Facilitated by Julia Jardine & Nicole Fergusson

Have you ever thought of nature as God’s first love letter to us? The Bible tells us that long before Scripture was written - and to this day - God speaks to us through his creation and creation speaks to us of God!

How can we connect with God outdoors? How can nature talk to us of God? And how might this reshape the way we see and treat the natural world?

Come and explore these questions with us through story-telling, simple outdoor field work, and hands-on creative nature art, as together we learn to listen, wonder, and care for God’s world.

Facilitated by Karina Kreminski

The edge is a place of transformation – a liminal place where there are possibilities and mutations. Edges foster play, experimentation and exploration. This is essentially a creative space. When we play creatively at the edges what is the connection with justice? In a world that is polarised, can creativity be a balm to soothe our weary souls? And more, can creativity be a portal to taking action, engaging in justice and “Tikkun olam” (world-repair)? In this workshop we will take a little time to slow down, engage with our creative self and search for resonant edge-voices of mercy and justice within, so that we might embody peace in our world today.

Facilitated by Jono Ingrim + Lee Palumbo

An invitation to slow down, step outside, and notice the sacred in the natural world. This contemplative workshop will take you on a guided, contemplative experience of what Celtic spirituality calls “thin spaces”.

Facilitated by Craig Farrell

Hear honest stories of working with people in the margins - the good, bad, and the ugly. Hear from the Richmond Salvos team who are seeking to be light and hope in the inner Melbourne suburb of North Richmond. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore together the challenges of ministry in the margins, the beauty and complexity of working in a team, the importance of caring for self as well as others, and the practice of contemplative spirituality in often chaotic spaces.

Facilitated by Naomi Chua

Safe spaces have the power to transform us—not through instruction, but through listening. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how listening to refugee stories can become an act of justice, mercy, and solidarity. Refugee narratives of displacement, loss, resilience, and hope invite us into lived realities that statistics and headlines can never fully capture, challenging assumptions and deepening empathy. Participants will have the opportunity to listen to a person with lived experience of being a refugee share their story, followed by guided reflection and discussion. Together, we will consider how safe spaces offer dignity and agency to refugees, and how listening calls us to reflect on privilege, justice, and our responsibilities in the margins. This session will invite participants to think about how storytelling can reshape relationships, build cross-cultural understanding, and inspire compassionate action in their communities.

Facilitated by Steff Fenton

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.

Facilitated by Jane Hope

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.

Facilitated by Robyn Whitaker

Research suggests that rates of gender-based violence are at least as high in the church communities as they are in the wider community. Strict gender hierarchies can reinforce patterns of domination and the impulse to forgive can mean accountability is absent. This workshop will look at some key biblical passages to explore the role theology plays in either contributing to or combatting gendered violence with the aim to unpack how communities of faith might become part of the solution rather than the problem.

Facilitated by Greg Hewson

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.

Facilitated by Di Duursma and Michael Wood

How do we work at the margins and create environments that bring healing and restoration with a commitment to do no further harm?

What does it look like for intentional community to form and function as restorative?

The biblical framework, teachings of Jesus and historical practice of Restorative Justice, provide a rich resource for us to learn how to do this together. As followers of Jesus, his incarnation provokes a core value of doing things ‘with people’ rather than ‘for’ them or ‘to’ them. Restorative practice also helps us recognise where this is already at work and how we can strengthen and honour places and people already involved in work of restoration. It addresses the cycle – ‘What we do not repair- we repeat.’ breathes the hope that there can be both individual and collective healing. Come and contribute to a workshop that draws on the background principles of restorative practice, biblical connections, and practical examples from the lived experience of Stableone and its community.

Facilitated by Jess Collins

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

Facilitated by John Willis and others

As people of faith, we believe every person is created in the image of God — capable of transformation and worthy of love. The gospel declares that no failure defines a life forever. Grace is stronger than judgment; forgiveness is more powerful than shame. When faith communities choose hospitality over suspicion, they become places of healing, dignity, and new beginnings. This workshop will explore why people end up in prison and what makes genuine transformation possible. We will hear firsthand stories of incarceration and change — including from an Aboriginal leader whose life was reshaped by faith, and from a woman reflecting on how prison altered her perspective and future. We will also hear from someone who has worked alongside people inside prisons for many years, highlighting the critical role of connection and belonging upon release. Drawing on the example of the Welcoming Directory in the UK — a network of more than 500 registered faith communities across 11 traditions — we will examine how trained and accountable congregations can offer safe, supportive spaces for people leaving prison. Research shows that meaningful connection to a faith community significantly reduces reoffending. Together, we will consider how a similar initiative might take shape in Australia and how our communities can become places of welcome, hope, and reconnection.

Facilitated by John Englezos

In the workshop "The Stories We Carry Within Ourselves," John explores how poetry and metaphor can provide new insights into a person's inner landscape, especially when a harsh world makes it difficult to hold compassion for ourselves and understanding for others. Participants will have time to reflect on gentle writing prompts designed to help them better navigate their own journeys forward, so please bring a pen and something to write in. This time is dedicated to you, and you won't be required to share anything you write during the session.

Facilitated by Simon Reeves and guests

Since its inception, SURRENDER has been more than a conference; it has been a disruptive call for followers of Jesus to move toward the margins. But how did we get here, and where is the Spirit nudging us now? In this landmark roundtable session, we bring together the "living history" of the movement—founding members, past and current directors, board members, and long-term partners—to peel back the layers of our shared journey. This is not merely a trip down memory lane; it is a critical excavation of our identity and a collective prophetic discernment of our future.

This roundtable will host a conversation that explores:

The Genesis: Why was SURRENDER created? We revisit the "holy discontent" and the original heartbeat—a hunger for a faith that is deeply communal, justice-oriented, and centered on the poor.

The Iterations: From grassroots gatherings to a national catalyst for social change, we will track the various seasons of the movement and how it has evolved to meet the moment.

The Landscape of Justice: An honest appraisal of our impact on the Australian Christian social justice scene. We’ll discuss where we have seen fruit and where the soil has been hardest to till.

The Unfolding Future: In a post-Christendom, climate-anxious, and divided world, what does "Surrender as a movement" look like today?

The roundtable is open to all but will include contributions from

Founding Members: On the radical roots of the movement.

Past & Current Team members: On leading through changing cultural tides.

Key Partners: On walking alongside SURRENDER in the long journey toward reconciliation and justice.

Whether you have been part of the SURRENDER family since 2003 or this is your very first festival, you are invited to pull up a chair. Come for the stories, stay for the provocative dialogue, and help us imagine the next chapter of radical discipleship in Australia.

Facilitated by Ben Howes

The workshop will be perfect for children, young people and families and is a holistic learning experience designed to inspire and equip young people to become changemakers. The program combines youth-led conversations, stories of transformation from Tearfund’s global partners, and hands-on activities that will explore how to design and build a flourishing community and what it might look like in our lives - so keen!