Students make ministry impact

Monday, July 21, 2014

Benefit local Seventh-day Adventist churches

Jarrod Stackelroth
Associate editor, Adventist Record
Adventist Media Network
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Local Seventh-day Adventist churches are benefiting from the placement of Avondale ministry and theology students in their congregations.

Theology student pray

Ministry and theology students at Avondale are taking what they learn on campus into local churches. Credit: Colin Chuang.

The students reported more than 1800 visits to church members, almost 1800 Bible studies, 1400 sermons, 1300 Sabbath school lessons and almost 300 evangelistic meetings between 2011 and 2013. They also reported having a “major influence” in more than 350 and a “minor influence” in almost 700 overseas baptisms.

“They’re making a significant difference through their practise of classroom learning in local churches,” says senior lecturer Dr Murray House.

Student-initiated series in Erina on the Central Coast and in Port Macquarie, Melbourne and Penrith have extended Avondale’s evangelistic influence outside of Lake Macquarie. Students are trained in door-to-door evangelism and practise this regularly throughout their course. Their delivery of The Search and the Beyond the Search DVD series contributed to the formation and the growth of the Blue Haven church plant on the Central Coast.

But the impact of their ministry goes beyond numerical success. “As students do ministry, they build their ministry identity and giftedness, increase their confidence and ultimately cement their God-given skills,” says Murray. He is in regular contact with ministers and elders who are seeking to place more students in their churches. “Practical learning allows theory to come to life and better prepares students for the realities of pastoral ministry.”