Annual Congregational Meeting13th September 2026 | 12.00pm
Reforming our Plans and PrayersAnnual Report for the 12 month period
1st July 2025 to 30th June 2026
With grateful joyful thanks for everything the Lord has done, and praying for what He will do in and through Reforming Presbyterian Church.
Always Reforming
What happens at an Annual Congregational Meeting, anyway?
Ministry Reports
from the Session of Elders
Among Reforming Church, you will hear us talk a lot about culture. Why does culture matter so much? Because even if we believe the right things, our beliefs are seen in how we live. The fruit shows whether the tree is good or bad. We are convinced that it is not just enough to know or understand the gospel, this necessarily leads to a changed life that is evident to others.
As a church we are not just a gathering of individuals, but a body that is joined together in Christ. As a body, we all have different yet equally valued roles. As a Session of Elders, we continue to plan and pray towards how all of us can grow in love for the Lord and one another. Discipleship is central to the building up of the church as we grow in maturity in Christ. Many opportunities exist in the church, that we encourage each of you to take up.
1. First and foremost is the gathered worship every Sunday that is our foundational time of discipleship as a church where we hear God’s word read and preached, praise God together, serve one another and pray.
2. Secondly our groups are an integral way to forge gospel relationships with one another as we open up the Bible together and share the gospel and our lives week to week.
3. Thirdly, serving in various teams or ministries are times that God uses to grow us and develop our gifts. If you are not yet serving as a member, please consider where you may be able to serve for the building up of the church and for your growth in Christ.
4. Further, there are many more opportunities for discipleship, in the home, one to one, women’s and men’s ministries as you let the word of Christ dwell richly.
Finally, we have implemented the long held reformed practice of Elder’s districts, as a way to expand our capacity for pastoral care for the members of Reforming Church, that each member might know their elder who is particularly praying and shepherding them, as together the Session shepherds and equips the saints for the works of service.
We greatly appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we strive together to see Reforming grow in love for God and love for our neighbour in this next year ahead.
“We will give thanks to the LORD with our whole hearts; we will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Psalm 9:1
Rory Weightman
Session Clerk
With love and prayer,
Rory Weightman (Session Clerk)
from the Staff (Pastoral Assistants)
Evangelism & Equipping
As we look back over the past year at Reforming Church, we give thanks to God for his goodness and faithfulness to us. I am particularly thankful for the many ways that members of our church family have sought to make Christ known, grow as disciples, and serve one another.
1. Evangelism
Our desire in evangelism is to see Reforming Church become increasingly outward-looking: a church that loves our community, prays for those who don't yet know Jesus, and looks for opportunities to introduce people to the hope we have in Christ.
A particular highlight this year was our Easter Family Fun Day. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to welcome families from our church and the wider community, enjoy time together and, most importantly, point people towards the significance of Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus. I’m thankful for everyone who helped organise, serve and invite others along.
This year we once again ran our Hope Explored course for people looking into Jesus. Looking ahead, we want to build on this momentum, with the plan of running Christianity Explored regularly in Term 2 and 4, alongside further evangelistic opportunities at Easter, Christmas and through other church events.
2. Equipping
Our Men's Food, Fire and Faith nights have been a particular highlight. So far we’ve looked at Friendship, Fatherhood, Forgiveness and will be thinking about Facing Hardship together as Men this coming Friday (September 18th).
We want these evenings to be a space where we can be real as men with each other and talk about the hard things in life, and how our Faith in Jesus works out in practice. I’d love to see these also as an opportunity to invite outsiders into.
Another exciting development this year has been the establishment of our Reforming Media Room. This is an investment in our desire to equip people beyond our regular gatherings. We hope to increasingly use this space for podcasting and producing helpful Christian content that can encourage, teach and equip our church family throughout the week. Our vision is to make good biblical teaching and resources increasingly accessible, helping people to grow in their knowledge of God's Word and in their ability to live faithfully for Christ.
