Abide 2026 Conference
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25th - 27th
August 2026
Venue
GraceCity Church
17 Marewa Road Greenlane, Auckland
Cost
$185 Super Earlybird
*Super Earlybird ends 28 February 2026
About Abide Conference
Laidlaw Centre for Church Leadership (CfCL) exists to bless, love, and serve the Church of Aotearoa New Zealand by providing her leaders with the tools, support, and guidance they need to flourish.
The Abide conference is one of the ways The Centre is outworking this, by offering a distinctly Aotearoa conference – developed by and for Aotearoa’s church leaders. As a national gathering point for all churches, you are invited to come for encouragement, inspiration, learning, encounter and refreshment.
Everyone is welcome. We look forward to growing together and experiencing what God is doing among us all.
More info to come!
We can't wait to be all together!
Overview
Day One - Tuesday
1:30pm
Keynote 1
3:45pm
Elective 1
4:45pm
Dinner
7:00pm
Keynote 2
9:00pm
End of Day
Day Two - Wednesday
8:15am
Optional Prayer Gathering
9:00am
Keynote 3
10:30am
Morning Tea
11:00am
Elective 2
12:00pm
Lunch
1:30pm
Keynote 4
3:45pm
Elective 3
4:45pm
Dinner
7:00pm
Keynote 5
9:00pm
End of Day
Day Three - Thursday
8:15am
Optional Prayer Gathering
9:00am
Keynote 6
10:30am
Morning Tea
11:00am
Elective 4
12:00pm
Lunch
1:30pm
Keynote 7
3:30pm
End of Day
Speakers
John Ortberg
John Ortberg is a pastor, author, and speaker. He’s been in ministry for over 40 years and teaches around a central theme of spiritual formation. John is a deep believer that the main thing God gets out of your life is the person you become. He desires for people to know God in an interactive, life-transforming way.
Presently, John leads the ministry, Become New, focused on helping you grow spiritually one day at a time. His most recent book, Eternity is Now in Session, is now available wherever books are sold.
Strahan Coleman
Strahan is a writer, award winning folk musician and spiritual director from Aotearoa, New Zealand. He founded Commoners Communion in 2017 to explore what it means to become a deeply prayerful people in our times. Since then, he has written three prayer books - Prayer Vol. 01, 02 & 03 that offer poetic prayers, contemplations and reflections that help the reader deepen their own communion with the God of their hearts.
His work has been featured in the Bridgetown Daily Podcast, Ekstasis Magazine and his poem Never Alone from Prayer Vol. 01 was performed by Amanda Cook and the Cageless Birds during a live worship and prayer recording in 2020.
Today he runs spiritual retreats that both teach and embody a more contemplative life, teaches Online Prayer Schools and publishes the Commoners Communion Podcast, a space to further explore the devotional works of his books and what a contemporary christian spirituality can look like in our times.
FAQs
What does the conference schedule look like?
The conference will be held across 3 days: Tuesday - Thursday. Beginning early afternoon on the Tuesday and finishing by mid-afternoon on the Thursday intentionally — so there is time to travel in and out and only be away 2 nights (if out of Auckland).
There will also be long dinner breaks in order to ensure more time to network and/or connect in your teams during conference.
Is there a programme of all session speakers and topics?
There will be! More detail about the programme and speakers coming soon.
Is lunch included?
Morning tea is provided on Wednesday and Thursday. You are welcome to bring your own lunch to eat in the cafe area, or purchase lunch from the food trucks on site or nearby cafes. There is a longer dinner break to create space to connect with other attendees.
Will the conference be live streamed or recorded?
No. We are wanting to create something special for everyone in the room — so we are really hoping you can make it!
Will there be childminding?
Unfortunately we aren't able to provide any child-minding services at the conference.
Do I have to choose one elective stream and stick to all sessions?
No, you can select any session in any stream. Numbers may be limited for certain sessions.
Can I request an invoice or receipt?
No, to an invoice sorry! Yes, to a receipt! One should be sent to you automatically (please allow a week turnaround as it's a manual process from Laidlaw's Accounts team) which you can use to get reimbursement from your church/organisation if needed.
I am bringing a Walker/Wheelchair to the Conference — do I need to tell anyone?
Yes, please send an email to cfcl@laidlaw.ac.nz so we can be aware. However, it is an access friendly venue, so you should easily be able to get around to each area.
I have a question that isn't answered here. Who do I contact?
Please email cfcl@laidlaw.ac.nz and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
