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Christian leaders have described last week’s historic Australian Evangelism Roundtable as “incredibly encouraging”, “wonderful”, and showing a strong “sense of unity”.

The Brisbane-based gathering, held on 11–12 July 2025, brought together 56 leaders from various local and para-church ministry roles. Notably, these leaders either directly or indirectly represent 80% of Australian Christians by denominational affiliation.

The historic meeting concentrated on prayer, unity, and a bold vision to evangelise the nation as part of the global 2033 goal of fully evangelising the entire planet.

The Canberra Declaration, Baptist World Alliance, Finishing the Task, and GO Movement partnered together to organise, fund and facilitate the event. Delegates attended the two-day event free of charge, although they needed to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses.

Church leaders expressed their joy and hope for a brighter season of evangelism in Australia. “There’s such a wonderful group of people here”, remarked Alister Cameron from Power to Change.

“There’s such a generosity of spirit. There’s collegiality.”

“So, the real challenge now is: What are we going to do about it?”

Built on Prayer

The roundtable was the result of years of prayer. Many Christian groups and prayer networks have continuously prayed for the Church to unite in spreading the gospel as effectively and powerfully as possible.

We are convinced the roundtable wouldn’t have taken place without the many prayers sown by faithful people, mostly unknown to the world but recognised by God.

During the event, the Canberra Declaration prayer team prayed continuously for 24 hours from the start of the event to the finish. We cannot thank everyone enough who prayed. We believe that the collective prayers from various churches and individuals were answered. Soli Deo gloria.

The fact that the roundtable even took place is a miracle in itself. But the sense of collaboration, optimism and vision among the delegates was, without doubt, another result of the faithful prayer of God’s people!

“It’s been so encouraging to get together with just such a broad group from across the body of Christ, to pray together, hear one another’s hearts, and begin to let the Spirit activate our hearts and minds towards what’s possible in the Great Commission”, said Paul Bedwell from Youth for Christ.

He continued,

“What would happen if we all actually worked together to get the job done? I’m full of vision and very encouraged.”

Former Salvation Army Commissioner James Condon exclaimed,

“Absolutely amazing!”

“It’s God’s timing for our nation. God has brought us together. God has a plan, and we are submitting and surrendering to our God for all that he wants to do.”

We, too, are convinced this is God’s time for our nation. As 2 Corinthians 6:2 underscores,

“Now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.”

By Pentecost 2033

The boldest vision discussed was that by Pentecost 2033, every Australian would have a meaningful opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and respond to the offer of eternal life.

Pentecost 2033 marks the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ death, resurrection, the birth of the Church, and the giving of the Great Commission.

The global Finishing the Task initiative has set this date as a rallying point for worldwide evangelisation. In this regard, the Evangelism Roundtable was an invitation to implement a global vision within the Australian context. Naturally, the Australian Church will determine whether it agrees to this vision for our nation.

Working Towards a Finalised Statement

Making that global 2033 goal part of an Australian statement became a key focus of the roundtable.

There was no point in discussing evangelism unless there was something concrete to show from it.

Delegates were presented with a draft form of a document tentatively titled “The Brisbane Declaration”. (The statement has now been retitled to “Reaching Australia 2033: Everyone to encounter the gospel of Jesus by Pentecost 2033”, which better reflects the meaning and purpose of this evangelistic push.)

Could we agree on a statement that the Australian Church could support and implement?

We didn’t know how the delegates would respond.

But the result was even better than we could have hoped for or expected (Ephesians 3:20).

Leaders discussed and considered the following draft statement, including four key points.

Reaching Australia 2033 Draft Statement

Whereas, affirming with joy that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Holy Scriptures,

Whereas all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, yet all are justified freely by His grace through faith in Christ alone, and the good news is that out of God’s great love, He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,

Whereas to evangelise is to proclaim Christ crucified and risen, calling all people everywhere to repent and believe, and the Church is central to God’s redemptive mission, sent into the world as the Son was sent by the Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit,

Whereas the proclamation of the Gospel is the urgent task for the salvation of the world, and we are accountable to sound the warning and share the words of life found in the Great Commission, which is to make disciples of all nations, for to fulfil this task is to obey Christ’s command, but to neglect this task is disobedience,

Whereas for the sake of this Gospel we pledge to strive together as one, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and we pray, help us Father to manifest the words of the prayer of Jesus in John 17: “that they may be one so that the world may believe,”

Whereas the Pentecost season of 2033 will mark the 2,000-year anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and the birth of the Church by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,

Whereas now is the day of salvation and we cannot delay,

Therefore, as the leaders and representatives of Christian churches, organisations, movements, and ministries, we dedicate ourselves afresh, in the presence of God, to obey Christ’s command in the Great Commission by praying, proclaiming, and labouring together in unity, until the whole world hears the everlasting Gospel, expressing our dedication through the following commitments:

1. We commit to making the period up to Pentecost 2033 an unprecedented season of collaborative gospel witness and disciple-making in Australia, by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ across our nation and beyond, ensuring that by Pentecost 2033, every Australian has had the opportunity to hear and respond to God’s saving grace.

