratitude.

As often happens after our biennial Conference, we return to our responsibilities and there is a certain hiatus after the experience of the Conference so it takes a while to gather momentum again. There were also some surprises in the first part of the year. Murray House, the Vice President, from Avondale College negotiated the site for our 2017 Conference at Morling College, but then retired from the College at the end of the first semester. This was an unexpected loss to our Executive and I gather a bit of a surprise to Avondale. David Burke took on the role of Treasurer, but the transition to this role did not progress as expected which has meant that our Secretary, Cecilia Francis, and myself have had to scramble to get access to the accounts and organise some payments for services rendered. We are back on track, but it has taken some time and effort.

The renewal of membership for 2016 is normally the work of the Treasurer, but notification of the need for institutional and individual renewal lapsed and the form needs updating. Hopefully, both of these issues will be addressed in the near future.

Our website is a work in progress, but I want to thank the site manager, Sivonne Binks, for helping us to get the website up to date. I have worked with her to get materials from the Conference posted and to clean up some outdated information. There are a few areas that still need work, but I thought it best to wait until after election to the Executive and then make the necessary changes.

I am also grateful that we have come to closure on the design of the ANZATFE logo which is now the caption on our webpage and used on our mailing. I would still like to find a suitable image for the banner heading on the site, so welcome any possibilities. I also encourage members to advise of matters that need to changed or added to the website.

Our major agenda for 2017 is reaching agreement about a theme for the 2017 Conference and forming an organising group. Interestingly, late in October I received an invitation from Dr Sam Hey of Citipointe Ministry College – the School of Ministries of Christian Heritage College as to whether we would be interested in being a part of the annual ANZATS Conference in Brisbane in 2018 (July 1-4) at Emmanuel College at the University of Queensland campus. I have not replied, as I wanted to seek the advice of our members, and there was no clarity in the communication as to Dr Hey’s role in ANZATS although he is noted as a Director on the ANZATS website.

There are some advantages in being part of a larger group, but it also means that as our membership is modest we could be swamped in this much larger group. Positively, it gives us access to other larger and smaller organisations. I have not replied to Dr Hey, as I wanted to seek your advice. Of course, this is about 2018, so it does not have an impact on our planned Conference in 2017.

The 2017 Conference is most important as it is the biennial Conference meeting of our association. We have some suggestions for a theme and these include:

• Pedagogical Practices for Formation

• Formation through the lens of Culture

We are open to other foci and also want to secure keynote speakers. These matters need to be resolved at this meeting or in the near future.

In closing, I want to affirm the invaluable contribution of our Secretary, Cecilia Francis, who has kept us in communication and been so faithful in recording minutes and managing the gaps that have appeared in 2016.

I also want to note that it has been a happy collaboration between Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia over 2016, but we need to further consolidate our State Representatives in Australia, and perhaps also regionally in New Zealand.

Rev. Associate Professor Michael A. Kelly, CSsR

President ANZATFE

24 November2016