Workshop Registrations 2019

  • Instructions

    We ask you to register for workshops by making your selections online. This enables us to allocate rooms for the workshops and complete other arrangements based on the numbers selecting each workshop.

    Attendance at workshops is open to all who attend the main studies though may be limited by other commitments such as involvement in Junior School.

    In keeping with the tradition of Armidale and of Mittagong before us, controversial topics may be addressed in workshop presentations and studies. Parents of younger young people are asked to carefully consider workshop topics and content and to assist them in making appropriate workshop choices.

    Numbers per workshop are limited to 25-30 to facilitate discussion and discovery among participants. The rooms we use vary in size but most are classroom-size. We do not plan to use the main hall for workshops.

    Places will more or less be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so BE QUICK with your response. We will aim to ensure that everyone gets at least one first choice.

    The 2-session workshops are on Sunday and Monday mornings. You will attend the first part of the workshop on Sunday morning and the second part on Monday morning. The single session workshops are on Thursday morning.

    Workshops A

    • 1st Session Sunday
    • 2nd Session Monday

    Workshops B

    • Thursday

      • We ask that you give us your top three preferences (1, 2, 3) for each group of workshops.

      Also, note the workshop you most want to attend and we’ll aim to ensure you don’t miss that due to rostering on children’s activities.

      If any workshops are very heavily over-booked we may try to organise an after-lunch repeat.

  • Attendee Information

    Please register each workshop attendee separately.
  • Use primary contact's mobile phone number if workshop attendee does not have a mobile phone.

  • WORKSHOPS A – 1st Session - Sunday 11 am, 2nd Session - Monday 10.50 am

  • Tim Hughes

    A comic wit once quoted a schoolboy saying "faith is believing what you know ain't so". Most of us want to believe in something we can be confident is true. But we are surrounded by doubt. If we doubt, we are in good company, including the Apostle Thomas. Doubt is only harmful if it is suppressed. When doubt spurs us to search for truth, and gets us to ask the big questions, it can be beneficial. We are going to consider some of these together, especially your big questions.

    There is a common view that science has disproved the Bible and that a Christ-based world view is implausible - contrary to reason and evidence. I am in a science-based profession. I oversee and review research, and have to consider whether the conclusions of the researchers are based on the evidence. In my spiritual life, I have found myself personally challenged by doubts that arise from new scientific discoveries that seem to conflict with my view of the world. When that happens I go back to the evidence.

    This workshop would suit those who have personal doubts, those who wish to support others who are struggling or those who just want to have a ready answer when asked.

  • Janine Hennig

    The Bible presents us with a variety of symbols, motifs, patterns and themes. These literary devices deliver meaning yet can be difficult to grasp due to differences in time and culture. This workshop will explore the meaning of two Biblical motifs found in Genesis, firstly from an Ancient Near East perspective, then in consideration of how their use evolved over time. There will also be opportunity to discuss how familiar stories may contain these motifs, possibly requiring an adjustment in interpretation and application. The first theme is found in Genesis 1 with the emergence of order from chaos. This theme is found repeatedly in Scripture though it is often overlooked. The second theme is found in Genesis 2 with the appearance of the two trees in the garden. There is an ancient context to these fascinating symbols which invite us to consider different schools of thought. Both themes come to a climax in Jesus.

    As these sessions may challenge traditional interpretations, they are best suited to those with an open mind who like to explore the possibilities.

  • Geoff Watson

    Peter’s transformation from Galilee Fisherman to God's Shepherd was his incredible journey 2000 years ago into a new life of Faith in the Spirit. Amazingly you and I are walking the same Faith/Spirit journey in 2019. Yes our circumstances are very different but there are experiences we will explore in Peter’s life which parallel our experiences with Jesus right now. For example, Peter as captain of his own boat, is willing to challenge Jesus' fishing ability. He then relents, trusts, and encounters a miracle that forever changes his heart. Like Peter we don't easily give up being our own captain. Yet Peter shows we can welcome Jesus on board and allow him to chart our life voyage. Join us! Peter's time with Jesus has some priceless moments we will share and explore together.

  • Cathy Strachan

    What does “love in action and truth” look like in the life of a Jesus follower? In what way are you being the hands, feet and voice of Jesus to those around you, in your family, in your church and in your community? We are not called to care for people by taking away their responsibility or by giving generalised reassurances. Rather, we are called to an active, living faith as individuals who help and empower others to live a life of love. These classes look at simple ways of showing care and compassion, while realising we are not God, not the saviour of another person, nor Mr/Mrs Fix-It

  • Lizzy Pooley

    Words are powerful. They can build up, but can so easily tear down. We can call for help with our words, or stand up for a friend. But, we also use words to criticize, demean, judge, sometimes totally unaware that’s what we’re doing. As we strive to show others Jesus, our little words can so quickly push others away rather than draw them closer. These sessions will consider the subtle (and often subconscious) negative impact of our words and behaviour toward others and how we strive to prevent this. We’ll workshop what we can do as individuals and a community to create a safe, nurturing and loving environment for ourselves and others. As we all strive to better follow Jesus, it’s important to acknowledge our failings and admit we’re all in need of compassion and grace. Together though, we’re stronger. Jesus’ challenge to us is to work with one another to create a space of love and safety in which we can all learn, make mistakes but also grow from them and celebrate success. I look forward to exploring this with you.