3. Serving
This year we have also taken the significant step of transferring over to ChurchSuite, for our rosters and other aspects of church life. We pray this will help us communicate more effectively, organise our ministries and better coordinate the many ways people serve within our church family.
Finally, I want to give thanks for the countless ways people have served Reforming Church over the past year. Much of this service happens quietly and often goes unseen
As we look to the year ahead, my prayer is that God would continue to make Reforming Church a church that is evangelistic in its mission, equipped in its discipleship and generous in its service. May God use each of us, in whatever way he has gifted us, to help build his church and make the good news of Jesus known.
Ryan Smith (Evangelism and Equipping)
Looking Outward: A Vision for Evangelism
The Evangelism Team is thankful for the opportunity to serve Reforming Church Bendigo and to help our congregation grow in its commitment to making Christ known.
At the heart of the church's mission is the good news of Jesus Christ. We want to be a church that not only loves and encourages those who are already part of our congregation, but is also continually looking outward — seeking opportunities to introduce our friends, families, neighbours, colleagues and community to Jesus.
Our vision is therefore simple:
To create regular, accessible opportunities for people who are not yet Christians to hear and consider the good news of Jesus.
We don't want evangelism to be something that happens only occasionally or through the efforts of a few particularly gifted people. Instead, we want to develop a culture where evangelism is a normal part of the life of our church — where every member feels encouraged and equipped to invite others to hear about Jesus.
With this vision in mind, we’re proposing a number of initiatives for the coming year.
1. Christianity Explored
One of our key priorities will be to run Christianity Explored twice each year.
Christianity Explored provides a relaxed and accessible environment for people to investigate the claims of Jesus, ask questions, and explore the Christian faith without pressure.
Running the course twice a year will mean there is something not too far away that you can invite someone to, if you have someone that may be interested.
We hope that Christianity Explored will become a natural pathway for people who are:
Curious about Christianity
Unsure what Christians actually believe
Open to asking questions about Jesus
Coming to church for the first time
Connected to someone in our congregation but not yet followers of Jesus
The goal isn't simply to run a good course. The goal is to build relationships that lead people towards Jesus. We would love to see members of our congregation regularly thinking:
"Who could I invite to the next Christianity Explored course?"
2. Easter Evangelistic Event
Easter provides one of the greatest opportunities in the year to proclaim the gospel.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are at the very heart of the Christian message, and Easter gives us a natural opportunity to invite friends, family, and members of the wider community to hear about what Jesus has accomplished.
We therefore want to develop an Easter evangelistic event that is welcoming, accessible, and points people to Jesus, inviting them to check out who he is and what he’s done for them at Easter.
For the past two years we have run a family fun day at Lake Weeroona. In particular this has been an opportunity to connect people from our playgroup to our wider church family.
Our hope is that this would be something that we feel comfortable inviting non-Christian friends and family to attend.
3. Christmas Carols
Christmas provides another wonderful opportunity to engage our local community with the gospel.
We’re keen to establish our Carols by Candlelight evening as an annual evangelistic event for Reforming Church. Our hope is that this will be warm, welcoming and accessible to the wider community, while retaining a clear focus on the coming of the Lord Jesus.
Our prayer is that people who come for the carols would:
Meet Christians → Hear about Jesus → Consider the gospel → Take a next step.
4. Reforming Weekend In
In the next year, Reforming are looking into hosting Sam Green, who works with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) as their Islamic specialist, for a weekend to help us think about how we can better share the gospel with Muslims. With the Bendigo Mosque as one of our closest neighbours, we’d love help equip our church and give us confidence in engaging with, and sharing the gospel with Muslims.
A Culture of Invitation
While these events are important, evangelism cannot ultimately be reduced to a calendar of activities. The bigger vision is to cultivate a culture of invitation throughout Reforming Church.
We want to encourage every member to be praying for people who don't yet know Jesus.
