SUPPORTING THE SYDNEY DIOCESE
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2 Corinthians 4:5
The vision of Moore College
Moore College aims to see God glorified by men and women living for and proclaiming Jesus Christ, growing healthy churches and reaching the lost.
For almost 170 years, Moore College has sought to provide excellent evangelical theological education. We are at work preparing a new generation of gospel workers steeped in the Scriptures, equipped to think theologically about all they do, imbued with a global gospel vision, and shaped in character and conviction by God’s word to us.
The vision of the College extends beyond the Diocese, as we prepare people who will serve in other denominations and ministries in Sydney, the rest of Australia and the world. However, Principal Mark Thompson explains:
“The ministry of Moore College is best explained as a series of concentric circles with the inmost circle our ministry to the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. We primarily exist to teach, train and prepare men and women to serve in the churches of the Diocese.”
This partnership with the Diocese is an immense privilege. As we seek to support the churches, we are so thankful that they also support us so generously and faithfully.
Supporting God’s church
Our College is an extraordinary place where men and women are equipped to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to today’s Australia and the world. It is evident that the blend of learning and community life at Moore is ideal preparation for the opportunities and challenges of being Christ’s ambassador in the twenty-first century.
Moore College is committed to raising up a new generation of scholars to serve the churches and support gospel ministries around the world.
Quality research and scholarship is one key means of enriching a student’s learning experience and providing resources to the Christian community of the Diocese and beyond.
To this end the College seeks to prioritise initiatives and opportunities to equip those in gospel centred ministry and their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our great concern remains that men and women in Sydney and around the world might hear of the forgiveness of sins that can only be found in Jesus Christ and grow to maturity in that new life which he grants to those who come to him.
The Sydney Diocese today
The Sydney Diocese is home to more than 6 million individuals, and it continues to grow. The task of bringing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to these precious multitudes, in prayerful dependence on God, grows ever larger. Our diocese is a multicultural place, and our churches reflect this. The need for ministers from a diversity of backgrounds also continues to grow.
At the 2024 Sydney Anglican Synod, the Archbishop recommended setting a goal of growing church attendance by 5% annually over the next five years through seeing lost people saved, while also encouraging parishes to increase resources for children’s and youth ministry during this period to strengthen the future of our churches.
There are also encouraging signs of God’s work among those in Generation Z in recent years with evidence of attendance at church by 18-24-year-olds growing between 2018 and 2024. The continuing changes across generations and the galvanising recommendations of Synod highlight the need for clergy recruitment and training measures, including through the work of Moore College.
GET TO KNOW OUR STUDENTS
Where are they from?
The demographic diversity and the variety of ministry needs of the Sydney Diocese is reflected both in the student body of the College and in the wide range of ministries graduates serve in.
Our students come from across the regions of our diocese, the rest of NSW and Australia and from overseas.
In 2025 we saw 78 students sent to College from within Greater Sydney and the Illawarra, around 60% of the cohort.
There are 432 students studying one or more units this year. The diversity of backgrounds our students are coming from reflects the multicultural nature of our city. While in 2020 only 16% of accepted students had non-Australian heritage1, in 2025 44% of our students came from culturally diverse ethnicities.
The 2021 Census recorded that more than 43% of Greater Sydney residents were born in a country other than Australia. Our student cohort increasingly reflects this reality.
Students by Region – 2025 Commencing Undergraduate
Northern Sydney, 15
South Sydney, 25
South Western Sydney, 11
Western Sydney, 24
Wollongong, 3
Regional NSW, 25
Interstate, 9
Overseas, 10
Percentage of Moore College students by heritage
1 Australian Heritage is defined in our enrolment data as being born in Australia, speaking English at home and having Australian citizenship.
GET TO KNOW OUR STUDENTS
Where do they go?
Our graduates head to a wide range of ministries and destinations. Our vision has to be worldwide because that was the vision the Lord Jesus himself handed on to us (Matt 28:18-20). But the fact remains that Moore College is the Diocese’s evangelical Anglican Theological College and we have a responsibility to raise workers for the large harvest field in Sydney. A significant number of 2024 graduates went on to ordained Sydney Anglican parish ministries. Others go to schools, chaplaincy and other parachurch ministries in the diocese.
Josh and Anna Hoole both completed the Bachelor of Divinity at the end of 2024. They are now serving at Sans Souci Anglican Church. Their rector, Stephen Gilmour (Graduate, 2011), and his wife Emily (Graduate, 2010) shared about the impact the Hooles are having:
“We are so grateful to Moore College and the work they do in raising up gospel workers for the Sydney diocese and beyond. The faithful Bible teaching, clear gospel vision, godly character, and intentional ministry practice that they instil in their students is beyond value to our church. Josh and Anna Hoole have been a huge blessing. They really get gospel ministry and are already growing our witness to Jesus in our church and local community. They have been a tremendous encouragement to us and our church family. We are looking forward to the years ahead of working together.”
The Hooles with Stephen and Emily Gilmour.
• 2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Partners in the Gospel
Whether it is growing and developing ministry teams, or helping the men and women in congregations deepen their knowledge and understanding of God’s word Moore College is committed to partnering with churches to grow God’s family in Sydney and beyond.
