A lot can change in a year. 12 months ago today, Tony Abbott was Prime Minister, Bill Shorten’s approval rating was 45%, Sepp Blatter was head of FIFA, Volkswagen had an impeccable reputation, Germany had about 1 million fewer people, and Australia was confident of keeping the Ashes.
12 months ago today, I was not only without grand-children (now rectified!), but was just about to start a new role at Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living.
My first year at CCL has flown by, and in God’s kindness it’s been a productive one. The Centre is back up and running (after a bit of time in mothballs), and is once again providing regular, valuable input on ethics and Christian living to Sydney and beyond. Nearly 1000 people came to our five public events throughout 2015, and the sense of interest and engagement at the events was very encouraging.
Now 2016 is upon us, and it is shaping up to be an even better year.
Firstly, we’re more organized, and have already finalised our program of public events for the year (in no small measure due to the organizational talents of Emma Newling). So that you can plan ahead, here are the details:
- Thursday 17 March: Learning to speak Christian in an online world (with Lionel Windsor and Tony Payne)
- Wednesday 4 May: Jesus Now (with Peter Orr)
- Monday 1 August: Pursuing Unity: What is church unity and why should we care? (with Ed Loane)
- Wednesday 19 October: The Psalms in the Christian life (with Andrew Shead)
Secondly, after experimenting with Livestreaming at one of our events last year, we’ve decided to Livestream all our CCL events in 2016. This means that you can choose whether you want to come and be part of the fun in person, or (especially if you live further afield) get a group of friends together and watch the Livestream.
Thirdly, we’re aiming to roll out much more content on our website this year, both leading up to and following on from the events. Keep an eye out for regular short articles, QandA’s, audio and video clips, and more.
And lastly, to help you keep in touch with what’s happening, we’re going to be sending out a monthly email update with a summary of everything that’s been happening on the website, and the latest news about our events. If you don’t already get regular emails from CCL, head over to our home page and sign up.
It’s shaping up to be a great year. Emma and I look forward to catching up with you at one of our events.
Tony