We want to equip people to share their testimony and explain the gospel. We want to encourage members to invite people to church, Christianity Explored, Easter, Christmas and other events. And we want to celebrate when people take steps towards Jesus — whether that is attending an event, asking a question, opening the Bible, joining Christianity Explored or ultimately putting their trust in Christ.
Our events are therefore not the destination. They are opportunities for relationships, conversations, and for sharing Jesus.
Alongside the formal opportunities, we want to encourage the everyday evangelism that happens through the ordinary relationships of church members — at work, at school, in sporting clubs, in our neighbourhoods and among our friends and families.
What We Are Asking of the Congregation
The Evangelism Team cannot fulfil this vision alone. We need the whole congregation. We are asking every member of Reforming Church to consider three things:
1. Pray
Pray that God would save people in Bendigo.
Pray for opportunities to speak about Jesus.
Pray for our events and courses.
And pray specifically for people you know who don't yet follow Christ.
2. Invite
Think about the people God has already placed around you.
Who could you invite to Christianity Explored?
Who could you bring to Easter?
Who could you invite to the Christmas Carols?
Who could you bring along to a Men's or Women's event?
3. Participate
We need people who are willing to welcome guests, cook food, run activities, share testimonies, pray, follow up newcomers, and simply build friendships.
If you feel like you could help out in any of the above ways (or others) we’d love to hear from you.
Looking to the Future
Our prayer is that, over time, Reforming Church would increasingly see more and more people come to know Jesus.
Ryan Smith – On behalf or the Evangelism Team
from the Staff (Pastoral Assistants)
Women & Children
Women and children are precious to Jesus and so our ministry to these groups is precious to Reforming! We aim to see women and children love Jesus, love the church and love the lost.
Here is what has been happing through our church to love women and children this past year.
Playgroup
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:5-6
We seek to be salt and light in our community through our Playgroup ministry.
We have on average 15+ non-church families joining us each week to sing, play and build relationships. Every term has a theme where we provide craft, mat time and morning tea. It is a BIG operation to run a playgroup both in administration, session content creation and relationship building but we are seeing wonderful fruit. We are always praying for our conversations to warm people’s heart to the gospel. Our Easter Playgroup evangelistic event was well attended, and we had two families attend our easter services. I have recently given a Bible to a seeking playgroup mum and we aim to advertise Christianity Explored soon!
I’m so thankful for the Reforming Playgroup Team: Elissa Weightman, Katie Pagliaro & Heather North who serve alongside me to run Playgroup.
Due to sickness or travel I am often running playgroup without any of our wonderful Reforming helpers. Would you be interested in joining to team? This is a great outreach opportunity!
Women’s Ministry
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children Titus 2:3-4
We have had a wonderful year of hearing women’s voices and seeing women trained and given opportunities to teach women and children. Our Women’s Brunches will see four different women from the church expounding sections of Romans 8 over the year.
We are excited to announce we are hosting next year’s WMV on the road conference on February 27th, 2027. This will also open teaching and leading opportunities for women in a women’s ministry context. If you are interested in serving in music, Bible reading, workshop running, MCing or catering please do let me know! The topic of the conference is ‘Identity in Christ’.
Children’s Ministry
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
We have been blessed with an explosion of kids in our junior kids room this year. It has brought with it great blessings with lots of little faces singing praises to the king. It has also brought knew challenges in how we navigate noise, allergies and neurodiversity needs in that space. I love that kids church is not just a classroom but it is also a family room, where relationships really do matter. So yes, it can be a bit chaotic but it is full of love!
We have had a wonderful answer to prayer with our growing number of senior kid’s teachers who are passionate about discipling 8-12 year olds. This is a pivotal age for understanding and believing the gospel.
Thank you to our growing children’s ministry team who make little disciples here at Reforming. A special thank you to Jessica Thornton, Josh & Amy Knott, Rory Weightman, Mel Jones, Nick Wall, Tanja & Leon Gouws, Michelle Rayson & Emma Spink as you have served in lead teaching this year. Thank you also to those who have heard the call to step up as lead teachers! Thank you to all the other leaders too without whom we could not run this ministry.
