Surrender 2024

UPSIDE DOWN REVOLUTION

Workshops

  • God is not Jesus and Jesus is not Justice: How the Trinity Changes Everything and Disintegrates our ‘Jesus Tinsel’ (Dr Jaqueline Service)

    We all use it at times – ‘Jesus Tinsel’ – those views where we just add the shiny tinsel of Jesus and hey presto! it makes something ‘Christian.’ But does just adding ‘Jesus’ make something Christian? What do we miss when we fail to see that Jesus alone is not God and that justice is in fact an act of the Triune God. Jacqueline’s workshop will challenge us to think about how an overly narrow focus on Jesus often eclipses the big picture of who God is as Triune. Her teaching will show us how the Trinity is not some dusty old technical and scary doctrine but is essential to shaping truly Christian concepts of justice and what it means to live a life of surrender. If you want to be inspired by the beautiful and radical giving nature of the Triune God, if you want to learn how worship of this God shapes a new way of being in the world, then come and learn to participate in the life of God for the life of the world.

  • The Underground Forest and Christian duty to care for creation (Tony Rinauldo)

    Tony will share his personal journey from country Victoria to West Africa and how a God inspired tree regeneration technique has restored vast areas of degraded land, improving the lives of millions of small holder farmers and given birth to a global environmental movement. He will share biblical insights on God’s love for creation, his continued action in maintaining it and our Christian duty to be good stewards, giving examples of creation of care activities undertaken by contemporary churches. This will be followed by a time for Q and A and breaking into small groups to discuss how Christians can engage in creation care in Australia.

  • Climate Pastoral Care (Jessica Morthorpe)

    Worried about climate change and what it means for our futures? Join us for a workshop introducing climate anxiety, grief and distress; why these emotions matter for the church and church leaders; and sharing resources for supporting each other, our communities and our young people through these experiences.

  • Hospitality & Community Engagement: Living Out Jesus' Upside-Down Revolution (Stephen Barrington)

    In a world filled with isolation and despair, how can we create local spaces that unite people and reflect Jesus' subversive love, especially to those on the margins? This workshop will explore practical ways to embody hospitality, foster inclusion, and nurture safe, welcoming spaces. Stephen and the Foothills team have been living this out in their local community by distributing 50,000 free, nutritious meals each year. Their motto is "Everyone is welcome at our table."

  • Hanging in for the long haul: Developing spiritual practices and rhythms that bring joy and prevent burnout to an active life of radical love. (Norlane Community Initiatives)

    Kaylene and Simon Reeves, along with their three children, have spent over 20 years living out their faith and pursuing radical discipleship. This journey has led them to live in some of Melbourne's, Alice Springs', and Geelong's most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. They now serve as founders and managing directors of The Good Neighbourhood Project in Norlane (Geelong), which helps neighbourhoods flourish through the transformative power of relationships (https://www.thegoodneighbourhoodproject.org). They are passionate leaders of neighbourhood-based faith communities, bringing deep experience in community development, social enterprise, place-based theology, and nonviolent direct activism. Simon holds a Degree in Social Work, a Graduate Diploma in Theology, and a Master's in Social Change and Sustainability, while Kaylene has a Degree in Public Health and Nutrition. 

  • We’re all equals right? Thinking about power in the upside-down revolution (Clinton Bergsma [Amos])

    Aussies have a strong preference for egalitarianism.  We don’t like tall poppies or top-down power- plays.  While there’s much to celebrate about this approach, it also means that we tend to ignore or downplay the power we do hold.  Come be a part of a hands-on conversation about power in the upside-down Kingdom of God.  Together we’ll plot our levels of power on the wall and have a conversation about what emerges: what does it say about the power we have?  How might Jesus’ example shape the way we use that power in the messiness of life?  And how might what we see inform our relationships with those who are first in the kingdom of God – the last, the least and the lost?

  • Blessed are the middle class, for theirs is the kingdom of Christendom. The need for solidarity with people on low incomes. (Mark Zirnsak)

    Financial inequality continues to increase in Australia and globally. With wealth comes political power, so increasingly 2:30pmthe wealthy can skew the political system to their interests. People on lower incomes have become more likely to distrust democracy and believe their needs are not represented. The trend is undermining social cohesion and trust in our society and across the globe.

