We’re eager to gather, dig into God’s word, challenge one another to see growth and change in our churches, and pray together for Australia.
Andrew Heard will open the Bible, exploring the implications of living under the cross. Plenaries will strengthen your convictions, confidence, and competence in both local and global mission.
There will also be lots of opportunities to learn from churches across the network through case studies, panels, workshops, networking lunches, and shared meals.
We’re returning to the Great Commission—the command to "go and make disciples of all nations."
As a network, we want to keep asking: What changes are needed so we can play our part in fulfilling Christ’s global mission?
We long for our churches to reach the lost and mature the saved across Australia. We want to be sending churches—multiplying disciples, leaders, and churches. So, we’ll be wrestling with how we mobilise our churches to see more and more mature disciples.
To accommodate more people and to give extra focus to church planting, we’ll be across two sites this year: EV Church (with a program for established churches) and Gosford Presbyterian Church (for individuals, couples and churches wanting to plant).
Both sites will be live (no streaming) with shared platform speakers but with different case studies.
The sites will come together at EV Church from Wednesday dinner onwards so that church teams can spend time together.
We’ll be reminded of the responsibility of the Great Commission, spurring us on to grow churches that are healthy, evangelistic, and multiplying.
This gathering is designed to equip leaders of established churches to better mobilise their congregations for the task of reaching Australia, starting in their own backyard.
We’ll explore our convictions around mission, how to build those convictions in others, and how to practically equip and mobilise our people to reach their friends, families and communities.
We'll also consider our role in multiplying churches across our region and Australia.
If you’re considering evangelising a church into existence—as an individual, couple, team, or church—or if you’re in the early years of church planting (within the last three or so years) and want to keep building mission momentum, this gathering is for you.
We’ll build on the same biblical and practical principles as the established conference, focusing on how leaders can drive missional effectiveness, multiplication, and mobilise their churches.
Hear from church leaders and planters about the theological and practical challenges of planting in Australia.
Check out the full timetable. It's going to be a packed few days of excellent content.
This is a key day for everyone who hasn’t been to a Reach Australia conference before.
Get key convictions that underpin how our network thinks about church, growth and change.
This stream is for people who have done the first stream in a previous year.
Foundations 1 focuses on ‘why’ and Foundations 2 focuses on ‘how’.
This is for anyone who wants to explore the possibility of planting and work out their next steps.
Connect with planters, hear about the challenges to address and opportunities to explore on the road to planting.
Leaders and teams who want to explore how they can build a network of churches that work together to reach the lost.
Hear from Wade Burnett and Paul Harrington as they walk you through principles and practicalities.
In 1996, Andrew and Cathie Heard established EV Church. In 2005 he was elected the founding President of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), and, in 2009, became a founding director of Geneva Push (now Reach Australia) where he is the Board Chairman. He is the author of Growth and Change.
Toby and Liz Neal planted Vine Church in 2011 one of Sydney’s least religious areas. Since 2011, Vine Church has grown to be a vibrant inner city church known for its unique voice in the way it converses with Sydney about Jesus.
Des Smith is married to Suzie and they have four kids. Des has served in church ministry for 14 years, first in Tasmania and now in Adelaide, where he is the Senior Pastor of Trinity Church Lockleys. He has published a number of resources with Matthias Media, most recently his mini-book, The Cheerful Giver.
EV Church
Foundations 1
Foundations 2
Gosford Presbyterian
Multiply: Towards Planting
Multiply: Multisite Networks
EV Church
Established churches
Gosford Presbyterian
Church planting
EV Church
Established churches
Gosford Presbyterian
Church planting (head over to EV Church for dinner and for the rest of the conference)
All together at EV Church
Liam Doyle
Lake Mac Church
We always return home refreshed and empowered to continue serving the gospel in our church plant, after gaining much-needed wisdom from experienced leaders.
There's nothing better than gathering with God's people together in a massive room and seeing God's praise and learning all together under God's word.
Seeing people from all over Australia is so encouraging to see - so many different people that are on about the same thing.
You'll leave overloaded with stuff you could apply, and that's a good thing. It will serve you will for the rest of the year and will serve you well for the rest of your life.
The conference is some of the best biblical preaching of key gospel truths that you find anywhere. Then some of the biggest paydirt comes through the practical sessions.
Every conference has a cost to it. But I think this one has benefits that will reap not just for you but for your team in the church.
There aren’t many reasons you can give for not coming. It’s worthwhile, you learn heaps. It reignites your fire for Christ.
Super encouraging. It was like having a humble gut punch in making sure that you're going into ministry for the right reason.
It's a great way to be encouraged, to be fed from God's word and to join in song with brothers and sisters.
We’ve got way too many conferences taking us away from coalface ministry, but the Reach Australia Conference will maintain its priority in our team’s calendar. It’s such a helpful event.
Yes! We'd love it if you could serve the network during the conference.
Given the size increase and two sites, we’ll need a few churches and individuals to volunteer to serve (ushering, creche, serving in kitchen) during the conference for some of the time (don’t worry, you won’t miss many sessions and we’ll record all the content).
