A common misconception is that you need to be a gifted teacher to be a Torah Club Leader. You don’t!
You just need to have a love for God’s Word and a desire to join a mission centered on helping others to know Yeshua better.
Torah Club Leaders and students are regular people who have a passion for learning God’s Word with others. They realize that learning and living out the precepts of Scripture is not meant to be done in isolation. Craig Hepplewhite is the national director for Torah Club in Australia and epitomizes the above concepts. Craig’s Torah Club brings disciples together in Australia to learn and grow together each week. Recently, we sat down with Craig to discuss the origins and growth of Torah Club in the land down under.
Craig, tell us how Torah Club got started in Australia?
Several years ago, I attended First Fruits of Zion’s annual conference in the United States. While there, I learned about the vision for the new Torah Club. This sounded like a great fit for my congregation in Brisbane, Australia. Being that we had an existing relationship with FFOZ, we were confident that the new Torah Club would be excellent. When I came back to Australia after the conference, I began sharing with my congregation about the vision for the new Torah Club. We started right from the beginning and have been doing it ever since. It has been great for our community. The new Torah Club is something that we were waiting for.
Tell us how new clubs and leaders emerged from your club?
The expansion and creation of new Torah Clubs have happened in several waves here in Brisbane. When we started, we had three clubs right away. About a year ago, a student in one of the clubs started a new club. Then at the beginning of the current cycle, we had three more clubs get started. The growth has taken place from within our clubs. We encourage students to start new clubs, even if that is with only a few people. We want to see Torah Club expand throughout Australia.
