Frustrated that too many local places are written off, Revd Dr Ash Barker founded Seedbeds to grow local leaders who cultivate shalom from where they live. A pioneering urban missiologist, activist, and author, Ash has spent over 35 years on the frontlines of urban poverty. As a founding energy behind the first Surrender Conferences (launched in 2003 through Urban Neighbours of Hope), he helped renew a call to radical discipleship and lived presence in marginalised places—a pulse that continues in Surrender today. After 21 years leading UNOH from Melbourne’s Springvale neighbourhood and Bangkok’s Klong Toey slums, Ash and his wife Anji moved to Winson Green, Birmingham (UK) in 2014. There they founded Newbigin House, planted two congregations, and launched initiatives including Newbigin Community Trust, Red Letter Christians UK, and the Urban Shalom Society. Ash and Anji are URC Ministers at Lodge Road Community Church in Winson Green with Anji have a wider regional role supporting pioneering leaders. For the past decade Ash has led Seedbeds, that has grown to become an international ecosystem releasing the unique potential in local people and places around the UK, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Ukraine. He speaks widely, lectures at Nazarene Theological College and has authored nine books, including Make Poverty Personal, Slum Life Rising, and No Wastelands.

Karina Kreminski has an Arts degree from Sydney University and worked in English teaching and journalism in Argentina. She has a doctorate in missional formation and was a Senior Minister at a church in Sydney. Karina was a Missiology Lecturer at a theological college and established a Master of Missional Leadership and a church-planting certificate. She speaks at churches, community groups and conferences on neighbourhood work in her role as Mission Catalyst with the Uniting Church in Australia. She is the author of Urban Spirituality: Embodying God’s Mission in the Neighbourhood (2018) and writes about spirituality, theology and meaning-making. Karina lives in Surry Hills where she is engaged in place-based community work, facilitating programs and events for community connection. She co-founded a storytelling project called Surry Hills and Valleys and is the co-founder of Neighbourhood Matters and At the Edges Publishing. She is co-editor of Edge-walkers: Reimagining faith, church and theology (2025)

Jess Collins believes the biggest crisis in global Christianity isn’t a lack of resources—it’s who gets access to them. As a third-generation missionary kid who grew up across Southeast Asia, Jess watched theological education remain out of reach for the very people doing the most courageous ministry work. So when she inherited Online Bible College after her father’s passing, she rethought the traditional model entirely. Today, OBC serves 70,000+ students across 190+ countries—many in restricted-access regions where faith comes at a cost. OBC doesn’t just teach biblical truths; they ignite revelation that transforms lives and champions people to be the light in whatever sphere God has placed them. An accredited pastor, Board Director of the Australian University College of Divinity, and 2025 Australian Christian Business Award recipient, Jess is reimagining Christian education when we stop treating the margins as a just a missions project and recognise them as the center of God’s work. She lives in Western Sydney with her husband and two kids

Marcus Woolombi Waters is a Traditional Kamilaroi/Gomeroi/Gamilaraay storyteller who carries culture, faith, and memory as living fire — a fire shared to gather people into connection, healing, and hope. Guided by the wisdom of his Elders, his voice bridges ancient knowledge and contemporary life and understanding, inviting audiences into a space where storytelling restores dignity and belonging. Marcus has served the community and Country as a Native Title Representative and contributor to national dialogue through the Murray–Darling Basin Authority, always grounding leadership in culture and responsibility. Across decades as a playwright, journalist, and educator, he has inspired others to speak truth with courage. Now walking in Christian ministry, Marcus brings revival warmth to every gathering. His storytelling awakens spirit, stirs laughter and reflection, and reminds us that healing lives in shared story — where culture, faith, and community meet, and hope rises

Senior Mutti Mutti Elder. Founder, Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

Uncle Vince's life story begins on his ancestral lands of the Mutti Mutti people in Balranald, NSW, where he was born and lived on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. Then later moving along the rivers due to displacement and work opportunities for his father, they eventually ended up on Wamba Wamba, Perrepa Perrepa Country on the Edwards River in Deniliquin, NSW.

Uncle Vince started a life fixing cars, then later on completing his social welfare studies in 1987, and began a successful career in community development. Through a variety of roles, over the next 30 years, Uncle Vince worked to assist Aboriginal people to realise self-determination and management.

