Introducing Rev Janet Woodlock

The Rev Janet Woodlock has just recently begun working with the NCCA as a Project Officer. Her role will see her based in Melbourne and engaging with our member Churches, ecumenical partners and friends. We are privileged to have Janet share her gifts of ministry and Christian leadership with us in this capacity.

The NCCA Board is particularly keen to hear from our member churches, in order to inform future planning and decision making. Janet will bring her wonderful sense of joy, commitment and enthusiasm for ecumenism to our office.

Janet says that she is inspired by the potential for member churches to learn from one another and collaborate for greater effectiveness in mission. She believes that God has raised up ecumenical councils as a visible witness to Christian unity, taking heart in what the Psalmist wrote “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Janet feels that her priority in this new role is to “listen deeply and well, as a way of helping the NCCA Board discern what God is doing in and through our churches and our country."

If you feel that Janet seems familiar to you, it is probably due to the fact that she has been the Federal Coordinator for the Churches of Christ in Australia for the past four years. She says that she has been very privileged to serve in this role and found that connecting with other national and international church leaders a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Previously Janet piloted a women’s leadership initiative through Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. She also works for Christian Coaching Institute, and loves coaching church leaders toward greater faithfulness and fruitfulness.

Janet was raised in a Baptist Church and was baptised at age 17. She says that she experienced a sense of call to ministry at age 19. Janet later joined a local Church of Christ and studied theology through the Churches of Christ Theological College (now Stirling College, part of the Melbourne University of Divinity). She is an ordained minister with Churches of Christ.

Janet is an extrovert who loves meeting others and having conversations. She says "Coaching is like a hobby I get paid for!"  When not doing all of the things mentioned above, Janet can be found gardening, walking, doing a circit at the gym or eating chocolate. Janet is inspired by the ordinary men and women of the church who serve others out of a heart of love. Of them, she says "They are the unsung heroes of the world".