Moore College

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

Congratulations to the New CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries

Congratulations to the New CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries

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Moore Theological College warmly congratulates Jo Gibbs on her appointment as the new CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries (ADM). Jo is known to many of us as a godly woman and a gifted fellow-worker in the gospel. Her experience in gospel ministry, her sharp, biblical mind and her gentle character and care of others all lead us to rejoice that God has given ADM such an impressive leader.

“The relationship between Moore College and Anglican Deaconess Ministries goes back over a century”, Principal Mark Thompson remarked. “Our common concern that women are equipped both for full-time vocational ministry and for the myriad of other Christian ministries in our city and beyond makes us ideal partners. I am looking forward to working closely alongside Jo as both of our organisations pursue the glory and mission of Christ.”

Jane Tooher, our Director for the Priscilla & Aquila Centre (P&A), was also delighted with Jo’s appointment:

“The appointment of Jo Gibbs as the new CEO of ADM is a wonderful answer to prayer for which I thank God. It has been great to be partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ with Jo in a variety of ways including: when she served as a CMS missionary; as someone in local church ministry in the diocese; when she spoke for us at the 2017 Priscilla & Aquila Centre; and her doing post-graduate study with us at Moore. I look forward to continue being co-workers in Christ with Jo in her new ministry role, and I am excited to see what God will do through her with the many gifts he has given her and also the abundant resources he has given her at ADM. My continued prayers are with Jo so that her leadership of ADM will be one of Christ-like service, and through her Christ’s church will be built and many who are lost will be reached with the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Caroline Clark, chaplain and newly appointed Recruitment & Admissions Officer, also says: “Jo longs to see the lost reached with the gospel – she is prayerful and able, and her appointment will be a great blessing.”

Please join us in praying for Jo, who begins her work with ADM on 17 November 2020.
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Why We Should Say Yes to Sydney and Anglican!

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“Are you here because we are a good boat to fish from or because you want to be an Anglican clergyman?”

This question, asked during my Sydney Anglican ordination interview process, took me on a journey in which I became deeply committed to both Sydney and Anglicanism. My faith was birthed through low-church gospel ministry where the prominence and significance of the sacraments and of bishops was paltry at best. I was taught that the gathering was where it was at, and that “we will certainly be in danger of [despising the true church of God] if we exalt ecumenism, or denominationalism, or diocesanism above the unity of the local church”.[1]

In my view, this right theology has often been over-applied; that is, in an effort to ensure the right place of the local church in our theological thinking, many have come to despise denominationalism and diocesanism. Not only is this theologically unnecessary, but the end result is that fewer people start a theological education with a denominational vision and so church planting, chaplaincy and student work (the so-called ‘frontline ministries’) are attracting the attention of candidates in greater and greater numbers. Somehow, our pursuit of right theology has cannibalised the gathering it sought to protect.

Twenty-five years into formal Anglican ministry in the Diocese of Sydney, I am still here because I want to be an Anglican clergyman. Sure, I’d be equally content serving the Lord Jesus in a different type of work, but there is something marvellously compelling about wearing the badge that says both Sydney and Anglican. I have identified five distinctive elements that have shaped both me and the church I serve that make it both something to be thankful for and a ministry worth unashamedly embracing for a lifetime.

First, Anglicanism is profoundly gospel-shaped. From the first page of the Prayer Book, you will find gospel truth abounding. Littered throughout is the news that “salvation is found in no-one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This eternal reality has shaped the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Creeds, the Homilies and the prayers. Of course, if you find yourself amidst a low-church gospel ministry as I did, news of a Prayer Book may seem entirely foreign, but the reality is that everything that takes place in your church has been and is being shaped but the foundational gospel legacy found therein. If not for that book, written in 1662 and built upon since then, you would not have the clarion call of the gospel ringing from the pulpit, piano, and prayers, Sunday by Sunday.

A younger, immature version of myself once foolishly found itself in an argument with Dr Peter Jensen about the uselessness of the Prayer Book. Needless to say that when he reminded me that even those who have abandoned the Scriptures but follow the Prayer Book week by week unknowingly proclaim the life-giving gospel to each other through the Service of Holy Communion, I closed my mouth and gave thanks that even those who have abandoned the gospel continue to proclaim it because of our gospel foundations.

Secondly, Anglicanism is wondrously biblically-centered and theologically governed. From the beginning, not only did we establish the reading and preaching of the Scriptures as the high point of our gatherings, but the Reformers enshrined a ‘local adaptability’ principle. The expectation of the Prayer Book was that ministry would change and alter in accordance with the times by the legitimate authority of those who were authorised to deem it expedient or necessary. Essentially, thinking theologically from the Scriptures about the nature of church practice and ministry was enshrined from the beginning. Those who feel locked in or restricted by Anglicanism are the same group who do not understand it. In all its iterations, the expectation of Anglicanism is that we will be driven back to the Scriptures again and again to shape our gospel proclamation for our hearers without reshaping the gospel. This marvellous principle has undergirded for me enormous creativity in ministry without losing the safe mooring and shelter that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

All that said, we here in Sydney need to keep learning how to uphold established truth and practice with greater and greater humility and grace. GAFCON has been a great pathway to this for me as we have gathered with gospel-shaped, biblically-centered Anglicans from around the world whose expression of ministry is often radically divergent. We must continue to draw the comb of the Scriptures and deep theological thinking across our own teaching and practice and allow others to do the same for us.

