At the Scent of Water: How local churches and communities can flourish again

Facilitated by Ash Barker

“Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays, at the scent of water it will bud and sprout again like a new seedling.” — Job 14:8–9

The Moment We’re In

Across the Western world, faithful local churches often feel like ancient stumps — deep roots, rich history, enduring presence. But also: declining numbers, ageing congregations, heavy buildings, leadership fatigue, disconnected from their local community, and neighbourhoods fragmenting faster than churches can adapt. And yet... What if the story isn’t over? What if these “old stumps” are precisely where new shoots emerge — not through striving, but at the scent of water?

This Workshop Is For You If:

You care deeply about your neighbourhood. You see what’s possible — and what’s missing. You sense that renewal must be local. You want something more than another programme. You are tired of maintaining and ready to cultivate life.

What This Workshop Will Help You Do

Drawing on 35 years of missional leadership in urban priority areas in Oz, Thailand and the UK, Ash Barker — founder of Seedbeds — offers a tested pathway from fragmentation to flourishing. This isn’t theory. It’s a grounded framework proven in local practice.

1. Find Your Local Agency Discover your unique power to affect change in your place. Name your gifts, clarify your calling, identify your sphere of influence, and take your next faithful step. Move from feeling stuck to being sent.

2. Form Local Practices Develop rhythms, roots, and relationships that sustain long-term impact. Re-plant in Scripture and place, shift from activity to intentional practice, build collaborative local leadership, and move from good intentions to grounded action. Grow depth, not burnout.

3. Flourish Locally Together Lead meaningful change that stays planted in your neighbourhood. Identify local assets already present, release hidden local catalysts, develop sustainable leadership pathways, and grow something that lasts. Not bigger. Not louder. Just deeply planted.

What Makes This Approach Different?

Not another programme. Not more meetings about meetings. Not importing a model from somewhere else. Instead: Scripture-planted imagination, asset-based local renewal, tested local missional practice, a simple but powerful framework, and clear next steps tailored to your context.

Preparation

Before attending, complete the Local Readiness Survey to identify your current stage and next steps: https://local-readiness-survey.scoreapp.com/ Bring your results with you.

The Real Question

The question isn’t whether local renewal is possible. The question is: Can you smell the water?

A Voice from the Global South

Facilitated by Daniel Sihombing

This Stream is helping give space to the voices that we encounter when we start looking at Doing Theology from the Margins. In this stream expect Daniel to share their lived experience and theological reflection as a person from the Global South.

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.

The Surrender Festival Team is currently finalising Stream C

Trust us, it is looking GOOD.