Stephen is a husband, a dad, and a founding member of the Melbourne Victory Football Club. He is involved in leading missio Dei, a church in Melbourne’s north east. He is employed by Tear Australia as National Youth Coordinator and as a sessional lecturer at Tabor College Melbourne and ACOM.
As National Youth Coordinator with TEAR Australia, Stephen’s focus is on education and public speaking (in both Christian and secular contexts) on issues of social justice, poverty, consumerism and the work of TEAR internationally, as well as facilitating short term exposure experiences for young adults.
As a sessional lecturer, Stephen focuses on the spiritual formation of young adults in contemporary culture, ethics, gospel culture dynamics and missional leadership. He writes for numerous Christian paper and e-zines, and blogs regularly at www.neurotribe.net/blog.
Stephen has been involved in youth and young adult ministry initially in inner suburban Melbourne and for the last 16 years in the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne. With a background in IT and new media, and armed with a degree in Missiology, he spends most of his time helping Christians come to terms with being disciples "in" Pop Culture, rather than disciples "of" Pop Culture.
Stephen is sought after regularly to speak, write and incite people in the first world to consider holistic missional responses to the challenges of the emerging global culture.
(Thursday 12:30pm-2:00pm, 2:30pm-4:00pm, 4:30pm-6:00pm, Friday 8:30am-10:00am)
Jesus seemed to spend the majority of his teaching time talking about the “Kingdom of God.” What is that Kingdom? Why is it such a dominant theme for Jesus? Most importantly, what are the practical implications of it for today? How would this affect our role in youth ministries?
(Friday 4:00pm-5:15pm)
“God created man in His own image and man has been returning the favor ever since.”
I have a sneaking suspicion that Jesus was not white, did not have long flowing hair, and his sole mission in life was not trying to turn humanity into nice people who regularly attend church services.
The Jesus who loved passionately, spoke of freedom and equality, befriended the outcasts at the cost of his own life and lived an life of revolutionary grace and acceptance doesn’t seem to get much mention in sermons or Sunday school. Have we turned Jesus into someone he is not?
This workshop will explore the Jesus of the gospels. A Jesus who simultaneously inspires us and frightens us with a dream of a transformed world, a Jesus who invites us to participate with him in making that dream a reality, as well as leaving you with tools to ensure that the Jesus who is at the core of your discipleship agenda, is not simply a construct of Australian aspirations, but a living, breathing radical God-Man.
Bring your New Testament with you
(Sunday 10:30am-11:45am)
What can we do to help inspire young people to do something about poverty, suffering and injustice? And if we do manage to suitably “inspire” them, how can we actually help them to be effective? |
