In response to Classis Western Australia’s overture to appoint a Church Outreach Taskforce (Overture 3), Synod instead decided to appoint a person to the GROW workgroup to advance local church outreach, and to adopt the following mandate for that person:

In understanding Task 2 of the Four Fold Task ‘To grow healthy churches which nurture and equip their members and, by God’s grace, expand numerically, become the mother-churches of as many fellowships and congregations as possible, and take further initiatives to penetrate structures of society with the gospel,’ and in the awareness that evangelism and outreach are core responsibilities of the church, the local church outreach representative shall collaborate with GROW and the MDC to:

1) Raise awareness of local church outreach as a core value of the CRCA, giving attention to relevant issues of CRCA church ethos;

2) Collaborate and communicate with local church councils and Classes to:

a. mobilise church members toward effective outreach and sharing of the good news of Jesus, taking care to understand and respect each unique local church context;
b. suggest relevant resources (e.g. material from other church contexts, stories and examples of best practise in the CRCA);
c. raise items of prayer via email and other media (see Task 1, Four Fold Task), encouraging churches and their members to fervently seek the Lord’s blessing in this work.

3) Do this work with a view to CRCA churches and members effectively reaching the lost for Christ.

Synod’s final decision in regards to this new position was to appoint me as the Local Church Outreach Representative. In this blog I would like to introduce myself, and each week I will be sharing how I will be sending new blogs about outreach to encourage and equip you as churches, and us as followers of Jesus, in reaching the lost with the Good news of Jesus Christ.

My name is Joshua Hartog. I grew up in Tasmania. Both my parents and grandparents were faithful members of the Reformed church. I was baptized in the Kingston CRC and at the age of 19 did my profession of faith in the Devonport CRC. I worked at my dad’s poultry farm for 8 years before being called into the ministry. I moved to Brisbane in 2000 and studied at the Queensland Bible College. I completed a Bachelor of Ministry, and did most of an Honours year, before completing an extra year at the RTC in 2005. Westside Christian Church called me as their vicar in 2006 and their minister in the following year. To date I have pastored Westside for over twelve years.

I don’t have the gift of Evangelism, although I love the gospel and enjoy telling people about Jesus. Over the years I have walked alongside many people on their journey to faith. Some have been young people who have grown up in the church. Some have been people who wandered away from the church and God has brought them back. Others have been brand new to the faith. I am very aware that in being appointed as the Local Church Outreach Representative that I am not an expert on outreach. Rather, God has been growing my heart for the lost, and as a Church we have been growing in our passion to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

There have been four main influences in my outreach journey. The first has undoubtably been what God has been doing in my heart through the Spirit. Over the years the Spirit has opened my eyes to God’s heart for the lost, and his desire to build His kingdom and bring glory to His name. The second has been my church. Westside started nearly 17 years ago with a desire to impact the local community with the Good News about Jesus. In that time we have tried all sorts of things, some worked, some didn’t, but the desire to share the gospel has always been a part of our DNA, which has rubbed off on me. The third influence has been Organic Outreach. In the last year I have read the books, received coaching, and preached a sermon series, and my passion for outreach has never been higher. The final main influence in my outreach journey has been our Community Pastor, Keith Pellicaan. Keith is passionate about evangelism, and it really is contagious. I see my role as a fellow believer who is growing in the desire to share the gospel. I want to encourage you on your journey as you live out your faith in Jesus and as you proclaim him as Lord and Saviour. I pray that together we might become a Church reforming to reach the lost for Christ.