By Garry Sanossian and Josh Gibbon
In March this year, beloved member of the Network Resource Team, Abigail Skelly, farewelled the team as she began her new career and ministry as a school counsellor.
Abi has had a significant impact on our network during her time in ministry with us, finding herself at the heart of many of our network’s collaborative ministries.
As she steps into a new chapter of her ministry, she reflected, “I’ve seen the tender love of Jesus through the people in this network, and I’ve had the chance to work with some amazing people here! Seeing how people serve Jesus so tenderly in this network has left a mark on me.”
Abi’s experiences in ministry with the network have played a significant part in her journey towards becoming a qualified counsellor.
“This movement has really grown my love for the inner life of people and for formation, for people to be truly seen as they are,” Abi reflected. “It created space for contemplation and room for God to move in people’s lives.”
Abi’s journey with the churches of Christ (then Fresh Hope) network began in 2013 through participating in Impart, a year-long spiritual formation program led by John and Marianne Crowther. Impart and the wider Navigate programs were foundational for Abi’s spiritual growth and sense of ministry vocation.
“It really grew my heart for discipleship and for coming alongside people,” Abi shared.
John Crowther, former Director of Mission & Ministry at churches of Christ, who also served as former Director of Navigate, saw how Abi loved to serve others throughout her journey with the network.
“It is not a role she plays. She actually is a follower of Jesus and out of that participation, the overflow seems to impact people right around her, whether they’re colleagues or people that she’s helping in counselling or formation,” he said.
Marianne Crowther, who also led and worked alongside Abi in Navigate recalled, “I saw her mature over those years as a leader as well as a learner.”
Abi joined the Fresh Hope Mission & Ministry team officially after several years volunteering and helping with the Navigate programs, later taking on the role of Navigate Programs Coordinator.
“The more I led formation groups, the more I realised this is what I want to do. I want to come alongside people and journey with them,” Abi said.
Her passion for spiritual formation grew and found expression in various contexts – playing key roles in coordinating the programs of Collective, Pilgrimage, Drastic Camp, Elder’s Retreat, and more. This passion for seeing people discover their true identity in Jesus led Abi and her husband Jessie to plant a missional community in Marrickville, Sydney – in collaboration with other leaders in our network.
As Navigate came to a close, Abi became part of the Health and Engagement Team, continuing to be a crucial part of shaping and developing many of our network’s collaborative programs and events.
During the COVID pandemic, Abi, Jessie, and their son Chadley moved to be close to family in Tweed Heads, where they joined Tweed Heads Church of Christ (now Living Grace), and have played a key role in recent emergency relief efforts during flooding. Through this experience, Abi also became a trained emergency chaplain with The Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network, tending to people in a time of grief and shock.
Last year in 2024, Abi officially graduated from her Masters in Counselling, following her desire to listen deeply and journey compassionately with people’s stories. Abi completed her study while balancing working three days a week with the Network Resource Team, completing 200 practicum hours, studying and family life.
In 2024, Abi also became part of the Belly & Bones cohort of women, which was focused on raising up the voice and contribution of female leadership in our network.
Kym Dixon, Ministry Leader in Leader Support & Formation and a facilitator of Belly & Bones, collaborated with Abi in many aspects of network ministry.
“What I really appreciate about Abi is the way that she has held it all with such an ease and joy in a non-anxious way,” Kym said. “She’s incredibly skilled at organising events and overseeing programs, but she carries those strengths alongside a genuine love for people and a joyful presence.
“She creates space for everyone else to shine and for people to be received with hospitality and love,” Kym said.
These traits that Abi has honed in her ministry so far have positioned her to be an incredible counsel to children and their families in the future.
In her final week in her role, Abi was part of launching the Belly & Bones Journal, Taste & See, in which she contributed a poem and article on the topic of grief. In this written piece, Abi shares vulnerably from her own story and from her learning as a counsellor, bringing together some of the richest aspects of her own learning and journey in spiritual formation.
You can find Abi’s piece in Taste & See on page 9 of the journal which can be accessed here.
Read more stories from churches of Christ in NSW & ACT HERE