Aimee Grinter (Women’s & Children’s Pastoral Assistant)
Youth
This year has seen some significant changes for the Youth of Reforming. Annika Trinidad stepped down from her role as Youth Leader to prioritise her studies. We are grateful to God for her time serving with us and prayerful for her as she continues her degree.
We were joined by Emma Spink, who previously served as a Youth Leader and has blessed us with her passion for and service in making young disciples.
Most significantly, we have seen an increase in attendance, as many of our Reforming youth have brought friends from outside the church, including some from non-Christian homes. This has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to share Jesus with those who have not grown up knowing Him.
For our study sessions, we finished reading through Life with Jesus: Youth Edition – A Discipleship Course for Teens by Tim Chester and Katy Morgan. This was very encouraging and helped us discuss a range of topics, including our union with Christ, relationships, the Church, and suffering. We are prayerful that this study and our conversations have helped the youth to think Biblically about what it means to live out their faith in Christ.
We also began a study of the book of Judges, looking at some of its key figures. It has been wonderful to learn about God’s grace in delivering sinful people, and it has reminded us not to live according to our own strength or do what is ‘right in [our] own eyes’ (Judges 17:6), but to continually rely on God for both our salvation and our sanctification.
Another incredible encouragement has been the Profession of Faith classes facilitated by Russ Grinter. These voluntary sessions have given our older youth the opportunity to learn what it means to profess faith in Jesus. By God’s grace, we were blessed to see Heather profess her faith and be baptised.
As we see Term Three out, we are looking forward to our camp on the weekend of September 13th. The PYV’s Big Day Out will also be held in Ballarat in October, and we look forward to welcoming the Grade Six students as they join us for Term Four.
A lot has happened this year, as you can see, and we are incredibly grateful and encouraged by all that the Lord has done among us. Please pray that we may see more young people discipled to know Jesus, becoming hearers and doers of the Word, and that the Lord would raise up more Youth Leaders to help us share the Good News.
With love,
Aaron Pagliaro, on behalf of the Youth Leaders:
Nick Wall, Mel Jones, Emma Spink
Mission Partners
CU Bendigo
(Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students)
At Bendigo CU our mission statement is to 'Uncover Jesus Together'. We want to Know Him Ourselves, Love Him Deeply, Share Him With Others, and Live For Him On Campus.
Our regular on campus activities include our weekly bible talks, Uncover Groups, Training Time, 121s, and CU Socials. At our bible talks this year we looked at Certainty as we worked through Luke's gospel in semester 1, and Grace as we’ve worked through Ephesians in Semester 2. In our Uncover Groups, students have been doing studies in Luke and Isaiah.
We've also held a number of camps across the year. We had our Big Day in March where we unpacked Luke 3 and saw how the coming of Jesus was both expected and unexpected. In April we had our Blokes Camp and Girls Getaway (combined with students from Ballarat and Geelong). The Guys went to Ararat and looked at Habits that form Godly Men, while the women thought about Walking in Wisdom from Proverbs.
Our Mid Year Conference was held in Gisborne and we spent a week thinking about the Cross. We saw how Jesus death on the Cross wasn’t God’s plan B, but was always his plan from before the foundation of the world for our salvation. Our take away sentence from the week was: “On the Cross… Jesus defeated death and Satan through his sacrificial death in our place, that takes away God’s wrath and frees us from sin.”
We have plans to head away to Canberra in December for our annual National Training Event with students from all around Australia. NTE is an event where students are Trained in the Gospel, Transformed by the Gospel, and Sent with the Gospel to partner with local churches around the country and share Jesus. Bendigo has plans to send two mission teams this year (one to Kerang, and one to Gisborne).
In week 3 of semester 2, over two nights, the Christian Union put on ‘The Luke Drama’ on campus, which was a 90 minute dramatization of Luke’s gospel. We are so thankful to Reforming for allowing us to use Reforming House as a rehearsal space for the drama! We had over 300 people coming along, including a stack of non-Christians, a number of which have started reading through Luke’s gospel with someone as a result. We’ve had news just this week that one of them has started trusting Jesus for the first time. Praise God!
