Design Your Future 
EXPLORE ~ DISCOVER ~ THRIVE
NEXT is a unmatched experience of friendship, discipleship and personal development delivered through an accredited Diploma. Quite simply, it is a year like no other, tailor made for young adults.
When God Is Not Being Clear
As we launch our new program – NEXT2 – we are exploring purpose, vocation, calling and discerning the way ahead through our blog. This week, we are re-posting a blog written by Rowan Lewis, team leader at NEXT, that explores God’s Will and finding our way when things aren’t clear. We will be going deeper […]
OPEN NIGHT (2015) REDUX
If you couldn’t make it to NEXT’s Open Night, you can now watch and engage online. Through the NEXT Open Night you will discover the heart behind NEXT, the way we approach discipleship and formation, the options you have available and how you can join us for 2015. There’s also a special Spoken Word / Slam Poetry piece […]
Bend, Don’t Break: The Importance of a Flexible Faith
I’ve heard some people say that the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty. While I agree that doubt is definitely not the opposite of faith, I’m not so sure that certainty is either. Having said that, I am sure that equating certainty with faith is highly problematic. Here are some interesting thoughts from […]
When Faith Grows Up: Part 2) You Lied!
Have you ever seen a kids Bible board-book? The kind where the pages are really thick and (supposedly) dribble-proof. They often have these cutesy images of meek-and-mild bible scenes (usually complete with bunny rabbits) in glossy primary colours. And because you can only fit a few pages into a board-book before it becomes a door […]
When Faith Grows Up: Part 1) Truth has a use-by date
When I was a child … I thought the sky was blue because God painted it that way. I imagined Heaven to be a massive ice-cream shop in the sky. I assumed the Holy Spirit really was a dove, fairy-like angels sat on my shoulder and Jesus looked like a mini Ken doll (with a beard) who […]
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NEXT 2017 – The first 100 Days
This week, NEXT 2017 turned the corner on its first 100 days while, at the same time, closing out the first semester and heading into a 7-week break What do you imagine being able to achieve in 100 days? At the start of the year, did you have any plans for what you might set out […]
The ‘Faith’ of Unbelief
Would it seem curious or perhaps oxymoronic to you to use the phrase ‘the faith of an athiest’? It was with great curiosity that I awoke this morning to discover this article appearing amongst the ABC’s ‘Top News Stories’ listed on their web site and app. The article is a retelling of Michael Collet’s journey […]
Losing Heart
A fascinating glimpse into children and youth ministry in the UK has recently been released – Losing Heart. Over 2000 churches of all sizes and denominations surveyed and the insight gained is intriguing. This cleverly presented and very readable research synthesizes the survey’s findings down to three big ideas: Churches, especially smaller ones, do more […]
Your Best Offer
I Hope You Find What You Are Looking For … On the day my University offer came out, you would have found me perched on top of the brick pillar that housed our mailbox, waiting for the Postie to come past on his bicycle (Yup – this was the era before online offers and text […]
I’m Lost But Looking
Early January days can be the strangest of all. The days that come after the giant swell of end of year events that is late December – the Christmas season that I so deeply desire to be meaningful but often ends up a tiring experience of mayhem. That week between Christmas and New Years that […]
Avoid The “Career” Trap
Our culture has set itself up to funnel young people into a career as quickly as it can without providing the resources and time necessary for young people to forge the required character to conduct themselves with confidence and integrity. At NEXT, you can have your career, but with Character as well.
Meet the Team
Team Leader
Rowan Lewis leads the team that delivers Whitley College’s NEXT Diploma program that offers emerging and young adults a unique experience of personal development and spiritual formation within an accredited setting. He is also engaged in PhD research, exploring the ways in which religious and spiritual identity become established, lost and renegotiated in young people through their late teens and twenties.
Rowan Lewis
Co-ordinator
Mia Co-ordinates the first year of Whitley College’s NEXT Diploma program. Mia brings to NEXT a keen interest in locating oneself in the biblical story in order to know God, know self and know others as well as a desire to creatively adapt traditional practices of liturgy in order to better integrate the life of a community with the life of Christ.
Mia Kafieris
NEXT2 Coordinator & Lecturer in Creativity and Spirituality
Joel McKerrow is a writer, speaker, educator, community arts worker and one of Australia’s most successful internationally touring performance poets. Amongst his busy schedule Joel coordinates the NEXT2 program as well as teaching our Creativity and Spirituality elective. Based out of Melbourne, Australia he is the Artist Ambassador for the aid and development organisation TEAR Australia and was the co-founder of community arts organisation The Centre for Poetics and Justice (2010-2013).
Joel McKerrow
Spirituality, Activism & Justice
Stephen is a big fan of NEXT, that is to say he is passionate about facilitating an environment where young adults can explore and experiment with the historical, social, economic and political dimensions of Christian spirituality. Stephen is a husband, a dad, and a foundation member of the Melbourne City Football Club. Stephen is particularly interested in radical spirituality, incarnational community and the dynamics of personal and social transformation, particularly amongst young adults. He has helped many think about the nexus between the issues of justice, poverty, consumerism and discipleship in the context of popular global culture.
Stephen Said