    “Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your demise.” (Matthew 12:37)

  • Daniel Edgecombe

    Redeeming Eve. The first woman by many accounts tempted Adam using her feminine wiles to lure the poor man into committing the first sin. The consequences of her behaviour, according to tradition, have reached down to all women, bringing them pain and discomfort through the whole cycle of procreation. But what does the Bible actually say? It’s time to re-examine the evidence. Our Lord is one God? The Old Testament includes some surprising polytheistic material. Does the canon include a repurposed psalm of Baal? Why is there repeated reference to Yahweh’s secret war with Tiamat? We will explore the repurposing of local legends and what it means for our approach to scripture and (more importantly) our relationship with God.

  • Sally Whitehorn

    The role of sisters in our community can be a difficult and contentious issue for many but it is a topic which should not be ignored and is not going away. The aim of these two sessions is to help us all understand why there is a desire to revisit Bible teaching on this subject and why so many are questioning the traditionally accepted gender roles in our community. We will discuss and examine legitimate alternative scriptural interpretations in context, by examining individual verses, Bible truths and the meanings of words lost in translation. There will be an opportunity to discuss these alternatives in an open and constructive manner in an effort to appreciate individual’s different perspectives and points of view

  • John Drake

    At previous Spring Bible Weeks in 2013 and 2015 John Drake presented several workshops on prophecy which gave a well-received alternate view of major prophecies to that of “traditional” Christadelphian views. In 2017 several people asked whether there would be further studies that year but it was decided that none would be delivered. This year John will revisit some of those studies and add to his understanding of prophecy. He will discuss whether it has been necessary to modify some of his views in light of current world events or whether such events have strengthened his previously held views. Prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel in particular will be dealt with.

  • Russell Downs

    Scripture is not a science handbook. Claims that God wrote the Bible to be a reliable source of scientific information fail when examined closely. Examples are the cause of weather, demons as the cause of human sickness, the heart as the centre of thought, and how the heavens and earth are constructed. We’ll look at what Genesis 1 actually says, not what we want it to say. A brief overview of the evidence for evolution. It is not an exaggeration to say that the strength of the evidence in favour of evolution is on the same scale as the evidence that the earth revolves around the sun. Evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky, who was also a Christian, famously said in 1973, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. If that was true then (it was) then it is very much more true today. Response to objections. There are some Scriptures that have been used to deny any possibility of human evolution. 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 are the most important ones to examine. It is not necessary to deny scientific reality while continuing to respect Scripture.

  • Liz O’Toole

    Jesus is the centre point of all history - the Old Testament points forward to him, and the New tells us his story into the future. But how does his life impact ours, in the 21st Century? In these two sessions we will spend some time looking at the raw stories and events of Jesus’ life on earth as recorded in the gospels alone, to see how they can help us in the many seasons of our lives. Are you feeling joyful? Jesus has something to say about that! Is fear or suffering gripping your life on a daily basis? Let Jesus help you through. Are you too concerned about the present, to deal with life’s realities? Jesus tells us how to find hope to face our futures, both immediately, and into eternity. There is nothing he can’t help us with, and if we learn to rely on him, we can live our lives to the full. Jesus is truly is the man for all seasons.

  • WORKSHOPS B – One Session workshops – Thursday 10:50am

  • Sam Dando

    “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Postmodernism extends this view to become the predominant philosophy of our own time. The postmodern world and the post-Christian world, in the past fifty years, have hurtled into a scathing rejection of God with nothing to replace Him. Diversity of belief is respected, although mainstream thought is often regarded as a threat because it could lead to oppression of the individual, as has happened in the past. In such a world of transient thinking, the individual can easily become lost. However, the Christian can live quite comfortably in a postmodern world. Students are taught to question everything and make up their own minds about what is truth. The Christian should also be able to question Biblical interpretations so that our faith becomes valid and real to us personally. The difference to postmodern thinking is that the Christian does have a solid Biblical foundation and our belief is in a compassionate, loving, close God with whom we have a relationship through His son, Jesus Christ.

    School and university students have post-modernism as the core philosophy of their syllabuses. This session considers the lessons on postmodernism in the new senior Sunday School Union syllabus.

  • Shane Kirkwood

    Life-giving, essential, vital, falling, flowing, running water - we can’t live without it. Water is precious. No wonder God uses water as a metaphor for Himself, His word, His son and His purpose. We are very aware of our natural need for physical hydration but often unaware of our need for spiritual rehydration. And yet true discipleship is about always being thirsty for God and His righteousness, being washed by the life-giving word of God. The bible starts with water (Gen 1:2) and concludes with an invitation to the thirsty (Rev22:17). In between water is referred to over 700 times. We will look for a brief time at the fascinating subject of water as flows through scripture hoping to increase our thirst and desire for the living water that leads to eternal life.

