The Gathering
Friday, 8 and Saturday, 9 May 2026
Friday 8 and Saturday 9 May marked The Gathering, including our Annual Assembly. Over two days, 380 people gathered across 7 venues from throughout our movement to worship together, be equipped for ministry and strengthen connections with one another.
There was so much more that was presented, discussed and decided over the 2 days, read on to find out all that happened at The Gathering!
Keynote Recordings
At The Gathering we were blessed with a keynotes from Tim Dyer about being ready for leading ministry in a complex world on Friday and Emmah Makuthi on being ready to live faithfully in a broken world on Saturday. To relive those sessions watch the recordings down below.
Meet our Speakers
Tim Dyer
Ready for Leading Ministry in a Complex World
Emmah Makuthi
Ready to Live Faithfully in a Broken World
Bible Breakouts & Workshops
A key new addition to The Gathering program was the introduction of Bible Breakouts and Workshops. Led by a diverse group of leaders from across our Baptist family, these sessions created space to go deeper into God’s Word and explore practical ways to serve our communities more effectively. We hope everyone who participated found them encouraging, equipping and valuable.
158th Annual Assembly
The Assembly dealt with a number of AGM matters including receiving the Annual Report, the Financial Statements and approving the Church Partnership Support Budget of $1.55 million.
Seven individuals were approved to proceed to Accreditation, and two further pastors had their accreditation transferred into the Association.
Encouragingly, two churches were approved to proceed to Affiliation, with the Assembly voting that Calderwood Valley Baptist Church and Greenhouse Church Long Jetty officially join the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT.
The Association’s Strategic Plan (2026-2028) was also approved, in an exciting time for our Movement.
In respect of the ballots for various positions, the following people were elected at the Assembly:
Assembly Council
- Rev Andrew Kerr (Gundagai Baptist Church) – Elected
- Dr Catherine Casey (Parramatta Baptist Church) – Re-Elected
Morling College Council
- Dominic Valastro – Elected
- Helen Blanch – Re-Elected
- Dr William Pierson – Re-Elected
Baptist Churches of NSW Property Trust
- Judith Carpenter – Re-Elected
- Geoffrey Moore – Re-Elected
- Michael Williams – Re-Elected
Director of Ministries
- Rev Dr Steve Bartlett – Re-Appointed
We thank each of these people for being willing to serve and pray God’s blessing on them in their roles.
