On Thursday afternoon I had the opportunity to attend a Leadership Network meeting in Spreydon Baptist.
Leadership Network is an organisation that is being developed by former Senior Pastor Murray Robertson of Spreydon Baptist church. The vision of the Leadership Network is to encourage pastors, elders and other church leaders in the development of effective missional churches throughout New Zealand.
At this meeting we were introduced to the opportunities and challenges that two large churches within Christchurch have experienced due to the recent Earthquakes which have well and truly blurred the lines of denominational differences and shown that collaboration between churches is not only possible but beneficial to the health and well being of the church as a whole.
Prior to the earthquakes the senior pastors of Spreydon Baptist and Grace Vineyard had met to discuss ways in which they could together reach out to the city of Christchurch. The earthquake has very much sped up that process and now not only are they combining for evening services but Spreydon has, after substancial damage to Grace Vineyard opened up their office space and building for them to coexist in the same church complex for the time being.
At the meeting we were also introduced to Nvader which is a Christian-based non-profit organization whose purpose is to effectively combat the commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and children by facilitating their rescue and the prosecution of the perpetrators responsible. 
Nvader founder, Daniel Walker, has twenty years law enforcement experience. Daniel spent four years working undercover in more than a dozen countries documenting cases of human trafficking on behalf of two international human rights organizations. His efforts have resulted in the rescue of many hundreds of women and children as well as the successful prosecution of many traffickers.
You can read about his journey and the case for Nvader in his book, God in a Brothel.
We were also introduced to ‘Fresh Expressions’ which encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. The initiative has resulted in hundreds of new congregations being formed alongside more traditional churches.
For more information check out the link to an introduction by Graham Cray.
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