Is there any value in exploring clergy competency?

Rev Malcolm York, currently Rector of St Andrews Roseville, has been nominated as Lecturer in Ministry and Dean of Students for Moore College starting in January 2025.

With a depth of experience in parish ministry Mal has the heart and the skills needed for this important teaching and pastoral role.

“Mal is very clearly the right person to be our next Dean of Students,” remarked College Principal Mark Thompson. “His pastoral warmth, his commitment to training and his long experience in parish ministry all equip him well for this pastoral role. I am very grateful that Mal has agreed to take on this important responsibility among us. We are looking forward to Mal, Heather and the family joining us next year.”

Prior to serving at Roseville, Mal has also served at St Clements Mosman, St Philip’s South Turramurra, Shellharbour City Centre, and West Ryde, totalling 24 years of parish experience. Mal has been involved in training gospel workers in India and Chile and has served as a volunteer NSW Ambulance Chaplain. Mal brings this range of experience together with pastoral wisdom and a genuine concern for people. He is married to Heather, and they have four young adult children. With a love of good coffee, playing the guitar and getting involved in sports Mal will quickly feel at home in the Newtown community.

Mal has commented, “I look forward to helping the students at Moore College grow as disciples of Jesus Christ and understand what it means to be involved in pastoral ministry. I am also excited about getting alongside the students to help them navigate the high points and challenges of College life.”

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The College is thrilled to announce the appointment of Rev Dr Tony Payne as Lecturer in Christian Thought (Ethics) from November 2024. Currently serving at Campus Bible Study (CBS) in the University of New South Wales as a ministry trainer, Tony has previously served the College in a part-time capacity (2014–2019) as Director of the Centre for Christian Living.

For more than three decades, mainly through his work with Matthias Media, Tony has been regularly sharing reflections on what it means to live the Christian life through books, articles, podcasts and lectures. Some of his most well-known titles include The Trellis and the Vine, Fatherhood, and Islam in our Backyard.

Tony is married to Alison, has five adult children and 9 (soon to be 10) grandchildren. He has a PhD in Christian ethics, which he gained for a thesis entitled ‘Truthing in love: the theological nature, purpose and practice of “one-another edifying speech” in the Christian community’.

“I am excited about Tony joining us again”, commented the College Principal, Mark Thompson. “I am confident he will make a very significant contribution to the College. His deep reflection on theological and ethical issues, together with his ability to communicate clearly and simply to a range of audiences will be of enormous benefit. We look forward to welcoming Tony and Alison back to the College community.”

Tony shared, “Moore College is one of the most important Christian training institutions in the world, and to be given the opportunity to be part of the Faculty and contribute to its mission in this way is a huge privilege. I’m looking forward to it enormously, and Ali and I are also really looking forward to being in Newtown and part of the Moore community (again!).”

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2000 – 2024 College Service. From Library Technician to Senior Librarian – Monographs.

Annabel Bristow, after 24 years of service in the Donald Robinson Library of Moore College, is retiring this month. Annabel has been a faithful servant to generations of students, Faculty and Staff and during this time she has been a blessing to the library team and the wider College community.

Annabel can you take us back to when you first started work at Moore College in 2000?

I started as a Library Technician, working mainly at the Service Desk. I had a qualification of Bachelor of Arts in Library Studies and one of my first jobs was transferring journal-holding records from cards onto the new Library Management Software. Back then the Library was open four nights a week until 9:00pm and sometimes after finishing late I would be back at the desk at 8:00am the next morning!
I have seen several of the now Faculty starting out as students and it has been a privilege to see them, and their families, all grow.

What do you love best about working in the College Library?

There is a big service aspect to working in a Library, I have the opportunity to help people find the information they need. I get to connect with people, listen to them and even pray for them.
The relationship between everyone working at the College has been really special and God has assembled an amazing team in the College Library. This is the best team I have worked with, they are all skilled and efficient and work together really well.

What about the environment?

The Library, when I first arrived at Moore College, was not purpose-built, it was a rabbit warren with stacks in the upper T. C. Hammond Room and later offsite at Sydenham and 93 King Street. There were more books than we could house. I have memories of books being piled on the floor in the aisles. The aisles themselves were very narrow and the bookshelves were high. There was the odd occasion when a book would topple off the top shelf and crown a passerby!
So, the new Library space is lovely. The shelves themselves have a lower profile and are very stable! We are always receiving positive feedback about the environment. It is light-filled and a very pleasant place to work.

It is a privilege to work in the leading theological library in the Southern Hemisphere. We have the most amazing resources which have been collected since 1856. The Library has books that no one else has. When I started work here the Faculty used to do their study leave overseas and then come back and say “The books I wanted were here all the time”! Today many of the Faculty complete most of their study leave here and Rod helps them find the information they need.

What will you miss most?

No hesitation, I will miss the people. But I do love cataloguing. Sometimes there is something obscure that needs to be catalogued – there are challenges every day. I just loved my job.

It has been a real privilege to work here. There have been many opportunities to grow and it has been amazing to work with some of the best Library, Faculty and College Staff that you could hope for.

Annabel leaves us feeling loved and cared for but she also leaves with a reminder which seems appropriate considering her expertise: Progress is good but history is important.

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