The Australian Centre for Faith and Work's first annual conference was well received by over 160 participants on Saturday 31 October. It was great seeing people coming from every state and territory apart from Tasmania, who represented a broad spectrum of ages and work backgrounds.
Keynote speaker Paul S Williams from Regent College, Vancouver set the framework for the day by asking people to consider their own specific work in the context of God's broader plan for creation and answered the question why work matters to God? He was followed by Lindsay McMillan, of Reventure who provided a sketch of Australian workers and the increasingly fractured environment in which we find ourselves. Kate Harrison Brennan followed with a talk on our need to relativise work in a culture that tends to make it absolute, while Andrew Katay rounded off the morning with a consideration of common grace and the work of the Holy Spirit for the common good.
The highlight of the day however seemed to be the four short talks from Christians from different professions, their experiences and their responses in a Q & A panel. The panel covered such practical issues as unemployment, workplace ethics and what is a balanced Christian approach to motivation for my work. Time didn't permit us to deal with all the questions.
Complete video and audio recordings of the sessions will be available in the coming weeks. If you are interested in knowing more about future conferences, please contact me at gabriel@cciw.org.au.
Our hope and prayer is that this will be the first of many conferences and forums aimed at equipping Australian Christians.
Gabriel Lacoba