Leadership Conference 2026

Artak welcomes the brothers in ministry who have travelled in from across Australia and opens the two-day conference. From Colossians 4:17 he reminds everyone that each believer carries a ministry in the church and calls them to fulfil it faithfully to the end.

Steve Bartlett teaches that a leader’s most important task is to lead himself and guard his own heart. Drawing on Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and his example of washing the disciples’ feet (John 13, Philippians 2), he speaks on humility and integrity, warning through David (2 Samuel 11) of the danger of unaccountable power.

Joel, church multiplication director for the NSW & ACT Baptist Association, shares the vision of planting a thousand healthy churches within a generation (Philippians 1:3–6). He explains that church planting is not splitting a congregation but sending out leader-families to reach new people, and recounts helping a Swahili-speaking congregation find a home within his own church in Newcastle.

Alexander Puzanov unfolds the theme “God’s Word in the mouth of the preacher” in three parts: preparing the heart, working with the text, and building the outline. From Mark 3:14 and John 12:49 he stresses that God first speaks to the preacher, and teaches holding to one central thought, handling the text faithfully, and driving the sermon toward clear application and a call to respond.

Ilia Zadoyanchuk, a deacon of the Adelaide church, traces the origin of the deacon’s ministry from Acts 6:1–7 and the qualifications of a deacon from 1 Timothy 3:8–13. He dwells on the charge to “hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience” and concludes that deacons are called to shoulder the church’s material and spiritual needs, freeing the pastors for the word and prayer.

Tim Burns, drawing on the image of the “two-winged church” and the early church of Acts 2:42–47, gives ten practical tips for leading a small group: keep Christ central, pray and prepare, create a safe environment, ask open-ended questions, involve everyone, shepherd people, and raise up future leaders.

A short opening word for the second day: Alexander Puzanov reflects on the fear of people versus the fear of God. Through Peter’s example and God’s charge to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:17), he urges ministers not to fear human opinion but to speak and act according to God’s Word.

Andrey Chornenky shares his experience mentoring youth, drawing on Proverbs 3:1–12 and Christ’s call to abide in His love (John 15). He stresses that the minister’s task is not to become youth’s best friend but to lead them to Christ, urges leaders to lovingly notice the overlooked, and reminds them that ministry is measured not by attendance but by spiritual growth.

Sergey Stolyarenko lays a biblical foundation for music ministry, reminding that music is not worship itself but the means of expressing it (2 Chronicles 29, Colossians 3:16). He unfolds four aims of singing — to the Lord, to one another, singing the truth, and expressing the church’s unity — and says the worship leader must himself be a worshipper, his faithfulness mattering more than musical gift.

Ivan Frolov reflects on serving as an assistant pastor through the image of the “second violin,” which never carries the melody but holds the harmony. Through three examples — Aaron and Hur holding up Moses’ arms (Exodus 17), the pride of Absalom (2 Samuel 15), and John the Baptist’s words “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3) — he shows that unity with the pastor is born when both are tuned to the single pitch of God’s Word.

Artak Amirbekyan closes the conference on building healthy teams and raising up leaders (2 Timothy 2:2). He warns against passing one’s own traditions to the next generation instead of God’s Word, teaches how to discern “tested, Spirit-filled” people, and urges leaders not to be afraid to trust and delegate ministry, remembering that brothers sharpen one another as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17).