Creating a Culture of Invitation: An evening with Michael Harvey (Wollongong)
Date: Tuesday 22 July, 2025
Time: 7–9pm
Venue: Xavier Conference Centre (adjacent to the cathedral)
Speaker: Michael Harvey
Topic: Creating a Culture of Invitation
“God is the ultimate inviter. He is already at work.
All we have to do is ask God and be obedient in His strength.” MICHAEL HARVEY
Some people in church feel that if people wanted to come to church or get to know Jesus Christ, they would already have done it. But nowadays, it takes a brave person to walk into a church building on their own or start a God conversation with a Christian. This is why building a culture of invitation, alongside a culture of welcome and transformation, is vital.
When Jesus called and invited the first two disciples, Andrew was one of them. The first thing Andrew did was invite his brother Simon. That invitation alone has impacted the world today. Jesus is still inviting and calling people today.
A culture of invitation is not new; it speaks of the heart of God, who sent Jesus to invite the world into an eternal relationship.
Join Michael Harvey and the Office of Renewal and Evangelisation for an incredible evening of wisdom, insight, and practical steps to becoming people who are willing to extend God’s invitation.
As the developer of Back to Church Sunday, Michael has worked with churches across the UK, and throughout the English speaking world. He has spoken to thousands of church leaders and congregational members in his seminars and has seen hundreds of thousands of Christians mobilised to invite others to church, resulting in more than 1 million accepted invitations. He launched the first National Weekend of Invitation in June 2018, and the ACORN Evangelisation Spiritual practice in May 2020.
Michael is the author of the books Unlocking the Growth and Creating a Culture of Invitation in Your Church. His latest book is The Invitation to Heal. As an itinerant speaker, he has a ministry across 18 countries and five continents. He is a member of the College of Evangelists. Michael is a visiting fellow at St John’s College, Durham, and also originated and leads a science-faith organisation that has already reached over 10,000 young people.
Michael is married to Eike and they have three adult children, Ben, Kirsty and Lydia, and three granddaughters Phoebe, Ruby and Evie. He is a seasoned speaker and effective communicator. At our prayer breakfast he will share insights into cultivating an inviting spirit in our communities, challenging us to move from passive welcome to active invitation.
Michael worships in Liverpool in the UK. Bishop Brian invited him to Australia to address his Catholic Clergy and Leaders after his speaking at the Alpha Conference in 2024.
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The Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Wollongong (the Fund) is required by law to make the following disclosure: The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). Investments in the Fund are intended to be a means for investors to support the charitable, religious and education works of the Diocese of Wollongong and for whom the consideration of profit are not of primary relevance in the investment decision. The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and any investment of the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed at www.cdfwollongong.org.au or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