Third, and building on our biblically-centered approach, we are teaching-focused. The church puts at the forefront of what it does, the very thing it should do – preach the Word. Paul’s charge to his apprentice in 2 Timothy 4 remains the charge of the clergyperson. My most recent license instructs me to “preach the Word of God and perform other ecclesiastical duties”. One clear instruction and one general instruction. One focus from which all other foci might build from. There is no doubt that care, prayer, and personal devotion are crucial to the life and work of the clergy, but most crucial is the preaching of the Word for the growth in maturity and godliness of the church. Anglicanism expects that you will make it so. There are many duties that a clergyperson could do and many the world expects we should do, but there is one that Anglicanism demands we must do: teach the Bible.

Fourth, Anglicanism is future thinking. Throughout the Prayer Book is an expectation that the next generation of pastors will be prayed for, raised up, encouraged, and trained. You might say that there is an expectation that things we hear taught in the Bible are to be entrusted to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Tim 2:2). By this point you may be thinking, he just keeps going on about the Prayer Book – and you would be right. But my purpose here is to show you that at the heart of Anglicanism is everything you would expect church to be. Far from being ‘of another age’, everything is thought through, even the future. The structure of Anglicanism encourages succession planning and passing the baton to the next generation through modelling, education, and training. While Jesus tarries, we need reliable men and women to teach others, and our denominational structures provide excellent pathways for this to come to fruition. Indeed, the joy of the powerhouse of a diocese is that as a church leader you can keep preaching the Word while others support you in the task of entrusting the work to the next generation.

Finally, Anglicanism is globally visioned. The structure of Anglicanism means that every corner of the globe is in a parish and is a concern of the church because every human is a concern of God. Our globally visioned church reminds us of the fact that in eternity, men and women from every nation, tribe, people, and language, will stand before the throne and before the Lamb (Rev 7:9). The beauty in this is that Anglicanism is never limited to the church, but every new estate or town, school or university is already in a parish, already being prayed for, and already has a team of people ready to minister to it. That is not to say that there cannot be more, but it is to say that anything new is already the concern of the church that is already there.

There is so much more that could (and perhaps should) be said but I am proud of the Sydney and Anglican badge I wear and I invite you to join me in ministry in this boat – not just because it is a good boat to fish from, but because it is built on foundations that are unashamedly worth embracing for a lifetime of ministry. You may be an Anglican who has never held a Prayer Book, never seen a vestment, and never understood the role of a Bishop, but I guarantee you that your faith has been shaped by a people and a history that keeps putting first things first and has done so for more than 450 years. If I was starting again, my answer to the ordination question would be – both!

This article is from the ACR’s 2020 Winter Journal
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Not I, But Christ

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A remarkable revolution takes place when a person is converted. I will never tire of reflecting upon the conversion of Saul of Tarsus that day on Straight Street in Damascus. After he met the Lord Jesus Christ, the activistic antagonist had atonement applied, and the archpersecutor became the Apostle Paul. All his sinful desires and shameful acts – the approval of Stephen’s stoning, the persecution of Christians, the Pharisaical pride – these things, and much more, were put to death in the death of Christ.
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Equipped and sent out to speak

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It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself (2 Corinthians 4:13-14).

These words penned by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth were running through my mind as I watched the online Moore Theological College Distance Graduation this week. In a COVID season characterised by a lack of stability and consistency, these words ring true and provide a backbone for the Christian man and woman like nothing else. For these words aren’t just true of the Apostle Paul and his fellow gospel workers around AD55, but relevant to every Christian at present. These words provide a purpose for life, stability and identity in life, and an assurance of where our lives are going. These words are of central importance. We who believe in the Lord Jesus are saved, and we speak this good news of God’s salvation because of the resurrection and eternal life that awaits us.

And knowing that the gospel changes everything, it is so encouraging to see how many students are wanting to continue to drink deeply from the Scriptures and grow in their love and knowledge of God. Hearing the stories of our distance graduates should cause us to stop and give thanks to our great God. We should give thanks because our distance graduates aren’t studying for merely intellectual knowledge, they are studying to know the Bible better, and therefore to confidently proclaim Jesus to those around them.

Jamie Telfer, Academic Administrator with the Distance team at Moore and who prayed at the distance graduation, says of the interactions she has had with our graduating students: “they are an amazing group of people that are genuinely thankful for and eager to learn from God’s word.”

Our distance graduates are located all over Sydney, all over Australia and all over the world. They have different educational backgrounds, work in different fields, are at different life stages and serve in a variety of churches. And all of them have unique opportunities to speak of the life that Jesus brings, to people of varying ages, socioeconomic status’, religious backgrounds and cultural persuasions. And so, we give thanks to God, who has softened their hearts to believe the gospel, and has put it on their hearts to proclaim that same gospel to those around them.

Dr Chris Thomson, who is the Director of Distance at Moore, addressed the graduating students in his Bible talk on Colossians 2, saying “Your desire to grow in your faith and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is a great encouragement to all of us here at Moore College.” Dr Thomson noted that “the goal of all Paul’s hard work is the same as our goal here at Moore College,” namely that the Colossian believers “may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3). Thus “Paul’s ministry, like ours, is to proclaim Christ and Christ alone.”

Just as the Scriptures encourage us to give thanks, we are also encouraged to pray. We should be praying for the distance graduates of the College, that they would continue to preach the gospel of our crucified Lord boldly. Pray that the study they have done through distance education would bear fruit of the sake of winning many for Jesus and his kingdom. And being reminded of what these graduates have done and where they are hoping to serve Jesus, let us remind ourselves to pray ceaselessly that the Lord of the harvest might raise up more and more workers for the harvest (Matthew 9:38). And pray that the Lord might put it on the hearts of many to consider theological education, whether that be in the form of the Preliminary Theological Certificate, or one of our suite of more advanced courses offered here at Moore. For there are so many in the world who need to hear stable, loving, life-giving message of salvation in Christ alone. And that is surely the work of every Christian, to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9b)

2020 Moore Distance Graduation

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