    Surveys show middle-class people feel justified in discriminating against people with lower formal education, even when such people know more than them about a particular topic. Given the middle-class base of many churches, how do we get back to Jesus’ example of solidarity with the marginalised? The workshop will explore how Christians and churches can stand with people who have been marginalised and explore responses, such as codesign of government policies and democracy vouchers to reduce the influence of the wealthy.

  • The Poor Will Always Be With You: Poverty, Jesus, and the Revolution (David Wilson)

    Jesus was criticised for allowing expensive perfume to be poured on his feet. Judas said the money spent on the perfume could’ve been given to the poor. Interesting statement for a crooked Treasurer to make! Jesus said that the poor will be always with us, but he won’t, and the anointing was preparing him for burial. Interesting statement for Jesus, the champion of the poor, to make.

    I wonder if Jesus had in mind that Old Testament statement from the Book of Deuteronomy (chapter 15), where it starts out by saying that there will be no poor among you (v4) but then quickly adds instructions for looking after poor people (v.7) because the reality is ‘there will never cease to be poor people in the land” (v.11)

    This workshop will explore, in the light of these Biblical statements, what poverty is in the Australian context, and what is/can be done to address it. It will involve a panel, moderated by David Wilson, consisting of people who are working in the area and who also have ideas for addressing the issues in the future. The moderator will give some teaching on the topic, the panel will have a conversation, and the audience will be invited to participate, thinking through the question of what the Jesus Revolution will look like as far as poverty is concerned.

  • Global Hope Report: Living as people of hope in an uncertain world (Tearfund)

    Tearfund recently commissioned NCLS Research to undertake research into what Australians think are the most important global challenges facing the world today, their levels of concern about climate change, and how hopeful they feel about the future of our world, of Australia, of their local community, and their personal future. 

    In this workshop, we’ll explore people’s current levels of concern and hope, how belief in God, religious and spiritual practices, and fellowship affect these things, and tangible ways in which Christians can take hope-fuelled action in response to poverty and injustice.

  • Learning from the poor about good food and hospitality for an upside-down revolution (Clinton Bergsma [Amos]}

    If Jesus was a modern, non-Jesusy saviour, he might well declare: “I have come to set the oppressed free through advances in technology and increased legislation.” But he’s not, and he wouldn’t. 

    While we want to avoid calling anything a golden bullet, we have a hunch that good food and hospitality are undervalued in our society despite being important to the upside-down revolution Jesus invites us to participate in.  We’ll share some lessons we’ve learned from the economically poor communities we serve in South-East Asia, and together – while enjoying delicious snacks and micro-hospitality of course – we’ll explore how the Gospel and the expertise of the economically poor might inform our attempts at living upside-down.

  • Up-side-down Revolution: Ending Child Slavery in Our Lifetime (David Wilson)

    In this thought-provoking workshop, David from ZOE Foundation Australia will bring the focus to where Jesus would likely be found today—among the marginalised and the vulnerable. David spent over 11 years of working with ZOE in Thailand and has firsthand experience in supporting children on their pathway to healing and restoration. ZOE works to prevent child trafficking, rescue children from slavery, and restore new life to survivors and at-risk orphans. 

    This workshop will highlight:

    - Our connections to modern slavery.

    - The hidden problem of child slavery in Australia.

    - Holistic ways to end child trafficking.

    - Practical ways you people of faith can engage and work toward ending child slavery in our lifetime.

    We invite you to join this powerful conversation and be part of an upside-down revolution in oursociety and our churches

  • Starts 8am Friday 21st March 2025

  • Friday and Saturday 21-22 March 2025

  • Friday and Saturday 21-22 March 2025

  • The Festival

    Saturday is jam-packed with opportunities to connect with others, hear from our contributors, head into workshops, connect with exhibitors - and come away both challenged and inspired by what you hear.

  • Accommodation

    We have some (ticketed) accommodation available in the Diamond Valley accommodation area - simple bedding with self-catering.

    You’re also welcome to keep things really simple and pitch a tent!

    Alternatively, you may prefer to find other accommodation options in the beautiful ranges area.