  • James Rasmussen

    Conflict avoidance is the default for some. Too risky, right? Just best to walk away? Of course you can but in doing so we deny ourselves the greatest mechanism available to build deep, loving relationships. Conflict is inevitable. It’s how we view and deal with it that matters. As William James, an American Philosopher, once wrote, “Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is …” something we will consider in this session. We will be looking at scripture and discussing practical examples. Much of what will be discussed applies to any relationship: work or other but our main focus will be within our families. Come along to participate and share, or just sit and observe. It’s up to you.

  • Anthony Whitehorn

    In the last 70 years the number of Christians in the world has grown by 150% to around 2.3 billion. Our community has grown by 45% to around 48,000. But across the world the geographical profile of our community has changed dramatically. Why is this? Will it continue and what are the ramifications for us as a community in the future? This session will involve a presentation of some data and some discussions on the challenges that we should consider. If Jesus remains away what will our Community look like over the next 70 years?

  • Stephen Downs

    This study will consider our understanding of numbers in the Bible. The main focus will be the genealogies and armies with very large numbers. It will compare our understanding of history recorded in scripture with the understanding of the people who lived there at the time. We read about events in the Bible but sometimes there are reasons historians dismiss some of these things. This study will investigate some ways we need a more sophisticated understanding of Scripture than a surface reading of our English translations"

  • Richard Hillhouse

    Join Richard Hillhouse in this fun and interactive workshop to marvel at the science behind many biblical miracles. From floating axe-heads to never-ending oil and multiplying loaves - consider how the impossible becomes possible. The answers will leave you awestruck and may profoundly influence your understanding of life's biggest questions.

  • Jonathan Pogson

    Modern scientific evidence for evolution and the origins of man run counter to some long held and cherished beliefs that appear central to the agreed basis of Christadelphian faith and fellowship in Australia, and throughout the world. If Creation is God’s witness to his invisible power and ways, and as it seems vanishingly unlikely that the evidence will be overturned, our community faces some very big questions about our understanding of the Bible and the foundations of our faith.

    This session seeks your help to find the way forward, how with Jesus we might grow our personal and community faith out from past assertions into more eternally fruitful life-saving truths.

  • Linus Daniel

    On the path to a deeper understanding of the above question, we will explore:

    • * How the Acts of the Apostles can be used as a foundation for interpreting the law, prophets and the epistles.
    • * The teachings of Acts – a book that features Jesus as a man exalted to divine status.
    • * The testimony of early witnesses recorded in Acts: Peter, Stephen, Paul and others, along with events that surrounded the early church.
    • * The prophecy of Joel, its connection to John the Baptist’s message and how it was fulfilled in Jesus with the outpouring of the spirit on the early church
    • * The ‘begetting of Jesus’: Was it on the day of his birth or the day of his resurrection or some other time? (A look at the Psalms 2 prophecy in light of Acts 13:33.)
    • * Resolution of the conflicts between faith and power in the name of Jesus vs. ritualistic works of the early church.

  • Mark Lawrie

    The Bible is a textbook for the use of symbolic language. We will examine the beautiful sustained metaphors that run the course of God’s Word. Like the concept of Jesus being figuratively present in the Garden of Eden, covering the sins of Adam and Eve in the skins God provided and named “the lamb slain from the beginning of creation” (Rev 13:8) and all the sacrifices in between - the ram in the thicket, animals on altars, types of Christ. Or the spiritual messages we gain from trees running from Genesis to Revelation and shining as lights on mountain tops in Psalm 1 and Galatians 5, teaching us lessons of a godly life. The metaphors of the Bible, written by different human authors over the course of 1500 years, are the fingerprint of God’s hand and strong evidence he exists. They are tools to shape us as precious stones to fit within the temple of God and shine his glory to a world of darkness, negativity and evil. Symbolic/metaphorical language was utilised by Jesus in his parabolic tales to embed God’s word in those willing to dig deeper to seek to comprehend his message. Learning metaphorically heightens memory and depth of understanding. The thoughts evoked can raise our spirits heavenward and our steps Kingdomward.

  • Chris Hermann

    The bible is full of stories, the experiences of those gone before us. How did they interact with God? How did the world and the times they lived in challenge their faith? We are made in God’s image and Jesus has given us a mission to share the hope we have in him. Does the world and the times we live in define our story? What’s our God experience? How can we effectively share our hope for the future? Let’s talk about science and technology, history and psychology. Let’s talk about things that challenge our faith and how change can be scary, but in a good way.

  • The workshop I have to attend!

    Due to limits in workshop capacity, it is difficult to give everyone their first choices. Please select your "most wanted" 1st choice - and we will do our best to get you into it - but we can't guarantee it.
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