|PIC1|Baptist minister of 32 years, Mark Tronson and his wife Delma are coordinating 'Linking Sports to the Christian community'; which is one of the network groups being offered. The Tronsons' pioneered the Sports and Leisure Ministry in 1982-2000 and in 2000 established Well-Being Australia which has a focus on athlete respite.
In order to maintain a freshness in one's relationship with the Lord, there was a need for a sprinkling of practical workshops, without neglecting critical discussions among Christian leaders relating to their own walk with the Lord.
Since South Pacific nations are passionate about their sports, this particular workshop will certainly provide practical ways in which they can link their Christian witness to their community.
'Linking Sports to the Christian community' network group will centre on discussion so as to assist delegates in their own situations. This takes place after four short presentations -
Brian Codrington - on local church outreach in sports (Dural Baptist, Sydney)
Ken Clendinning - on ministry to a sports community (Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby League chaplain)
Delma Tronson - on Athlete Respite (Well-Being Australia)
Mark Tronson - on Olympic and athlete evangelism (Well-Being Australia).
M V Tronson commends the organisers in choosing a pleasant venue, and he says that if the Baptist World Congress was to have held the conference in a traditional church camp site it would have denigrated all those visitors who have made the effort to attend, and bring the Australian organisers (and by implication, Australia as a nation) into disrepute.
"I have been unsuccessfully battling for such venues for his own New South Wales Baptist Minister's annual conferences for years. By contrast to other conferences I attend regularly, our NSW Minister's event is poorly attended as it is held at a camp site well out of Sydney," explained Mark Tronson.
"I even went to the trouble of negotiating a remarkably competitive price at a major Sydney airport hotel, but it was all to no avail."
To illustrate his point, he notes that the Australasian Religious Press Association annual conference is held in similar major hotel facilities as are the Baptist World Congress conferences. Such facilities have a little more cost, but this is offset by so many advantages of comfort and convenience.