Disability is part of every community, and God calls his church to welcome and include all. As churches respond to this call, they find the outcome of richer community life benefits everyone. This year at SURRENDER, we will be exploring how we can be individuals, churches and communities that are growing as people and places of acceptance, reflecting God’s inclusive love. CBM will be giving sharing their insights through workshops, interviews, poetry and more. There will also be Christian Auslan interpreters from the Australian Christian Interpreters Network, who are available for conference and other events.

Thursday 22 March, 9:30–4:00pm at Belgrave Heights Convention Centre$40 (or $20 for full conference attendees)S:12 Youth Leaders Training Day is for passionate youth and young adult leaders, pastors and workers across Victoria. This is an incredible opportunity to hear from Andy Hawthorne about how to create a youth ministry that reaches the most challenging young people in your community. Andy will share frameworks and models from his experience of youth community development that will enable your youth ministry to share God’s life changing love in word and action!

Friday 23 March, 9:00 -5:30pm (including 2pm and 4pm sessions) at Belgrave Heights Convention Centre$50 (unless registered as part of conference)This year, pastors have the opportunity to attend a Professional Standards Workshop during the Friday at SURRENDER with Darryl Gardiner and Mick Duncan. The two-part session will look at a model for self care within ministry, as well as a framework for pastoral care that enables pastors to walk positively and helpfully with broken and marginalised people.

This year SURRENDER’s kids program (for primary aged kids) will look at human rights and empowerment of people with disabilities through children’s eyes. The program will explore the themes of SURRENDER in a fun, playful, interactive environment!

A collection of selected works from Indigenous artists, Max and Goma Conlon will be available for sale in the auditorium – a majority of the proceeds from the sale of these works goes towards supporting Indigenous leadership development. See the guys at the registration desk if you are interested in making a purchase.

Good Cricket Allround was birthed out of Urban Seed’s response to inner city safety issues with random acts of street cricket resulting in “a different kind of hit” in Melbourne’s back lanes. Today Good Cricket runs participation programs among Indigenous and newly arrived migrant communities, turning hard knocks into ‘good knocks’. Look out for random acts of community cricket across the Surrender weekend.  www.goodcricket.com.auTime: 12:30-2:00pm daily

Church at the Heart of Community

This year at SURRENDER, we will be reflecting on how churches and communities can bring hope in their community. All across Victoria are active churches bringing about God’s peace and justice in their local neighbourhood. Come and hear from local ministers and church workers who have engaged their church in walking with people on the fringe, standing against injustice, loving those who are broken and bringing about the Kingdom in the streets around their church.

The END THE CYCLE photo exhibition is your chance to encounter people with disabilities from the Solomon Islands and Cambodia, as they tell you their own stories in their own words.END THE CYCLE is a community awareness initiative that seeks to promote the human rights and empowerment of people with disabilities living in poor countries. It is implemented through a rights-based methodology – people with disabilities and their organisations have participated in every stage of End the Cycle resource development, retaining control over the use of their own words and images.This is their stories as they want them to be told

The S12 Village will be hard to miss! It will be the centre of activities outside of the main auditorium sessions so explore the Village for some great food stalls, info sessions or simply just come and hang out! 

If you’re in high school there are some activities especially for you led by a group of Praxis youth work students.   There will be a chance to chat with a few of the keynote speakers in a smaller group    , time to debrief the day, and ideas about which workshops might fit with youth.Time: 9:15 – 10:15am daily

As a way to further connect and share at SURRENDER:12, our Hosting Partners will be facilitating Connect Conversations in their tents in The Village each night at 5.30pm. This is an opportunity to gather with likeminded people to pray, chat and share conspirational ideas together throughout the weekend. It’ll be a great way to meet new people, process your thinking and offer support to each other.Time: 5:30-6:00pm daily

Lots of our Partners and friends have great information about ways you can get involved directly, get further equipped and discern directions for life-long discipleship. Collect 8 stamps from random display stands and come and claim a gift at the main desk!