This culminated in the founding of the tourism award-winning Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre in 1992, a multi-million-dollar complex on eight hectares of land on Wadawurrung Country. Uncle Vince's vision and Narana’s purpose is to promote reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people by developing a better understanding of culture through art, education, and tourism.

Recognised for his work within the community and across the country, Uncle Vince was National NAIDOC Aboriginal Elder in 2006. He has won numerous other awards including:

International Awards include: Order of the General from the Salvation Army; Paul Harris Fellow Award from Rotary International; The Visionary Foundation Certificate recognising a True Visionary;

He is an active member with a number of national Aboriginal organisations, including the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress.

ASPYA Foundation (formerly the African Youth Initiative) is a leading not-for-profit youth-led organisation based in Melton. It was formed in 2020 in response to the tragic death of the founding members’ beloved friend, Machar Kot, as a result of knife crime. Through role-modelling and a range of recreational, educational, sporting and cultural initiatives, ASPYA Foundation aims to reconnect African youth to their communities and empower them to be positive contributors to society. ASPYA Foundation also actively promotes the just representation of African young people through its media enterprise, ASPYA Media.

Hi, I’m Lee Palumbo. My journey in the Fairtrade movement with my husband Norman blossomed after the Surrender conference in 2006. For nearly two decades, our coffee beans have been more than just a product—they’ve been a way to support social, farming, and environmental improvements in coffee communities around the world. This work is a true labour of love, and it’s deeply connected to my passion for social justice, which extends to environmental justice, for all living beings on our earth—including farmed animals. I’m a lifelong learner at heart. I hold a Bachelor of Theology, a Master’s in Sustainable Community Development, and a Diploma of Nature-Based Therapy. Right now, I’m studying Spiritual Direction at The Living Well Centre in Melbourne, and I’ve also had the privilege of completing a fellowship in farmed animal rights advocacy with Creaturekind, an organisation founded by theologian David Clough. Spiritually, I’ve explored many traditions, but I’ve found my home in the path of Christ and the wisdom of Christian mystics. I am involved in and run women's storytelling gatherings—these sacred circles are a source of inspiration and growth for me. Most importantly, I’m a proud mother and grandmother, sharing life and work with Norman in Sunbury, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.

I support teams, groups, organisations, and individuals to cocreate spirited spaces to do the things they care deeply about. My approach is shaped by the following principles: Working collaboratively with clients and partners. Trusting that insight and creativity is something that emerges from healthy relationships and the fostering of safe spaces for respectful conversation. Recognizing that conflict in inevitable in groups and that this can be a source of creatively and growth when handled well. Creating conditions for self-organisation leads to enjoyable workplaces and high performance in complex systems (which is just about everything these days). Time, deep listening, and patient waiting for the emergence of wisdom is never wasted. My preference for the co-creative process of working with people rather than doing things to them or for them, is implicitly theologically shaped and informed by expertise in a range of dialogic frameworks and processes including Leadership Coaching, Appreciative Inquiry, Listening Circles, Open Space Technology, and Restorative Practice Conferencing. I have facilitated hundreds of meetings for groups ranging in size from 6 - 450 people, in tertiary education, private companies, public health, churches, NFP and NGOs. After early careers in the shipping and banking industries, I now work in both churches, and nonchurch contexts, as a priest, leadership coach, and professional facilitator. I am married and father to two adult daughters. My first book, "Practicing Peace: Theology, Contemplation, and Action" was published in 2022 (shortlisted in the Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards, 2023). Professional Member Resolution Institute Member Australian Association for Restorative Justice ICF Professional Certified Coach (current) Bachelor of Divinity (Murdoch University) Bachelor of Business (Victoria University) Diploma Applied Science (Australian Maritime College).

Julia lives in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and worships at Syndal Baptist Church. Since moving to Australia in 2016, she has served with A Rocha Australia, a Christian nature conservation organisation, first on the board and now as Executive Officer. Her lifelong care for people and the natural world shaped her career in town planning, helping to create places where both flourish. In recent years she has come to more deeply appreciate the bigness of the gospel and the place of all creation in God’s story and our own. She is energised by helping followers of Jesus learn about and care for nature in community, encouraging and equipping churches for creation care, and creating opportunities for people of all ages to encounter God outdoors and discover their part in His purposes for the cosmos.

