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Name of National Alliance: Australian Evangelical Alliance
Chairman of board: Rev Dr David Wilson
National Director: Tom Slater
Contact: enquiries@ea.org.au
Tel: 61-3-9890 0633
Australia is a secular and very multicultural society, beginning with the ancient and still down-trodden aboriginal people, followed by British colonisation over 200 years ago, an influx of Chinese workers in the 19th century, and large-scale immigration over the last 60 years. Despite good exceptions, the churches remain largely western and European in culture, and losing ground. Current exceptions include some
evangelical, pentecostal and a wide variety of new 'emerging' churches.
Liberal theology has left a legacy of impoverishment and the newly branded 'Progressive' Christianity which rejects biblical authority and central doctrines of the faith is doing the same. The work of the Alliance ('EA' for short) as 'a catalyst for Christian unity, cooperation and mission' has never been more important in helping the churches to engage with the challenges of contemporary while being true the biblical faith.
In recent years evangelical and Pentecostal Christians have had a much higher profile in political discussions and the media. This has resulted in some welcome modification of certain pieces of legislation, but the conservative Christian contribution in the political arena has often been marked by abrasiveness and over-simplification. Learning to engage more effectively in the public arena is a big challenge.
But as always, God's presence is usually more readily seen in a thousand small ways and at the fringes of the church and outside it - at 'street level'. Much is done in the name of Christ in local communities, and in Australia the great bulk of social welfare services are provided, with the help of government funding, by the churches. Christians reflect the variety of political positions across the board, but in recent years there has been a higher degree of common ground amongst Christians in relation to issues like Australia's poor treatment of asylum seekers.
With the establishment of a Public Theology department three years ago EA has gradually been helping evangelicals to find a voice in the public arena on issues of ethics and justice. Through this department and through its publications(especially Working Together, a quarterly magazine), EA is seeking to shape evangelicalism in a way that reflects the full-orbed nature of the gospel, engages with society, and does so with graciousness as well as strong conviction about the reality of Christ and the authority of scripture.
Our missions department (Missions Interlink) is the 'peak body' for overseas missions, bringing together the great majority of evangelical mission bodies. Christian Management Australia is another ministry arm of EA, providing conferences and resources to build up the effectiveness of managers and leaders of churches and parachurch agencies, in order to increase the effectiveness of their ministries. EA also has an Insurance arm which serves its member churches and ministries by locating good insurance for them and providing a bridge between its members and the insurance companies.
Since July 2007 we have been running a pilot program with over 300 churches of a new church resource system name 'Engage'. The plan is to launch it in April this year on a large scale. Feedback from pastors so far is that the preaching and teaching material they receive by email each month is greatly appreciated. EA also has a number of members actively involved in the WEA Theological Commission and WEA Religious Liberty Commission.
For prayer:
a.. pray that the Engage pilot program will demonstrate that local churches can be greatly encouraged and helped in mission and evangelism by linking to EA
b.. pray for WEA Director Geoff Tunnicliffe's planned visit to Australia in June next year, that it will help us build up the members of the Alliance and build bridges to evangelical and other church leaders who could benefit from the wider connection with Christians across the globe through WEA
c.. pray for the board and staff as they undertake a radical reappraisal over the next few months of our strategic plan and communications plan, so that we will find more effective ways of making the work of EA known and supported around Australia.
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