We'll shout you 50% off your conference ticket if you volunteer for 6-11 hours, and 100% off for 12+ hours. Register your interest.
Creche registrations at EV Church are open for kids aged between six months (who have the ability to sit up by themselves) and eleven years.
Very limited creche spots are available for children aged 1-5. There are slightly more availability for children in Grades K-6 due to compliance with safe ratios.
Creche services are available for every session except in the evenings. You’ll need to care for your children during meal breaks.
Since demand in this area always exceeds availability, we encourage you to make alternate arrangements where possible.
At Gosford Presbyterian Church there will be no formal creche or kids program running. A cry room is available.
Creche helpers are equipped with Working with Children Checks and Safe Ministry qualifications.
You’re welcome to keep your baby with you during sessions. At EV Church, the main hall features a large cry room and talks are broadcasted on screens in the lobby. Gosford Presbyterian Church has a cry room.
Definitely. Anyone on your team wanting to consider church planting or church multiplication should go to Gosford Presbyterian.
Stick to one location for Tuesday and Wednesday!
You might need to pop over to the other site if you're going to a special lunch event or for Foundations/Multiply on the Monday, but otherwise stick to one site.
The two sites will merge at Wednesday evening for dinner and onwards. We've planned this so that church teams can spend time together later in the week.
Bring anyone from your church who would benefit! That means key church leaders, both paid and unpaid. This is a fantastic opportunity to energise the individuals crucial to your church's growth and change. Invite your administrative team, music directors, elders, parish council members, and church members in significant ministry roles.
Absolutely. At the conference, we have churches of various sizes, ranging from new churches launching with 30 people to large churches with over 2,500. This includes many churches located in regional and remote areas of Australia.
Join us for Foundations or Multiply on Monday to explore the principles and key convictions that drive the network. If you can’t attend on Monday, come on Wednesday instead.
We haven't opened single day registrations yet. Stay tuned.
We're keen to give more energy to planting by giving them a separate venue to collaborate and get energised to take risks together. Also, last year’s conference sold out with a waiting list of 147 people and we had to turn people away. Moving to two venues allows us to accommodate another 300 people at the conference.
Multiply: Towards Planting is a day to help people interested in starting a new church to develop a road map to get there. It's perfect for individuals and couples wondering if they could evangelise a church into existence.
Multiply: Multisite Networks dives into the nuts and bolts of building networks of churches or multisite churches.
Gosford Presbyterian: For anyone thinking about planting, and church planters in their first three years of planting. It'll dive into missional effectiveness, multiplication, and mobilising your church from launch and towards sustainability. Case studies will be from church plants and plenaries will be tailored to uniquely to planting.
Post in the National Conference Facebook event.
Nope!
Here's the background info: Churches and pastors in our network have diverse opinions on organisational models. Some churches are structured around outcomes, while others use a congregational model. Some churches structure their ministry around Connect, Grow, Serve or 4Es - Engage, Evangelize, Establish, and Equip or 5Gs.
We encourage churches to be intentional and reflective about their models and structures. Every church should assess the effectiveness of its approach and consider making changes if beneficial. Our network is keen to facilitate robust conversations about what will be most helpful for churches in their specific contexts—whether small or large, regional or suburban.
Each year we host networking lunches for women in leadership (both paid and unpaid) and for the wives of pastors. These lunches provide a valuable opportunity to connect with women in similar roles and contexts from various churches across Australia, offering mutual encouragement in gospel ministry. In 2024, approximately 40% of National Conference attendees were women.
Within Reach Australia, we have a growing Women in Leadership Network that supports women in key leadership positions in churches nationwide. This network serves both current and emerging leaders, including those in paid and high-level volunteer roles, such as ministry positions, ministry support, and governance roles. Consider signing up for our quarterly updates to learn more about the connection, coaching, and leadership development opportunities we offer.
EV Church: It’s pretty tight – carpooling is appreciated. EV Church has created more spaces this year. If the car park is full, park in surrounding streets off Jessie Hurley Drive.
Gosford Presbyterian: There’s parking onsite and in the surrounding area.
Visit the info desk, and we'll treat you to a free coffee and introduce you to someone friendly.
Yes! Make sure you register which site you will attend and which pre-conference you will go to.
Growth and Change by Andrew Heard will be very helpful. Also check out the Reach Australia Framework or Mission ebooks. Last year's conference content is available on YouTube and the Reach Australia Podcast.
Both EV Church and Gosford have ramps for accessible entrances and exits, designated parking near the main entrance, drop-off/pick-up points, accessible toilets with family-friendly facilities, clear signage, accessible seating, an emergency plan, on-site assistance, and adjustable lighting and acoustics.
Only EV Church has hearing assistance with assistive listening devices or hearing loops.
Chat to someone at the information desk or any of our staff on site during the conference.
If you have any other accessibility needs, drop us a line at [email protected].
Click on the link to buy tickets, and you'll see a help page :)
Email [email protected].
Just a heads up that we had some issues with this email address in November/December 2024, but it's all sorted now.
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