National Conference of Australian Christian Churches explained

The National Conference of Australian Christian Churches is the biennial conference for the leadership of Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God (AOG). The first conference, held in 1937, founded the denomination by the amalgamation of the Pentecostal Church of Australia and the Assemblies of God in Queensland. Scott Morrison gave a speech to the conference in 2021.[1]

About

The National Conference is a gathering of Australian Christian Churches leaders across Australia to enjoy fellowship with each other and to discuss and vote on important issues as a denomination. The National Conference, along with the State Conferences, let pastors and leaders join as a denomination and be empowered and encouraged. The National Conference brings pastors and leaders up to date on the state of the denomination by the National Executive, finding out how each of the departments and ministries are going.

List of National Conferences

Year Location Notes
1937 Amalgamation of two denominations to form the Assemblies of God in Australia
1939 ?
1941 ? Henry Wiggins was elected as Chairman of ACC
1943 ? Held in the midst of the Second World War
1945 Philip Duncan was elected as Chairman of ACC
1947 A bible school fund was opened, and in the following year Commonwealth Bible College (now Southern Cross College) was opened
1949 ? ?
1951 Newly elected Chairman of ACC Alec Davidson launched the 'Christ for the Crisis Hour' crusade
1953 The Authorised Version of the bible was recommended as the accepted bible in ACC
1955 ? Evangelism was a dominant theme
1957 A commitment to foreign and home missions was renewed
1959 ? Alec Davidson was elected as Superintendent for the second time
1961 ? ?
1963 ? Appointment of the Department of Evangelism
1965 ? Royal Rangers was introduced to Assemblies of God churches
1967 ? The consideration of establishing a national headquarters was pushed forward
1969 ? George Forbes was appointed Director of Foreign Missions
1971 ? ?
1973 ? A special 'Committee on Restructure' was appointed for the future
1975 The Holy Spirit moved, calling pastors and leaders to wait upon the Lord's direction
1977 Andrew Evans becomes the Superintendent. Guest speaker Dr. Yonggi Cho from Korea
1979 Theme was 'Reach Out'
1981 Theme was 'Every Town' expressing the desire to have an ACC church in every town
1983 Theme was 'Let's take the Nations'
1985 Theme was 'Evangelise'
1987 Celebrating 50 years and 500 churches
1989 ? The 1990s were declared a 'Decade of Harvest'
1991 ? ?
1993 ? ?
1995 ? ?
1997 Brian Houston becomes the national leader
1999 Constitutional changes including changing the title of Superintendent to National President
2001 Theme was 'Accelerate'
2003 Theme was 'Momentum'. David Cartledge honoured after 26 years on the National Executive
2005 The National Conference hosted the World Assemblies of God Congress
2007 The public name of the denomination was changed to Australia Christian Churches
2009 Wayne Alcorn succeeds Brian Houston as National President. Southern Cross College launches its new name Alphacrucis
2013 Gold Coast, QLD
2015 Gold Coast, QLD

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Readfearn . Graham . 2021-05-08 . Ashes to ashes: Pentecostalism, the PM and the climate crisis . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-03-09 . 0261-3077.