AC Tell Volume 6: Summer Issue

in this issue:

Why Christian Education?

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The Power of Community

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Connect your Passion with your Calling

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Pathway to

greater callings.

Summer TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN

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For AC graduate, Pastor Ken Fischer, further study opened doors to new leadership opportunities, including his current role as Chaplaincy Australia’s NSW/ACT State Director.

Having been an associate senior pastor for 8 years, Ken gained professional entry into the Master of Arts (Leadership) degree in 2004. With no previous tertiary education, Ken was initially hesitant as to whether or not he would make it through the course. Ken says, “I often felt like the ‘tortoise’ in the fable about the tortoise and the hare. Many other class members seemed to breeze through the subjects and assignments. However, I just kept going, focusing on each task ahead. With the support of my senior minister Barry Saar, and my ‘study mentor’, Hilary Williams, as well as my family, I completed the course and crossed the finish line on schedule. The lecturers and staff at AC were always supportive and encouraging towards me the whole way through.”

Ken found the experience of studying invaluable, saying, “I have a greater understanding of biblical leadership principles and the confidence to implement them. I also feel equipped to maintain a healthy balance between ministry and life.” continued on page 2

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In his work with Chaplaincy Australia, Ken cites the degree as being instrumental in his position. “My role involves strategic thinking, providing leadership to a team of paid and volunteer chaplains as well as managing the NSW state budget and administration requirements. I regularly draw on the valuable principles I learned and have seen them outworked in many ways.”

Chaplaincy Australia is a national department of the Australian Christian Churches and is dedicated to communicating the Christian faith in a practical and compassionate way. Chaplaincy Australia has a network of over 320 chaplains who are passionate about serving others and being ready to be called to any situation. Ken says, “Chaplains are currently experiencing many opportunities to serve within the community. People in need are open to receive support from chaplains, who minister God’s love in empathic and practical ways. We now have chaplains deployed in the defence force, correctional centres, sporting teams, the fashion industry, disaster response, hospitals and aged care - ordinary people, achieving extraordinary things!”

In November this year, Ken and his wife Mandy are moving on to a new season of leadership, as senior pastors at The Embassy Church, in Belmore. Ken says, “I know it will be a big learning curve, but we are very excited and will certainly be drawing on the skills I have learned at AC.” For information on AC’s chaplaincy courses, go to ac.edu.au/chaplaincy.

Why

Christian Education?

AC’s Chief Executive Officer, Assoc Prof Stephen Fogarty, examines Christian education’s potential to shape culture, in an increasingly secular society.

And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, the apostle Paul defends himself against his detractors in Corinth. Not everyone in the church accepts Paul’s ministry or his claim to authority. Their criticism of him centres on his personal presence and preaching. They say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing” (2 Cor 10:10).

The Corinthians claim that Paul fails to exhibit lofty speech or wisdom, that does not have plausible words of wisdom, and that he was with them in weakness and fear and much trembling. He lacks all of the traits of an educated and cultured man.

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Paul’s defense focuses primarily on his message. He proclaims to them nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

And he does so in a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. The Christian message centres on Jesus Christ. Paul makes a similar statement in Colossians 1:15-18, but elaborates significantly on the Corinthian statement:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For

by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

Paul suggests a unity of knowledge, a seamless whole, because all true knowledge flows from the One Creator to His one creation. All truth is God’s truth, composing a single universe of knowledge - “in him all things hold together.” Therefore, all real knowledge stems from God and from his definitive revelation in Jesus Christ.

Because all truth derives from Christ, the apostle states that we “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). Paul’s words call us toward a complete devotion to Christ. We are not just to love Him with our heart, but also with our mind.

This is a call to think in a Christian manner. It means being able to see life and learning from a Christian vantage point. It means thinking with the mind of Christ. All of our thinking is liberated by coming under the Lordship of Christ.

This is the role for a Christian tertiary college - to provide a Christian education in all fields of inquiry as a part of the proclamation of Christ. It is to provide a framework for serious wrestling with the ideologies and problems of our contemporary context. It can help to shape people to influence culture for Christ. A Christian college aims to bend culture in directions that are more compatible with God’s overall will for the world.

The Power

of Community

Along the Thai-Burma border there are hundreds of thousands of Burmese people who live displaced. The long-running civil war in Burma has left many people at the mercy of human traffickers. In response to this, many community and non government organisations have been established to help meet the needs of those seeking refuge in Thailand.

Over ten days in July, a team of five AC students and staff served in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border. There they partnered with AC graduate Ruth Lesmana, who works for Global Alms Incorporated as a missionary to displaced Burmese migrants.

Ruth’s work on the Thai-Burma border seeks to transform victims and those at risk of human trafficking into self-sufficient, independent individuals. This is done through building partnerships and connections with other teams and organisations and maintaining a presence in various migrant schools and villages in Thailand and Burma, as well as teaching English with migrant students and teachers. Ruth has also begun the sponsorship of sustainability projects continued on page 4

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with goats, pigs and chickens; and is building solid relationships with the local Burmese families and fellow community workers.

Each year AC Missions sends a team of staff and students to support an AC graduate that has gone on to lead and minister in a cross cultural context. Alongside Ruth, the team engaged the local community through prayer ministry and teaching English at a local school and Bible Institute.

The group were also able to help in a practical, hands-on way through building a shelter for goats and pigs. Amanda Woods, a Bachelor of Theology student said, “The trip to Thailand was a great time of fun and fellowship. It was a good opportunity to support Ruth and the work she is doing. This trip highlighted to me the needs of the Burmese people and how I can help.”

Pastor Jeremy Hodson, Director of Student Services says, “I learned how instrumental community engagement programs are in meeting the needs of those who have been displaced and are now recovering victims of abuse. The church proved to be the most effective way to meet many of the needs within the community.”

If you are interested in joining AC Missions for next year’s trip, contact Ps Jeremy Hodson, Director of Student Services, at jeremy.hodson@ac.edu.au

Connect your passion with your calling Starting in 2015, AC will be offering four new postgraduate degrees that are designed to equip you for leadership. We are excited to offer the Graduate Certificate in Leadership, Master of Arts, Master of Leadership and the Doctor of Ministry from next year.

For more information, go to ac.edu.au/awards

AC Sydney Open Day Saturday 31st of January 2015 AC Central – 30 Cowper Street, Parramatta Join us and find out all there is to know about studying at a leading centre of Christian thought and action. We would love the chance to meet with you and share more about what AC has to offer in 2015.

For more information on the next Open Day and other AC events, go to ac.edu.au/rsvp

AC is committed to becoming a Christian university; a vision which we believe will add to the educational landscape and future of our great country.

The University Vision requires an initial investment of $5,000,000. Your support, whether large or small, will help AC move towards this goal.

Go to ac.edu.au/donate to invest in this historic opportunity. Thank you for your support!

Alphacrucis College P +61 2 8893 9000 | 1300 228 355 E info@ac.edu.au W ac.edu.au Facebook facebook.com/ACAction Twitter twitter.com/alphacrucis

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