Jono lives on Wurundjeri Country, in Bonnie Brook, and has worked with Baptist Churches for over 10 years. More recently, he has spent the last 6 years as the Founding Director of an environment charity Eat Grow Garden. This work helps communities counter biodiversity loss in Melbourne's grasslands through revegetation projects and the construction of habitat gardens. He also helps communities to live more sustainability through food growing projects. When he is not building an edible or native landscape, Jono might be running hills in Lerderderg training for an ultra trail marathon, or sitting around a fire pit with family and friends enjoying a nice home brewed beer.

Naomi Chua is founder and CEO of Embrace Sanctuary Australia. A movement that exists to empower, educate and equip individuals, churches, community groups and those seeking refuge to create communities of welcome, connection and belonging in Australia. Her work alongside refugees spans over 25 years, combining her passion for cross-cultural engagement with trauma-informed care. Her work spans Melbourne’s multicultural communities, diaspora development and seasons in Kenya and South Africa, where she learnt from women displaced from their homelands, developed social enterprise initiatives, trained community leaders and facilitated trauma-healing workshops. Committed to creating communities of welcome, Naomi believes in the transformative power of listening, story sharing, and safe spaces that foster healing and hope.

Simon has recently stepped into the role of Surrender Director with a commitment to helping Surrender remain a living, breathing movement that continues to call followers of Jesus to the margins, together. For more than 20 years, Simon and his wife Kaylene have lived and worked on the margins, alongside communities experiencing disadvantage, most recently in Norlane (Geelong), raising their three children while practising neighbourhood-shaped life and faith. Simon with Kaylene are co-founders of The Good Neighbourhood Project and have extensive experience in areas such as community development, social enterprise, place-based theology, faith-based nonviolent direct action, and justice-centred discipleship. He holds a Degree in Social Work, a Graduate Diploma in Theology, and a Master’s in Social Change and Sustainability. 

Steff Fenton (they/them) is a trans Christian writer, speaker, and trainer with a mission to flip the harmful scripts on trans and gender diverse people in the name of Christian faith. Steff leads peer support groups for trans and queer people of faith, as well as training and resources for churches, chaplains, parents, and communities to affirm trans people with confidence and care. Steff is the author of the newly published book, "Gender Expansive Faith: How Trans Lives are Illuminating the Divine, Transforming Feminism and Ending Christian Patriarchy". Steff has been a pastor and chaplain, the manager of a state-wide LGBTIQA+ training and consulting service, as well as the Director of a national LGBTIQA+ peer phone line service. They're also a wedding celebrant and have aspirations to adopt a cute dog one day soon.

Craig has served as a Salvation Army officer for over 22 years and has held appointments in youth work, chaplaincy, and in local faith communities both in Melbourne and Ballarat, Victoria. He is passionate about building community and looking out for the sacred in the everyday rhythms of life, especially when he is not paying attention. Three visits to the Taizé prayer community in France has inspired and transformed how Craig approaches spiritual practices and also how this impacts others working with people in the margins. Over the years Craig has also been involved in various social justice campaigns including advocating for refugees and participating in nonviolent direct actions in the pursuit of building peace in our local neighbourhoods and beyond. He is married to Ellen, and currently serves as a team leader at Richmond Salvos in North Richmond.

Daniel Sihombing is Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Pilgrim Theological College, which is part of the University of Divinity, Australia, and Fellow at The Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy. He is an ordained minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. Daniel was born and raised in Indonesia. His ministry and theological thinking are much shaped by his experience living on the other side of empire and his participation in people's struggle for liberation.

Di Duursma has played for a long time at the intersection of spiritual formation, restorative practice and mission at the beautiful broken edges of community. She calls Northern Victoria home base where her husband and family are but finds many places home. For the last few decades she has been involved in the ministry of God’s Squad CMC, is the director of Zac’s Place Wangaratta, works with at-risk youth and those experiencing homelessness and has been Project Coordinator for the Wang Night Shelter since its beginning in 2019 through Stableone’s Network of Shelters. Her Masters in Intercultural Ministry completed in 2025 explored marginalised communities in many places. She believes in having deep roots locally and a long reach globally and that sometimes a song and a story are all that is needed to tip the axis of humanity towards restoration.

