Seminars
Please choose 1 seminar to attend on the day.
Sarah Allen
Anxiety as an Opportunity for Growth
Arguably the most unpleasant emotion is fear. It effects body, mind and soul.
Avoidance and distraction become our main refuge. Yet for the Christian, anxiety is far more than simply a symptom to relieve. For us in Christ, it is an opportunity to examine ourselves in the presence of God through the light of scripture for our sanctification. Thoughtful and biblically fuelled engagement with anxiety not only provides substantial relief but can bring spiritual refinement, fuel compassionate and effective evangelism and build brotherly love. In this seminar we will understand more about the nature of anxiety - both the everyday variety and the more pathological form and explore an approach that turns it from a threat to an opportunity for Christian maturity.
Sarah grew up with the bible read and discussed at every meal. She is passionate about the authority of scripture and teaching God's wisdom for everyday moments. Together with her husband, Josh, and her three kids, she serves at Laneway Church in Footscray which they planted 8 years ago. Sarah has been a GP for 13 years but would prefer to be a professional flower-picker and photographer.
Sharon Cooper
Defending the Gospel without being Defensive
Apologetics. Evangelism. We may not feel particularly drawn to these areas of ministry because it feels like our efforts are better spent elsewhere. When it comes to sharing our faith and introducing people to Jesus, we can often see it as something good and even necessary, but a great challenge to do naturally. In this seminar, we explore how to defend the Gospel faithfully and consistently in our busy lives.
Sharon Cooper serves as a full time staff worker at City Bible Forum and is currently based in Melbourne. She enjoys creating spaces where community is built through exploring the big questions of life and discovering Jesus in the Bible. Sharon owes her deep appreciation of coffee to the years she spent working in finance. This appreciation only grew upon completing her studies in theology. Writing, art and photography are her favourite ways to tell a story.
Kathryn Gatt
Loving God's Word in Every Season
The Psalmist describes God's Word as "more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold" (Psalm 119:72). Is this how you feel about the Bible? Is this how you act? Do you know the delight of God's Word, but find it hard to prioritise in the midst of busy lives, work and family obligations? Or have you not yet discovered how wonderful the Bible is? In this seminar, we'll reflect on ways that we can delight and feast on God's Word through every season of life, so that we can declare with the Psalmist that the Bible is "sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Psalm 119:103).
Kathryn is an avid reader and first heard about the Lord through books such as Heidi and What Katy Did. Since coming to faith in her university years, she has fallen in love with the best book ever written, and has relished the opportunity to read and explore the Bible with other women of all ages and stages over the last 20 years. Kathryn has been a Medical Receptionist, Primary School Teacher, Stay at Home Mum, Ministry Trainee, and now has the immense privilege of working as the Women's Ministries Facilitator for the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, where she works to establish and encourage Word-based women's ministries. Kathryn attends Bundoora Presbyterian with her husband Chris and two kids.
Amy Just
Reckoning with violence in the Bible
We have been getting better at standing against and calling out violence in our society, and in our churches. It is encouraging and right, and honours Jesus, our Prince of Peace. But what do we do with the violence on the pages of the Bible? We have likely all come across those OT passages that, when we stop and think about the reality, we can't quite fathom how or why it is there. How can it possibly be a part of God's story? In this seminar we are going to look at some of those instances in the OT and seek to understand why God has chosen to include it in His book. Got questions? Come and join me.
Originally from Adelaide, Amy moved to Melbourne to study at Ridley College under Peter Adam, having completed a ministry apprenticeship at her church. Whilst studying, a passionate evangelist for both Jesus and AFES student work (Heather Reid) got in her ear and persuaded her to give student ministry a go. Fifteen years later Amy is very thankful for that tap on the shoulder and enjoys ministering to and with the CU students and AFES staff at Monash Uni as well as serving in a regional capacity for AFES across Victoria. An amateur on the subject, Amy is keen to share what she has learnt from those who are experts, with those of you who would appreciate a guided exploration of this tricky topic, with honest discussion.
Sandra Lee
I am a child of God: The label God gives us.
The question of 'Who am I?' can be one of the hardest questions for us to answer. As women, we go through life wearing many different hats and the labels we give ourselves often change over time across different seasons of life. Often the labels the world gives us may differ to the ones we give ourselves. Finding belonging in a sea of different influences and ideas can be confusing. In this seminar my hope is that you have comfort, joy, and confidence in knowing God and being known by Him. We will explore what God has to say about us in the Bible when we belong to Him as his child. This is a great seminar for someone who is a new Christian or investigating Christiainity.
Sandra has been a Christian for twenty years and enjoys spending time engaging, sharing stories and connecting with others over lots of food and movies. She finds herself multitasking, often rushing from place to place, holding four jobs, serving at church and volunteering at art festivals. Though life can appear to be hectic, she finds great peace, rest and security in knowing she is saved not by anything she has done but solely but the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bianca Nicholls
Friendship: The Good, the Bad and the Godly :: TEEN SEMINAR
Being a teenage girl is undeniably hard, and the people around you can be the difference between travelling through choppy waters with a fleet of ships, or being tossed around in a little sailboat. How do you know who to trust? How do you be a good friend? Who do you let into your life? How do you love hard people? And what do you do when your friends let you down? Because they will.
It’s easy to wish that God would just tell us who is good and who is bad for us. But humans are just so much more complicated than that. In this seminar for teens and young adults, we are going to look together at what God does tell us - how to be wise in our friendships.
Bianca is the Mercy Coordinator at City on a Hill: Geelong and the Operations Manager at the Youth Ministry Futures Project. Bianca has been a youth leader for 7 years and is passionate about seeing youth and young women come to know Christ in a deep and meaningful way.