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Thank you for letting us into your life for this very special issue of our newsletter. Peter has released photos never seen publicly to mark the Wade's 60th anniversary as ministers of the gospel to all nations. May you be inspired, encouraged and blessed, and thank you for being part of this ministry of God's positive Word.
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60 Years of Ministry
30th March 1958 -- 2018 and onwards!
The Wades Remember the Journey
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Much of our early history up to our marriage is portrayed in the photo album online at https://www.peterwade.com/wades (scroll to the bottom). On the spiritual side Vivien grew up in a non-church family, but all five children were forced to go to Sunday School at the local Church of England (Anglican). After she started work as a milliner at the age of 14 she was witnessed to by other evangelical workers, and she would stick a pin in them for their trouble! However, she was eventually saved while attending a Baptist church and later baptized.
I was brought up in a Salvation Army family. In those days the emphasis was strongly on salvation not social work, and I remained a Salvationist until after my mother's death when I was 19 years old. Through the radio broadcast Showers of Blessings from the Church of the Nazarene and also Oral Roberts' radio broadcast, I came to see other streams of Christianity, so I went to Adelaide's only Nazarene church where I met Vivien, and somehow Vivien and I fell in love.
We both felt called to the ministry, but not in the Nazarene Church. We settled on what was an alive and growing Foursquare denomination in Western Australia after a recommendation from a friend, and so we started Bible college in 1957 in Victoria Park, Perth, at the Life Bible College (now moved to Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales). I graduated as Dux (top) of the college and Vivien was second by one point. That's another whole story to be told some time!
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Top left: Graduation service from Life Bible College, Western Australia, December 1958; 3 pictures of the Wades in 1958; bottom: Our second church at North Cottesloe, Western Australia (1959-65).
In our last year of Bible College, we were appointed to pastor a Foursquare church in Fremantle, the port of Western Australia, and spent a year there. It was a church that met in an upper room area in the heart of Fremantle, now rebuilt as a bank. It had struggled for many years before we closed it down and was appointed to North Cottesloe, with our first service being Easter 1958. (See the book "Completely Satisfied in Christ", page 21, for comments on our first service there.)
As we look back with that blessing of hindsight, we had been well trained in the life of a pastor. Our sermons were carefully outlined according to the rules of homiletics, and we had a great teacher for all the practical pastoral ministry, even though he couldn't preach his way out of a paper bag! Theology-wise, prior to college, I had taken all of E.W. Kenyon's courses and had his complete library of books. He also had many books from the healing evangelists who were very effective in the US in the late 1940s and through the 1950s, such as T.L. Osborn, Gordon Lindsay, A.A. Allen and many others. So, our understanding of the Bible went beyond the "middle-of-the-road" approach of our denomination.
We had prayed for the right appointment "anywhere but Cottesloe, Lord," so that's where we ended up for six years of fruitful and busy ministry. Part way through, we and the church joined the Assemblies of God, at that time a national oversight of self-governing, self-sustaining fellowships. During this period I published a magazine on behalf of the church, set up and operated a number of correspondence courses, and wrote numerous articles for Christian magazines, as well as filling the office of State Secretary for the Assemblies of God and Dean of the lay ministers course. A number of his sermons from this period and his magazine appeared in the US minister's magazine The Sermon Builder. At Cottesloe we were finally put in an impossible situation when one family wanted to force change outside of the church constitution, so we resigned. Within two weeks, I was invited to the US for three months of summer school!
While still in the US, I accepted the pastorate of an AOG outreach church at Taperoo, South Australia, and we spent 18 months with them before the whole family was invited back to the US to a teaching ministry coming out of the charismatic movement, which culminated in my honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. During the three years there, we were prominent in the group and made hundreds of friends who in later years wanted to have family camps, which proved a real success.
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Top left: Congregation during campaign meetings at Cottesloe with Rev. Peter Allard; The youth group at Taperoo Assemblies of God, South Australia; bottom: Our two sons congratulateme when I was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree, Sept. 1968; Publicity shot of me in Ohio, 1967-70.
The outreach church at Taperoo received the benefit of my three-month visit to the US, particularly in understanding God's Word and Pentecostal truths, which were evident in the church life. The State leader of the AOG spoke to me when we met in the city one day, and said he had heard that there were "things going on" at Taperoo that he was not sure about, so I invited him to visit. However, shortly afterwards he took the pastorate of a prominent church in another state, and never did visit.
When we moved to the US as a family in May 1967, the AOG would not transfer my accreditation because I was not working in an AOG ministry. In the half century since that time, Vivien and I have been trans-denominational, sharing the Word of God with His people no matter what label they wear. When asked by other ministers who was our "oversight," I would always reply, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (from my favorite verse, Ephesians 1:3).
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Top left: The cake at the farewell dinner in 1988 after 8 years of ministry at the Community Christian Church, Ingle Farm, South Australia. We are still in contact with the couple who made the cake and now live in Tasmania; Top right: Speaking at a camp in Victoria, Australia; Bottom left: 2007 Dead & Alive seminar in Bothell, Washington state, USA; Bottom right: 2007 In Christ, Christ, In seminar in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Upon returning to Adelaide, we held home fellowship meetings and taught classes in rented premises in the city. Then in 1979, together with Lew Smallwood who had attended Taperoo church, we started the Community Christian Church in Ingle Farm, a new suburb in north-eastern Adelaide. The church grew and moved out of the Smallwood home into the conference room at a doctor's practice, and then into a larger area at the local recreational center. In 1988 I felt God's leading to pass the church over to another minister, and so ended my pastoral ministry.
