Moore College

Equipping men and women to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ

The Impact of Two Ways to Live Continues

Vale Dr Erica Sainsbury

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“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15)

Moore Theological College thanks God for the life of Dr Erica Sainsbury who has served on the Academic Board and the Scholarships Committee of the College. Dr Sainsbury, died suddenly on Christmas Eve. While we can rejoice that Dr Sainsbury is now enjoying the presence of the Lord, knowing him now as she has always been known by him, the suddenness and shock is real, as is our loss of relationship for the time being.

Board and Faculty members have praised her contribution to the College community. Archbishop Kanishka Raffel said she was “a generous and faithful sister and servant of the Lord”, and Jane Tooher comments that “she was such a wonderful woman and was so great for the College.”

Principal, Dr Mark Thompson remarks:

“Her contribution in the Academic Board and as an advisor on curriculum review and other academic matters has been invaluable. Her strong Christian faith and commitment to the mission of the College, as well as her experience in higher education has been evident in all our interactions. This is a very sad loss for the College as well as her church, family and friends.”

Emeritus faculty member, Dr Colin Bale, who also served with Dr Sainsbury when he was Academic Dean, spoke fondly of her:

“I am very sorry to hear this news about Erica. She has been a much-valued member of the Academic Board since it was set-up. I served on a number of academic and course reviews with Erica since 2010. Her insights and counsel were always valuable and greatly appreciated. I also enjoyed the numerous conversations I had with her about cricket. The sport was a passion for her. She was an accredited umpire and latterly worked as a ground announcer… she was a person who loved the Lord Jesus and her hope was in Him. I am thankful for this dear sister in Christ.”

The Rev Antony Barraclough, rector at NorthLight (West Pymble with West Lindfield) where Dr Sainsbury served, commented:

“The Diocese and Moore College loses one of its great lay servants. Erica was very involved at Moore College, her parish, and the EOS committee. She had been a warden and a synod representative for many years. A lady who brought her great intellect and skill in the service of the gospel. She will be missed and yet we grieve with hope.”

Dr Sainsbury’s funeral will be held on Friday 21 January, 10.30am at West Pymble Anglican Church – 2 Eppleston Place, West Pymble.

The service will also be livestreamed, accessible via Home – NorthLight Anglican Church (nlac.org.au).

Please pray for Dr Sainsbury’s family, church family, and friends as they grieve her loss.
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The Oaks: Equipping Ministry Leaders with the PTC

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Over the last 2 years, The Oaks Anglican Church has offered eight Moore Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC) Units, to train and equip ministry leaders who are involved in youth, children’s, and pastoral ministries. The group started meeting online due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 and will continue to meet in an in-person and online-zoom hybrid format going forward.

Most recently, 17 group members have studied OT2 (Former Prophets) and then Doctrine 2. Everyone tries to read the PTC notes before the group, and they concentrate on the big idea and key bible passages during the meeting. Their leader, Peter White, often also prepares other relevant resources to enhance the group time.

Most recently, he has been using segments from Don Carson’s The God Who Is There video resource. An important part of the night is contextualising what is being learnt, so that it can be applied to their ministries. They also pray for and care for each other. There have been lots of repeat returnees to the group and Peter has seen the group members maturing in their faith and growing in their confidence and ability to teach the Bible in their various contexts.

Because they are working through the PTC units sequentially, one of the challenges is to onboard any new people who join. Peter would like to be able to offer Introduction to the Bible to new people, before they start the later units, so his dream is for The Oaks to partner with another church and offer Introduction to the Bible more frequently. Let him know if you are interested!
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