HARVEST 25 – We are called to DO: Everything you need to know!

As Greater Sydney Conference prepares for the Harvest 25 initiative, the Cycle of Evangelism emerges as a core focus for fostering growth and engagement across our churches. This initiative is reaping the fruits of past labour and cultivating a culture of strategic thinking that empowers every church to approach evangelism with purpose and vision.

The cycle of evangelism encompasses four key strategic focuses:

1. Raising Spiritual Temperature of our churches and members. The main reason the church exists is to help individual experience the power of revival.
2. Empowering Members: Churches thrive when members are equipped to share their faith confidently. By investing in training and mentorship, we create a community of empowered disciples who actively contribute to the mission.
3. Community Engagement: Building meaningful relationships with our surrounding communities is essential. Through service, outreach, and intentional connections, we demonstrate the love of Christ and invite others to experience His transformative power.
4. Growing Together: The spiritual journey is not meant to be solitary. As churches grow in numbers, they also grow in unity, fostering a supportive environment where faith can flourish. This focus ensures that discipleship happens in the context of meaningful relationships.
5. Digital Discipleship: In a rapidly changing world, technology provides new opportunities to share the gospel. Digital platforms enable churches to reach broader audiences, engage with seekers, and disciple believers effectively.

While Harvest 25 highlights the season of reaping that results of faithful sowing, the greater goal is to help every congregation develop a mindset of strategic planning and intentionality. The Cycle of Evangelism challenges churches to think beyond events and programs, developing comprehensive plans that ensure continual growth and outreach.

By embedding these principles into the DNA of our churches, we aim to create sustainable systems that align with our mission to make disciples. Harvest 25 is not the end. It is a significant milestone in a journey that seeks to transform lives, strengthen communities, and glorify God.

We are seizing this opportunity to embrace the Cycle of Evangelism, ensuring that every church thrives with a clear purpose, a solid strategy, and a heart for the mission of Christ.

The best way for churches to be part of Harvest 25 is for the leadership team and pastor to discuss resources and opportunities to serve, connect and share the gospel in a relevant and meaningful way. Each church needs to assess its own circumstances, as different churches have different challenges and opportunities. There are a great range of evangelistic activities and ministry services that your church can provide, depending on the resources available. Most important is that you church engage in some form of public evangelism.

Here are some possibilities:

Prophetica
Prophetica is a series of four TEDx-style prophecy programs on the history of tomorrow. The programs include either lunch or dinner. Topics include:

• Amazing Discoveries in Lost Civilizations: The Prophetic Code
• The Empire—Ancient Mysteries Reveal the Future
• Jerusalem’s Global Warnings: Today, Tomorrow & You
• The Global Agenda: Patmos & The Apocalypse.

Bubsie
In 1925, a small Citroën made history by being the first car to travel around Australia. Its owner and driver, Nevill Westwood, was a young Seventh-day Adventist missionary and evangelist from Carmel College, Western Australia. In 2025, the Incredible Journey will commemorate the circuit around Australia, sharing the gospel as they go. This will include conducting outreach programs and other forms of evangelism at local churches in major cities and smaller regional centres across rural Australia.

Your church may have other ideas. Evangelism campaigns can be done in a number of ways, and Prophetica and Bubsie are just two simple, ready-to-go options. What matters is that your church has an active plan to reach out into the community, share the gospel and make disciples. These can include door-knocking initiatives, sharing literature, giving Bible studies, and more.

For more in Bubsie visit https://tij.tv/event/rightaroundaustralia/.

If you need further advice or help planning an evangelism campaign, contact the Conference team.

Financial funding is available through a variety of sources. These include the following:

• Tithe Reversion
  • 2.5% of local church tithe is returned to local churches for evangelism purposes.
  • An extra 1% is available for churches that have a clear evangelistic strategy and are willing to participate in the Natural Church Development (NCD) program.
• Cycle of Evangelism
  This is a pool of funds budgeted by the Conference for evangelism activities. All churches can apply for a share.
• AUC Funding
  As part of the Harvest 25 initiative, the Australian Union has allocated additional evangelism funding that churches can apply for.

Marketing support is available.

For help formulating a marketing plan and with promotional or advertising materials, contact the GSC Communications Department at [email protected]. Access this information on the Conference website at https://sydney.adventist.org.au/ministries/communications/.

Our mission in Greater Sydney is to make disciples of Jesus Christ and grow together in discipleship. This is based on the directions that Jesus gave His first disciples, after He died on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins and then was resurrected back to life to give us the promise and hope of eternal life. As we get closer to the Second Coming, Jesus has a special message of good news for us to share with the world, to invite people to become His disciples, join His prophetic end-time movement and prepare for His soon return.

Our vision is to be, “a thriving, disciple-making movement in Greater Sydney”.

Our purpose is to transform lives for eternity by providing hope, encouraging faith and showing love.

We focus on this mission through five (5) strategic areas. For a church overview click here.