This coming week we will hold our annual AGM and elect our new student committee for 2027, (which includes one student from Reforming who is up for re-election on our servant team). Please pray that the students elected would be faithful, available, and teachable. That above all they would serve Christ in integrity and holiness.
If you'd like to hear more about the work of CU on campus this year, we have our annual CU celebration coming up on Saturday October 10th and we'd love to have you join us!
Also feel free to chat to me about the work on campus, or ask me about how you can receive our campus updates, pray for us, or give financially to support the work of the gospel at Latrobe Uni in Bendigo.
Ryan Smith, on behalf of CU Bendigo
Mission Partners
Michael and Jemima McNair
Presbyterian Inland Mission | Mt Magnet/Mid West (WA)
Mt Magnet ministry is one that you go down hot dry outback dirt roads, Physically and spiritually. The hope is in God and His power to save from a people from every nation tongue and tribe. Despite what might seem dry and resistant. He is the one that can give life to dry bones
Since arriving, one week is with PIM and one week is with Gospelair. The work here has been slowly settling in and becoming known in town and among the surrounding communities. We have fortnightly services and bible study with dinner to grow fellowship. Church membership / attendance has shifted with the rotation of new people in town for school, police, nursing post roles.
I regularly visit the local senior’s centers and the youth center in town building relationships; we have had a few good conversations in town in which one resulted in them coming to church. We have been able to visit a few stations that we were invited to, which was a real blessing for us and we hope also for them.
Every second week is with Gospelair, that take me to the surrounding communities to teach Christian Values Education in the schools.
We went on country with the local indigenous community on Naidoc week spent time with one of the community elders who shared their story of how they grew up on one of the missions.
Jemima has got a job in the school, working as a school officer, which has helped greatly in getting to know the community.
We thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for your Partnership with us in here in Mt Magnet and your generous gifts and pray that He continues to bless all in your congregation, that they continue to grow in Grace and knowledge, walking in every good work that He has prepared for you all. That your joy be full in Him and serving for His Glory.
God willing, we will be here for the long term and that you continue with us in prayer. With any hostile environment growth is slow, but that is the growth that we want solid sound by the Holy Spirit of God. That we continue to sow the seed and see that which has been already planted grow. The soil is hard and dry, but He is one who gives increase. 1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus
Michael and Jemima
ACM 2026 Agenda1. Constitution of our meeting through prayer, after reading Matthew 28:16–20.
2. Apologies:
Present – Reforming Members (Communicant Members and Adherents), please sign the attendance sheet.
Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation sustain the apologies listed.
3. Minutes of Congregational Meetings
Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation confirm the minutes of the 2025 Annual Congregational Meeting, 12th October 2025.
4. Ministry and Mission Reports
For our reading and encouragement, and prayer are found at: reformingchurch.org/acm-2026
5. Annual Report of the Board of Management
(For formal reception, and then approval for adoption)
Board Secretary’s Report
a. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation receive the annual report of the Board of Management for the year ended 30 June.
b. Questions of the report, and following discussion.
c. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation approve and adopt the annual report of the Board of Management for the year ended 30 June.
6. Consider the audited financial statement of accounts of 2025–26
Board Treasurer’s Report (on behalf of the Treasury Team)
a. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation receive the audited financial statement of accounts, noting the auditor’s report.
b. Questions of the report, and following discussion.
c. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation approve and adopt the audited financial statement of accounts as the record of the financial year of 2025-26.
7. Terms of Settlement for 2026–27
a. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation give authority to the Board of Management to vary terms of settlement of the Minister (Rev. Russ Grinter) in line with the recommendations approved by the Commission of the General Assembly of Victoria.
b. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation give authority to the Board of Management to vary the terms of conditions for Pastoral Staff (Ryan Smith and Aimee Grinter), in line with the recommendations approved by the Commission of the General Assembly of Victoria.