Two years before starting the Ingle Farm church, I had been invited to speak at a camp run by friends in Minnesota, USA and again the next year. In 1979 a large family camp was held in the coastal redwood forests near Mendocino, on the northern Californian coast, arranged by Bill Morgan. The next year Steve Heefner arranged a camp on the coast of Oregon, which was held just a couple of weeks after Mount St. Helens erupted in nearby Washington state on May 18, 1980.
The camp returned to Mendocino for a number of years and at other locations in northern California. On every visit, in addition to the camps, I spoke at home fellowships right across the US: New York state, Ohio, Kentucky, Montana, Colorado, etc. All this was happening while we pastored our new church. In all, I made around 20 visits to the US in total, and Vivien accompanied me quite often to handle the children's ministry at the camps.
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A selection of family camps held in California and Australia. Top left: 1979 camp at Mendocino Woodlands, Nth California, arranged by Bill Morgan's home fellowship; Top right: 1986 Cazadero camp, CA; Center: 1998 camp Mendocino CA; Bottom left: 1999 meeting at Penngrove CA; Bottom right: 2001 Halls Gap, Victoria, Australia, with a strong US contingent, a combined camp with Norm Campbell's church.
In 2001 and 2003, family camps were held jointly with Norman Campbell's church near Melbourne. The setting was Halls Gap in the Grampian Mountains of Victoria, and Vivien ran the children's ministry while Norman and I taught the Word to the adults. A large contingent from the US came to the 2001 camp, and some friends before the camp, and others after the camp visited with Vivien and I in our home in a southern beachside suburb of metropolitan Adelaide.
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Top left: 2010 Oahu, Hawaii camp on the north shore. Our brave skydivers. Top right: 2010 Oahu HI camp. Chatting between sessions. On the far right is Mike Sommer, current President of Positive Words Inc. USA. Bottom left: Denise and I, long-time friends. Denise is a lawyer and always wanted to do the "airport run" when the we flew into or out of San Francisco. She was one of many believers on Highway 101 in northern California who were meeting in home fellowships. Bottom right: Geri Johnson at my home in 2001. Following on from Bob Roberts, for two decades Geri ran our "fulfillment center" on the west coast of USA, mailing ministry materials and friendly notes to supporters. She passed away in 2016, one of many believers to go to be with the Lord since the first US camp in 1977.
The last camp in the US was organized by Bill Morgan in 2010 and fittingly took place on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Vivien was unable to fly with me that time, though she had visited Hawaii on previous trips. It was a smaller group of great friends who realized we were all getting older! There was a different speaker every day, and that camp is fondly remembered. At least two of the attendees have since passed on.
I started a web site in 1995 in the early years of the Internet, that has for the past 22 years reached more people than all the ministry of the previous years. My teaching articles plus many pages of material from the great teachers of the past are available for free viewing there, plus two full video seminars and over 60 audio teachings. This email newsletter began in June 2003 and so will be 15 years old in a few months. You can visit the site at www.peterwade.com.
"To God be the glory, great things He has done!" and is doing!
[If you want to contact the Wades direct, go to our Contact Us page online.]
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Have You Read the
Poetry of Vivien Wade?
What a treat! Whether you need a lift in troubled times, or a reminder of God’s love for you, or a smile to brighten your day, Vivien Wade’s Bunches of Blessings is for you. Here are 69 poems about people, nature, animals, and Christian living. It's available at our Bookstore and is perfect for special Easter gifts!
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Chocolates and Chuckles is Vivien Wade’s second collection of poems. It includes delightful illustrations by Julia Wakefield.  It was published for the Australian market, but Vivien has so many friends in the US and Canada that we are making it available to them… and you!
Have you ever tried fad diets, joined a gym, or hosted a dinner party where all went wrong? Chocolates & Chuckles is rhyming poetry that helps you see the funny side of life. The sweet rhyming style will make you smile. It includes chuckles for children too! Enjoy 70 poems written "Australian style" to tickle your funny bone. Available at our Bookstore and perfect for Easter gifts.
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Thanksgiving!
What People Are Saying
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 Pam and I were introduced to the ministry of Peter and Vivien Wade in the mid 1970s. Through their ministry we came to know more fully the greatness of what God did in Christ for us. Peter’s teachings and books have been instrumental in our Christian growth.
The bulk of Peter's work concerns the New Testament teachings of Paul and illustrates how to walk in the power and authority of the new birth. Peter’s book, “In Christ, Christ In” explains our position in God’s family and the power of His presence in us with simplicity and understanding. What a delight it has been to have Peter and Vivien as teachers and friends throughout the years.
Peter and Vivien, we thank you for your faithfulness and congratulations on “60” years of ministry to God’s people.
We love you,
Mike Sommer
(President, Positive Words Inc.)
I first met Peter Wade in the summer of 1977 at a family camp. As I listened to him teach, I was amazed at how easy Peter made it to believe and  understand that God is my Father and is in Christ, that Christ lives in me, and what all of that means. What joy that knowledge has brought to my life!
To this day, I refer to Peter's teaching as "meat in a baby bottle" because he makes seemingly complicated subjects like "Christ in us" so simple to grasp. It is upon that foundation that God has called Peter and Vivien's ministry to teach about all that the Christian is and has in Christ Jesus, and I'm writing this to publicly thank God for giving Peter and Vivien's message to the body of Christ.
It is a ministry that has been consistent in veracity with both the written and spoken Word, and has never begged for money or advertised a fundraiser. I am proud to be associated with it. Happy 60th birthday to the ministry.
Much love,
Irene Baroni
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