2025 Annual General Meeting Overview
On Monday the 26th of May, we gathered as a church family for the NewHope Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Meeting in the now familiar hybrid format, there were 109 members present with nearly equal numbers attending online and in-person.
As per the published agenda, the evening started with a time of worship, before our Chair of Church Council, Tristan Ellett, opened the meeting and presented the 2024 AGM Minutes, which were confirmed following the approval of Church Council.
Darryn Hockley introduced the Church Council nominees who had reached the end of their two year term and were standing for re-election, fully endorsed by Church Council:
- Tristan Ellett – Church Council Chair
- Monique Jaksic – Ordinary Member
- Steve Stavridis – Ordinary Member
- Brett Rice – Ordinary Member
No other nominations were received by the Church Secretary prior to the closing date of 11th May.
Darryn also brought forward the recommendation for RDL Accountants to be appointed again for the 2025 financial year as the auditors for NHBC.
Voting was conducted by members via the Church Center app, ensuring an anonymous, secure and streamlined process.
The results were a positive vote for all nominees, and we thank Tristan, Monique, Steve and Brett for their continued service to our Church Council. RDL Accountants were also voted in as auditors for 2025.
Our Finance Director, Craig Neilson, presented the audited financial report for the 2024 financial year as well as the year-to-date 2025 financial results. The presentation can be viewed HERE, and audited financial statements, with audit reports can be viewed at newhope.net.au/aboutus.
Other presentations on the night included:
- The 2024 NewHope Baptist Church Annual Report
- An update on our new Senior Pastor
- 30 Years of Faithfulness Celebration Events in June
- Vision and Strategy:
- Spiritual Formation & Discipleship
- Growth & Outreach
- Multi Generational Ministry
- Cultural & Biblical values alignment
- Community Engagement & Volunteerism
- Financial Sustainability
- Governance & accountability
- And, the launch of the Legacy Fund to invest in the long-term future of NewHope Baptist Church. Further information can be found in the Rules for Use document and also in the FAQ section of our Giving page.
As part of the above presentations, plans were shared for the period between Allan finishing on the 30th of June and Andrew starting in 2026. Lance, Sally and Surette (with additional involvement from council) will be taking on various Senior Pastor roles (Acting). A very big thank you to Lance, Sally and Surette for what you continue to do for NewHope.
The final presentation of the night was given by Tristan Ellett on behalf of Church Council, inviting feedback regarding our facilities. Please see below for more details, and take this opportunity to share your input.
The night finished with a time for questions and a closing prayer. Thank you to everyone who played a part in making this gathering happen.
NewHope Facilities: Invitation from Church Council for Input
The Church Council is inviting feedback in relation to our NewHope facilities and how they are currently used and represented. The desire is for this input time to be a unifying and God honouring process. We are really interested to hear from you, if you have any thoughts that you wish to share, and we invite you to send any comments or feedback (it doesn’t need to be eloquent!) to council@newhope.net.au as Council seeks to hear from our community.