A BRIEF ROUNDABOUT HISTORY
BIRTH
For several years before it’s birth, God had been stirring the vision for Roundabout Ministries in the heart of it’s founder, Adrian Rowse. Adrian had spent seven or eight years in full time ministry and theological study, and in 2004 was working as a pastor with his wife in a small Melbourne church. At that time, God challenged Adrian to begin sharing about his own journey as a teenage pastors kid struggling with issues like pornography, addiction and his own sense of sexual identity.
Throughout 2004, a team of people was established who began to pray and in October 2004, the ministry began (even though the name and official identity of the ministry was not to follow until a year or so later), in conjunction with with the launch of Adrian’s album ‘Up Close’. The response as Adrian began sharing his story, even in those early days, was overwhelming.
GETTING OUT THERE
In 2005/06, Adrian and his team ministered in more than 100 churches, conferences, festivals, camps, schools and bible colleges in five states throughout Australia, with Adrian resigning his church pastoral position in May 2005 to devote his attention to the growing demand for the ministry.
In June 2005, a support group for Christian guys, (based in Melbourne, Australia), struggling with same-sex attraction began, with an online community added in September 2005, to support geographically isolated young people.
In Roundabout’s first year, some 15,000+ people from all over the world visited the ministry website with many receiving encouragement and support via email. In addition, numerous young people, parents and youth pastors have been ministered to or equipped in meetings with Adrian throughout this time.
RESOURCE NO.1
2006 was a year of widespread travel with ministry in Canada and Western Australia, in addition to many local churches, organisations and youth ministries. 2006 was also been spent preparing the first major Roundabout Ministries DVD resource, THE FIGHT, (released Nov 06), a resource for guys who are struggling with issues of purity and pornography. This was the first of several quality resources planned for release to equip church leaders and young people both in Australia and beyond.
Throughout the year, the Melbourne support group continued to operate and the numbers of young people, parents, counsellors and church leaders receiving support from Roundabout grew significantly.
EXPANDING THE BORDERS
2007 was a year of strategic change for the ministry as ‘The Fight’ resource exploded onto the Australian youth ministry scene. Demand for the resource and it’s impact in people’s lives far exceeded expectations and resulted in the ministry establishing strategic ministry partnerships with youth organisations and denominations throughout Australia. The level of demand for communication from the Roundabout team was the catalyst for a change of focus. Instead of providing speakers in 50+ individual churches or youth ministries each year, Roundabout moved towards putting on Roundabout Ministries events in different regions that involved several churches/youth ministries at the same time.
FIGHT NIGHTS & SEX.GOD.LIFE TRAINING
Roundabout’s ‘Fight Night’ events were launched in Melbourne in 2007 and in other Australian capital cities in 2008. The impact of these events in equipping young men for living godly lives in a sex-mad world has been amazing. The feedback from guys attending the events highlighted the need that exists within youth ministries throughout Australia. Every young men attending these events received a copy of The Fight DVD resource so the events were for many the beginning of an ongoing discipleship journey.
2008 also saw the launch of a series of ‘Sex.God.Life’ training seminars designed to equip church leaders (from youth leaders to senior pastors as well as chaplains, counsellors, etc), with training that would strengthen their church in areas of sexuality/spirituality. One of these seminars was captured on film and in 2009 was released as the first ‘Sex.God.Life’ training resource. More of these seminars and resources are to follow in the years ahead.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
The future is a sea of amazing possibilities for Roundabout Ministries. There are several projects in the planning for the next 12-18 months including:
- the development of a girls resource (tenatively scheduled for an early 2010 release)
- a two day conference in March 2010 with some of the world’s most respected sexuality/recovery communicators
The big challenge ahead is in helping Roundabout to continue to grow and develop. A greater foundation of prayer, the addition of gifted staff or volunteers to assist in areas of administration, graphic/web design, event management/planning, strategic development and a signficant inflow of finance are the key elements to Roundabout becoming an organisation of real influence in the health of Australian churches in the coming decade.
If you have a desire to assist the future of this organisation in some way or would like to explore how you might be able to get involved please contact the Roundabout office.
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