Relationship Ministries
Our Mission
To LEARN MORE about relationships, both with God and with each other
To LIVE MORE, through enriched relationships, knowing how to journey positively and confidently through losses, transitions and conflict, growing in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
To LOVE MORE, creating positive nurturing families and safe, supportive faith communities.
Simply stated, we are all “hard-wired to connect”1 in relationships, whether with other humans – or even more importantly with God.
Because we were created for community, it is natural to identify many arenas of human relationship. Relationship Ministries collaborates with other ministries to strengthen and nurture people in the organic Body of Christ, the Church. These other ministry initiatives include Children’s, Youth, Chaplaincy/Pastoral Care, Education, Aged Care, ATSIM and Women’s Ministries – all working to strengthen and nurture our human relationships.
In South Queensland, Relationship Ministries respond to the following specific focus areas:
These are often complex areas of ministry, since we were initially created as complex and perfect human beings in the image of God but have changed as a result of the original fall in the Garden of Eden and the ongoing effects through thousands of years of human history. There are few simple solutions to complex challenges, and Relationship Ministry often involves a process of education towards a broader and more-informed approach to problems and challenges.
Chaplaincy & Pastoral Care
Pastor Stephen Bews, Director of Adventist Relationship Ministries also serves as Coordinator of the Hospitals and Aged Care Chaplaincy team. This team, made up of trained volunteers and pastors, provides specialised Pastoral Care to people facing health-related crises or transitions. The recipients of this care include patients, residents and staff in Adventist Aged Care facilities and in many of the public and private hospitals throughout the South Queensland Conference.