2. We commit to using the time between Easter and Pentecost each year for an intensified season of prayer and evangelism, calling every believer to pray for five people and seek to share the Gospel with those five during this period.

3. We commit to praying and raising up prayer, both personally and within the Church, for the salvation of souls — for our families, friends, neighbours, co-workers, and the people of our nation and the world — remembering the principle of sowing and reaping, that as we pray and support the Gospel harvest in other nations, God will bring a great harvest in our own.

4. We unite to equip and activate every believer to be a witness for Jesus, aiming to initially train and mobilise at least 10 per cent* of believers in evangelism to gain critical mass for a culture shift within the Church toward every-believer evangelism, and to make sharing the Gospel and making disciples a lifestyle for all, using every means available so that everyone in Australia has the opportunity to know and follow Jesus Christ.

Psalm 51:12, Psalm 133, Proverbs 24:11-12, Ezekiel 33:7-9, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-47, John 3:16, John 6:68, John 9:4, John 17:20-21, Acts 1:8, Romans 1:16, Romans 3:23-24, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:14-16, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 9:22, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Philippians 1:27, Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 4:3, 1 Peter 3:15, Jude 1:2.

* While some may see 10 percent as too low or too high, this figure is prayerfully offered to Church leaders across Australia as a starting point, urging that any chosen goal be rooted in deep love for Jesus, those needing salvation, and the building up of the Church.

The exact wording of these four key points – still in draft form and requiring ongoing input from leaders – will almost definitely change.

But the roundtable gave in-principle unanimous support to all four commitments. We’d set a voting benchmark of at least 90% support. But there wasn’t a single vote against any of these points.

We are astounded.

The discussion and debate around the tables was both lively and encouraging. See the link here to the Table Summaries.

While much consultation, revision and refinement are still required to reach its final form, the plan is for this process to conclude in around two months’ time. Once again, we thank the delegates for their engagement, discussion, and wrestling with what is, by ourselves, an impossible task.

But as Peter Downie from FamilyVoice Australia commented during the event,

“This is amazing. This is something we can’t do as individuals. And this is something churches can’t do on their own.”

“But when we work together, this is something we can do: reach Australia for Jesus. And God’s going to be helping us to achieve that, and it’s going to be wonderful, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

As a result, we are even more confident that the Australian Evangelism Roundtable could, through the miracle of prayer, significantly shape the Australian Church and reignite its evangelistic mandate.

Need for Continued Prayer

Stuart Millar, from Train to Proclaim and GO Movement Australia, rightly said,

“This is a really good first step, and we’re just hoping for a great action plan from here so we can implement some of these things and get a lot more evangelism going.”

There’s still much to be done. We need continued prayer, wisdom, and constructive collaboration. The roundtable, with 56 leaders, has set this process in motion. However, we need engagement with many more church leaders. The broad Australian Church needs to own the vision. May God’s grace be upon Australian Christians to see His purpose for His Church realised.

We ask you to pray for the following:

1. Pray for wisdom and God’s guidance for the working team from the Australian Evangelism Roundtable over the next two months as we share the Reaching Australia 2033 document and garner support for the vision.
2. For the success of this historic Reach Australia 2033 proposal and its wide acceptance. As Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it”.
3. Pray that the Australian Evangelism Roundtable Statement will be a catalyst for the revival, repentance and transformation Australia so desperately needs.

Hope for the Future

We are full of gratitude to God for an incredible roundtable. Dave Miers from Christ Our Refuge and Good News Unlimited said,

“The Evangelism roundtable has been a super encouraging time. It’s been an amazing time of fellowship with brothers and sisters from across the country and some international guests.

“There’s a great diversity in the room, but I think, a real clarity on what the gospel is.”

We are also full of hope, hope for the millions of Australians who are yet to have a meaningful opportunity to respond to the gospel.

We conclude with these words from Stuart Millar:

“I just love being part of these roundtable discussions, especially on evangelism for Australia, and I think the sense of unity in the room, knowing that the people participating come from different denominations, different expressions and yet here we are, we’re united by a desire to preach the gospel.”

“We need to work together because no one denomination, no one ministry, is going to be able to do this.”

“But when we collaborate, we can do so much more than we can ever do apart. And so, praise the Lord!”

Amen! Praise the Lord!