Meet Greg Hewson, the Australian Programs Director at Tearfund, who has spent more than twenty five years walking alongside the Australian church to cultivate biblically shaped responses to poverty and justice. Greg leads a national team dedicated to prayer, discipleship, and advocacy, helping Christians live out their faith in ways that reflect a deep commitment to justice and mercy in the margins. With a heart for International and First People's programs, Greg works in partnership with volunteers and hundreds of churches to achieve a shared mission of empowerment and education. His work is rooted in the belief that love obligates justice, and he is passionate about challenging and equipping others to find the way of peace through active engagement and stewardship. Whether he is facilitating church engagement or raising vital funds, Greg remains focused on empowering Australian Christians to lead lives of impactful discipleship.

Jane Hope has lived at Gembrook Retreat for 20 years and is a Quaker who seeks to follow the radical life of Christ. She works as a Spiritual Director, Retreat Guide, Mentor and facilitator of The Work That Reconnects under the banner of Rewilding Christianity, and describes her spiritual life as a wild adventure story that just keeps getting wilder. After spending two years in Brazil, learning from Indigenous communities as well as local Brazilian families, she has spent the last 20 years committed to building residential communities in Australia. She helped begin the Indigenous Hospitality House in 2001 and was a resident there for 3 years, before moving to Gembrook Retreat. She has found that her spiritual life has deepened by developing a greater connection to land, extended periods of contemplation and living a daily life of prayer and work. As her spiritual life continues to deepen everyday she is drawn to share and explore the spiritual life with others.

Frustrated that too many local places are written off, Revd Dr Ash Barker founded Seedbeds to grow local leaders who cultivate shalom from where they live. A pioneering urban missiologist, activist, and author, Ash has spent over 35 years on the frontlines of urban poverty. As a founding energy behind the first Surrender Conferences (launched in 2003 through Urban Neighbours of Hope), he helped renew a call to radical discipleship and lived presence in marginalised places—a pulse that continues in Surrender today. After 21 years leading UNOH from Melbourne’s Springvale neighbourhood and Bangkok’s Klong Toey slums, Ash and his wife Anji moved to Winson Green, Birmingham (UK) in 2014. There they founded Newbigin House, planted two congregations, and launched initiatives including Newbigin Community Trust, Red Letter Christians UK, and the Urban Shalom Society. Ash and Anji are URC Ministers at Lodge Road Community Church in Winson Green with Anji have a wider regional role supporting pioneering leaders. For the past decade Ash has led Seedbeds, that has grown to become an international ecosystem releasing the unique potential in local people and places around the UK, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Ukraine. He speaks widely, lectures at Nazarene Theological College and has authored nine books, including Make Poverty Personal, Slum Life Rising, and No Wastelands.

Karina Kreminski has an Arts degree from Sydney University and worked in English teaching and journalism in Argentina. She has a doctorate in missional formation and was a Senior Minister at a church in Sydney. Karina was a Missiology Lecturer at a theological college and established a Master of Missional Leadership and a church-planting certificate. She speaks at churches, community groups and conferences on neighbourhood work in her role as Mission Catalyst with the Uniting Church in Australia. She is the author of Urban Spirituality: Embodying God’s Mission in the Neighbourhood (2018) and writes about spirituality, theology and meaning-making. Karina lives in Surry Hills where she is engaged in place-based community work, facilitating programs and events for community connection. She co-founded a storytelling project called Surry Hills and Valleys and is the co-founder of Neighbourhood Matters and At the Edges Publishing. She is co-editor of Edge-walkers: Reimagining faith, church and theology (2025)

Ben serves as Tearfund's Advocacy & Church Engagement Lead, and is passionate about equipping Australian Christians to live, act and pray for a more just and compassionate world. Coming from a youth and young adults ministry background, he loves to engage and equip next generation leaders to bring a whole of life approach to their discipleship journey, imitating Christ in everyday life and caring for our neighbours locally and globally. Previously involved in climate and agricultural research across Timor Leste & China, he lived and taught with First Nations educators in North East Arnhem Land in education research, before moving into teaching, wildlife conservation and international development. In his free time, he loves spending time with God in creation, exploring beautiful Wurundjeri country where he lives on a small bushland property with dozens of kangaroos and echidnas. This weekend at Surrender, you'll likely find him making Tearfund chai and helping Christians live out their faith in ways that reflect a deep commitment to justice and mercy in the margins.

