Assembly: Tasmanian Baptists Get Together
Nov 08, 2023
ABOVE Those gathered at the annual Assembly, held at Riverlands Longford, 21st October 2023
We are Tasmanian Baptists
This year’s Annual Assembly was well-attended on Saturday 21st October at Riverlands Longford.
Instead of the usual Friday/Saturday schedule, delegates from our churches met on Saturday only, starting a little earlier than usual. Evidently, this caught some by surprise!
Annual Assembly 2023 – Report
By Alan Firth, Claremont
Over the years I have learned that travelling to and from Assembly is a great catch up with fellow travellers, and this time there were four of us travelling together. We arranged to start at the usual time of 7:30am, and we had a good journey up the Midlands Highway.
When we arrived, people were milling around collecting communion elements and settling down for the session. Whilst it was not the usual start, it was good to be celebrating communion with others from our Churches across the state.
It was not until someone referred to the previous music, and I checked the Assembly papers on my laptop, that I realised we had missed a second implementation of daylight savings! Oh well, at least we will not need to thoroughly read Assembly papers to ensure we don’t miss the second coming!
Highlights of the Day
A clear highlight was to learn of initiatives attempted in some of our fellow churches. These times were both encouraging and informative.
For me, the catching up in the breaks with individuals from across the Tasmanian Baptist community is also a highlight as it is really our only opportunity to do so. For these reasons alone, I struggle to understand why it seemed not all of our churches were represented.
Business conducted, in-brief
* All nominations for positions were elected uncontested and endorsed. These included two new Council members: Craig Hawkins (The Point); and Hazelyn Mohan (Claremont).
* Excellent briefings took place in developments in various areas. This included including the training of pastors and insurance changes.
* Assembly endorsed the tweaking of responsibilities in light of operational and staff circumstances.
* In particular we welcomed the reappointment of Rodney Marshall. He has the new title of Operations Manager.
* We also welcomed the continuation of Stephen Baxter as Mission Director, albeit with a reducing availability and a flexibility over the coming years. This will enable an unhindered search for his eventual replacement.
As well . . .
We had a lovely (hearse-transported!) lunch, were led by skilled chairman Scott Ambrose, and posed for a group photo.
Indeed, we dealt with business so efficiently and effectively, with the reward being an early release! The wild weather forecast for the day occurred well after we were all home.
Clearly God blessed our family time with Him.
Alan Firth, Claremont Baptist
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