8. Budget for 2026–27
Board Treasurer’s Board Treasurer’s Report (on behalf of the Treasury Team)
a. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation receive the 2026-27 budget as approved by the Board of Management.
b. Questions of the 2026-27 budget
c. Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation adopt the 2026-27 budget for the current financial year.
9. Appointment of Auditor(s)
Draft Motion: It was resolved that the Congregation have authority be given to the Board of Management to appoint auditors for 2026–27
10. Number of Board Managers
Draft Motion: It was resolved that there be no change is required to the number of managers on the Board of Management.
11. Closing our meeting in prayer (Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow)
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
from the Board Secretary
Managers: Cameron Spink (Secretary), Dave North (Treasurer), Mel Jones, Nick Wall, Jobrian Trinidad, Aaron Pagliaro, Lewis Stone.
Elders: Rory Weightman, Cameron Clare, Ryan Smith
Chairman: Rev. Russ Grinter
Psalm 127:1, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.”
As a Board, we have much to be thankful for over the past year. In particular, we thank God for the generosity and faithfulness of our church family which has enabled Reforming Church to achieve our 2025–2026 budget. At a time when costs continue to increase and many are facing greater financial pressures, this is something we should not take for granted. Thank you to everyone who faithfully gives and enables the ministries of Reforming Church to continue and grow.
Growth, however, also brings challenges. Reforming is an increasingly diverse church family, encompassing different ages, stages of life, backgrounds and needs. Caring well for a growing congregation places increasing demands upon our Pastor Russ Grinter, Elders, ministry leaders and volunteers, as well as creating additional administrative work behind the scenes.
With this in mind, the Board in conjunction with the Elders, has made the decision to engage Aimee for an additional day each week. This will allow her to devote further time to women’s ministry, while also assisting Russ with a range of administrative responsibilities. We believe this is an important investment in caring well for the people God has brought to Reforming and in supporting Russ as he continues to pastor and lead our growing church.
As we look to the year ahead, we recognise that there will continue to be financial, practical and ministry challenges. We are thankful, however, that these challenges come in the context of a growing church in which God has provided people willing to give, serve and care for one another.
Please continue to pray for the Board—that we would exercise wisdom and good stewardship over the resources entrusted to us, support Russ, our Elders and our ministry leaders well, and make decisions that enable Reforming Church to faithfully proclaim Christ and care for His people.
Above all, we give thanks to God for His provision over the past year and trust Him for the year ahead.
Cameron Spink, Secretary of the Board of Management
Our God-given Generosity
The Audited Financial Statement of Accounts of 2025-26
Treasury Team: Dave North (Treasurer), Mel Jones, Cameron Spink
Philippians 4:19, ‘And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” This passage is talking about giving and gospel partnership - and we can be thankful that God has supplied our financial needs this year.
You will see in our financial statements an almost identical net surplus to the previous year of just
over $2,000. This was close to budget with giving and expenses slightly over our budget which had increased from the previous year.
The board had some hard discussions with the current budget - we are facing increased costs as well as tightening family budgets. The decision was made to pay Aimee an extra day a week (which puts her up to 2 days) although she does a lot more than this. We have also put our CPC Donation on hold in agreement with the PCV for this year to reduce immediate costs.
Wage increases are adding to our costs - but should also add to tithes / offerings that we give, so we have conservatively budgeted yearly giving up $10,000 (adjusted for camp expenses).
With these changes - our budget deficit is $8,500. Note this does include a depreciation amount (write off of Plant /Equipment / Renovations) of $9,600 - so in terms of cash flow our bank accounts should remain stable (depending on other building / equipment purchases).
We ask you to pray for the Treasury Team and Board to be faithful, wise and courageous. And pray for wise decisions and God’s hand in future building projects.
Any queries - please see Mel or Cameron for payments and Dave for Xero accounting / report queries.
Dave, Mel and Cameron
