Colin’s ministry life spans 48 years and, included in the various ministry roles he has done is that of a Church planter. This role has shaped much of his commitment ever since. He remains convinced that a discipleship based Church planting strategy will bring healing and transformation to Australia.

ADVANCE NOTICE

A new publication from Dr Colin Stoodley will be released by
PublishU and available through Amazon on 25 November
2026.

The title of this new book is “Nurturing the Genius: Making
the most of the whole Body for the sake of Church
planting.”

Tim Freyer from Power to Change writes of this new book,
“I believe this work has the potential to reshape conversations,
renew imagination, and help awaken a generation to God’s
purposes. Read it slowly, prayerfully, and expect to be
changed.”

And Tim O’Neill from Exponential Australia adds,
“If Colin is right, then the future of church planting in Australia will
not depend on a few gifted experts, but on the awakening and
nurturing of the genius Christ has already placed within His
whole Body.”

We are ALL to be apostolic people! And Jesus will raise those He has sent to promote the “sentness” in the people of God and as well, some who will “nurture” the disciples so that they are formed for the ministry to which Jesus has called them.”

(from “Nurturing the Genius” the newest book from Dr Colin Stoodley.

“The tone of Jesus words to us suggests that He wants two things taught to all His disciples. First, He wants to them to be constantly “going into all the world” and He wants them to be formed the right way so that the Body is built up into maturity. And by integrating these two things together, Jesus is building a church as each part does its work.”

(from “Nurturing the Genius” the newest book from Dr Colin Stoodley.

Available from Amazon from 25 November 2026.

If you would like advance notice of details about the book and the author please follow the link here.

Professional Services

After a lifetime of serving and leading among Australian churches, Colin is aware of the moment that has come to the church.

Mentoring & Coaching

Sometimes leaders need coaching and sometimes they need mentoring and Colin offers his discernment to bring what the leader may need at the moment that they need it.

Strategic Reporting

Colin offers reports that will help those who are supporting Church planting to see their role and understand how they are to act through the phases of development that new churches encounter.

Training & Lecturing

Strengthen the development of leaders and teams by preparing and training on matters that are identified as need areas for leaders and teams.

Contact

Colin Stoodley has gifted us a clear and urgent book. In a time when the Church desperately needs to rediscover its sentness, The Genius in the Kingdom reminds us that the core organizing principle of ecclesia is not programming, but discipleship. It’s grounded in experience, shaped by solid research, and offers practical insight for anyone serious about mission in today’s world. If you care about the future of the Church in the West, read this. Then read it again.

Alan Hirsch Author of numerous books on missional spirituality, leadership, and organisation

The Genius in the Kingdom is a great book that goes right to the core of the most essential ingredients necessary for successful church planting and multiplication. Based on Australian church planting research, Colin’s insights should be digested by anyone considering planting a church. I highly recommend this book!

Tim O’Neil National Leader Exponential Australia

The Genius in the Kingdom strongly reminds us that all we need to be the people of God in every generation is contained in the abiding journey of discipleship. Jesus teaches and models the way for us. The Spirit empowers us. Why is it that we often make the Christian journey or the church about other things? Colin Stoodley beautifully reminds us in this deeply considered work, borne of rigorous study and a lifetime of experience, that the Kingdom advances through the creation and replication of missional communities, filled with sent people, who journey in being the people of God together.

Major Kim Haworth Asst Chief Secretary, The Salvation Army Australia

I believe The Genius in the Kingdom makes a critical contribution to church planting in Australia. Colin Stoodley combines practical research, insight and conviction to show that among the growing number of options and resources around planting, discipleship must be central. The spiritual health of church planters and the impact of the churches they plant depends on it.

Chris Swann Director of Church Planting for City to City Australia

In The Genius in the Kingdom, Colin Stoodley brings deep wisdom and practical insight into how discipleship fuels church planting and kingdom growth. His years of experience in leadership development and disciple-making shine through in this book, challenging us to move beyond programs and embrace a relational, Spirit-led approach to ministry. This is a must-read for anyone serious about making disciples who make disciples.

Steve Ballin Pastor, Longreach Baptist

With reflection and insights into discipleship, growing biblically healthy team, developing leadership, identifying opportunities and nurturing unity Colin has provided a book here that is both an inspiration and a necessity for those who want to see the Kingdom expand in Australia. My team all have a copy and we keep finding more and more situations where Colin has hit the proverbial nail on the head. He has given context and understanding to many of the issues we have faced as we have seen our church plant grow and his study and conclusions have helped us tailor, navigate and define pathways into a more productive and God honouring future as we position ourselves to plant again from Riverside.

Darren Dwyer Team Leader, Riverside Salvation Army, Gawler South Australia

Some words and ideas are so big, when we hear them our body panics and we defer the task to braver souls than we. Church planting is one such idea. It’s a concept so big, most of us leave the task to greater mortals. Colin Stoodley shows us, in his book “The Genius in the Kingdom”, that church planting isn’t the domain of superheroes, but simple disciples. When we focus on making disciples who make disciples, church renewal and church planting are inevitable consequences. While the book does contain practical wisdom and insights from 30 years of church planting experience, most of it boils down to solid biblical formation. That is, not tricky marketing ploys, but a move of the Spirit, building a healthy team (aka a Christ like body) and engaging with your community (aka loving your neighbour.) Is there a better way to find inspiration and insights for church planting than from someone who has done it, researched it and coached others along the way?

Paul Clark Pastor, Author & Acting Dean of Formation at Trinity College Qld

My Journey

For the past 17 years I have been researching Church planting in one way or another exclusively in Australian contexts. Now as that research has concluded in the form of a PhD thesis, I felt the urge to bring what I could from my research into a book that might be useful for more and more people who follow Jesus.

Basically from what I have seen, we have built the assumption that Church planting needs experts and strong leaders and teams to make it happen and as a result most disciples of Jesus simply do not see themselves as people who might get involved in something like that. And, of course, leaders are involved. But going forward, it will be a discipleship-based operating system that is going to become what will not only make more planting likely but that more and more of these new churches will become able to multiply as a matter of course.

What I believe is that discipleship is the genius in the Kingdom and without lessening our commitment to best practise for leadership, team, contextualisation, vision, strategy and support processes, our prioritising of the task to make disciples who make disciples will become the first among all our commitments.

I pray that this book might help more and more of us as disciples of Jesus to see that we need not leave it to experts but act like disciples who have a calling to go into all the world.