A new goal to see 5% of average service attendance saved - with Pete Stedman, Jon Kwan, and Jo Gibbs

After a significant debate over two days, the Sydney Anglican Synod resolved to embark on a bold new five-year mission focus, praying and working towards five percent growth in church attendance through the conversion of the lost, each year.

The resolution, “in a spirit of humble dependence and pastoral flexibility,” invited every part of the diocesan fellowship to commit to the goal.

Pete Stedman, Senior Minister of Norwest Anglican, spoke of a turning point for his own parish after a review.

“We realised we had drifted from what matters most. We were measuring busyness, not fruit. We were celebrating activity, but not conversion. That day, God convicted us. We repented, and we asked him to change our hearts.”

“This is about humble dependence. It is about acknowledging that we cannot change a single heart. Only God can. But in his kindness, he calls us to pray, to preach, and to persevere.”

Watch this episode (from before the synod debate) with your staff team and read the full report to stimulate thinking about how you might best get across this issue.

Our guests are Pete Stedman, senior minister at Norwest Anglican Church, and a member of the Archbishop’s subcommittee that proposed the 5% goal, Jon Kwan, lead pastor at St. David's Forestville and Jo Gibbs, senior consultant with Reach Australia.