My professional and volunteer career has been shaped by a commitment to justice, community, and the dignity of every person. I have worked in Australia and the UK alongside people experiencing mental health challenges, served in a remote Aboriginal community in central Australia, led a national Aboriginal health research project, worked with the Victorian government in drug treatment services, and most recently led the Health Equity Program at St Vincent’s Health Australia. In this role, I helped strengthen the organisation’s response to people living with complex health and psychosocial needs. I have studied electronics, counselling, politics, and theology, more recently completing a Master of Theological Studies. My faith has been deeply shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus, Ignatian spirituality, and a long engagement with social justice. We now live in Pakenham Upper, where we are building a strawbale house, hosting a home church, and sharing life with an assortment of animals. We have two adult children, one grandchild, and a long-standing love of independent live music.

Jess Collins believes the biggest crisis in global Christianity isn’t a lack of resources—it’s who gets access to them. As a third-generation missionary kid who grew up across Southeast Asia, Jess watched theological education remain out of reach for the very people doing the most courageous ministry work. So when she inherited Online Bible College after her father’s passing, she rethought the traditional model entirely. Today, OBC serves 70,000+ students across 190+ countries—many in restricted-access regions where faith comes at a cost. OBC doesn’t just teach biblical truths; they ignite revelation that transforms lives and champions people to be the light in whatever sphere God has placed them. An accredited pastor, Board Director of the Australian University College of Divinity, and 2025 Australian Christian Business Award recipient, Jess is reimagining Christian education when we stop treating the margins as a just a missions project and recognise them as the center of God’s work. She lives in Western Sydney with her husband and two kids

John Englezos is a spoken word poet and Melbourne’s 2015 Poetry Slam Champion whose work has been described as “Pixar in poetry,” particularly in his book “If The World Were Upside Down,” which centers around notions of Hope, Identity, and Wonder. After being on the first team to represent Australia in 2017 at the National Poetry Slam Championships in Denver, Colorado USA, John has served as a presenter, speaker coach, and host for TEDx. He currently runs workshops focused on poetry, performance, self-reflection, and intention setting while remaining a proud uncle to six amazing kids and an honorary big brother to many, and you can find him across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at @johnepoetry.

Nicole came to Melbourne from South Africa in 2014. Nicole has invested most of her life and time in education, specifically in environmental education and creation care. Nicole enjoys sharing her love of God's creation and her commitment to caring for the future of our beautiful earth with others. She has worked with people of all ages, races, religions and backgrounds. She has worked for the church, not for profits, community and governmental organisations and still works and volunteers for a variety of environmental organisations. oes here

With over 30 years of experience across local government, NFPs, and Christian youth ministry, Lisa Said is a dedicated youth worker. She focuses on strengthening the sector through training emerging workers, building networks, and championing evidence-based practice. A frequent speaker and board member, Lisa currently serves on the Praxis and Surrender boards and leads the Outreach Team at Banyule Youth Services.

An expansive career as an executive leader provided opportunity to mentor young professionals, leading to a realization of my core passion for helping others gain mental health and wellbeing. After 20+ years as a corporate professional, I decided I was ready for a major change and I reoriented my focus through tertiary education and training focusing on counselling and psychotherapy as a profession. I have spent almost 15 years working with individuals, families, and couples and have extensive experience counselling clients specializing in areas of family violence and sexual assault, couples therapy, and trauma. Eight years ago, my personal desire to broaden my support to others who are working in the helping professions, particularly in counselling and ministry, led to me pursue further education and training for professional supervision in both professions. My portfolio includes providing professional supervision for psychotherapists and counsellors and for individuals working in ministry and pastoral care. My passion is enabling others and walking alongside those who are seeking guidance, to provide a compassionate, non-judgmental, and restorative space to be heard and to allow for reflective learning and insight, particularly when the individual is giving so much of self to supporting and ministering others.