Training women for ministry
Across Australia today, nearly 60% of churchgoers are women — a number that has held steady for decades. God is evidently at work calling women to himself. And he continues to raise up women eager to spend their lives serving him in gospel ministry. Moore is committed to seeing both women and men trained and equipped to serve in partnership as faithful proclaimers of the gospel.
The Dean of Women, Susan An, shares about the ways she sees women at Moore being equipped for a lifetime of serving Jesus:
“Our College really values training and equipping women to serve the Lord Jesus for a lifetime. College is kind of filling up your theological tank for the next 50 years, in a very short period of time.”
Specific elective subjects for women in our Advanced Diploma are designed to equip women to be ministers of the word of God in a variety of contexts. Faculty member and Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre Veronica Hoyt reflects on the feedback she has received from those who have done these courses:
“I’ve really loved seeing the students wrestling from a theological and biblical perspective with the different topics that we cover, some of them very confronting. This results in them having a better grasp of our Australian context and how live in it thoughtfully and faithfully as Christian women.”
John Chapman Preaching Initiative
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)
John Chapman, a renown Australian preacher, Bible teacher and evangelist, had a passion to assist the development of preachers and his passion continues today through the John Chapman Preaching Initiative.
The initiative aims to help preachers throughout the diocese and beyond to clearly proclaim Christ through the scriptures to bring about the obedience that comes through faith (Rom 16:25-27).
With training from expert teachers, the establishment of mentor relationships and collegial preaching groups the Initiative continues the work of developing both students and ministers in clear and persuasive expository preaching.
College of Preachers
The College of Preachers is a three-day residential intensive, training ministers in a Christ-centred, Scripture-based, and goaloriented model of preaching. This intensive is designed for men and women engaged in full-time ministry. Tom Habib shared of this year’s intensive:
“Preaching is a hard slog weekin-week-out, and the College of Preachers gave us the time and space to have a breather, step back, and work together on getting better at this most important task.”
Plan a Sermon Series
A full day of expert teaching and sermon planning, the Plan a Sermon Series events offer individuals and staff teams guidance and support as they plan and prepare a sermon series for the coming year.
“What a privilege to read the word of God together and to listen to someone who has studied it in such depth and wisdom. I could have prepared this sermon series in my study by myself, but what a blessing to be able to lean on the body of Christ, the wisdom and expertise of others, and on others here in the room going on the same journey.”
Matt Dodd, Rector of Lakemba Anglican Church, attended the Lamentations Plan a Sermon Series day in September 2025.
Student Preaching Groups
Preaching groups are available throughout the year for any student at Moore. These groups focus on iterative learning, allowing students to regularly practice and reflect on their preaching.
“I really loved being part of the John Chapman Preaching Initiative, where we got to hone in on our preaching skills. Every week I was getting preaching skills or opportunities to really think hard about how to communicate the gospel.”
Lauren Dewhurst, Graduate of the Bachelor of Divinity 2025, now working as the Children’s Director at Christ Church St Ives.
Find out more about the work of JCPI here.
College Centres
Priscilla & Aquila Centre
The Priscilla & Aquila Centre (P&A) promotes, encourages and supports women’s ministries in partnership with men. It does this through conferences, evening events and a newsletter and website full of resources and ministry opportunities.
A recent evening featured Claire Smith outlining the history of complementarianism. Director of the Centre, Veronica Hoyt, shared:
“The evening was also a moment to consider that biblical faithfulness requires that our churches do not neglect teaching with clarity, conviction and courage on the topics of gender, sexuality, and complementarianism.”
Centre for Christian Living
The Centre for Christian Living (CCL) seeks to extend the reach and ministry of Moore College by blessing God’s people in Sydney and beyond with high quality Christian ethical thought. It does this through its podcast, workshops and occasional articles.
In 2025 the workshop on Neurodivergence and the Christian Life garnered so much interest that consecutive events were fully subscribed. A three-part podcast on the topic has now been released. One podcast listener commented:
“I work with a lot of neurodivergent people in my ministry — and to have a resource like what you’re putting together, that echoes what I’ve heard from them about their experiences and equips me to better love and serve them, is a great gift from God.”
Our centres are one important way the ministry of the College extends beyond its walls and its current students.
Centre for Ministry Development
The Centre for Ministry Development (CMD) seeks to be at the forefront of evidencebased research into ministry, partnering with ministers and their churches to build a thriving ministry.
It looks to serve the Sydney Diocese in a number of ways. The Developing Rectors Program is a two-year program to assist ministers transition from an assistant minister position into the very challenging and unique role of a rector. The centre also gives input to the Ministry Development program for assistant ministers, provides diagnostic resources for development and coaching and supervision partnerships with churches and ministers. Andrew Lim, Rector of St Mark’s Anglican Church Revesby, shares of doing the Developing Rectors Program:
“One of the things I’ve loved about CMD is it will highlight and educate and train us on the things we know we need to get a handle on. It’ll also tell us about some of the things that we did not anticipate and could not have predicted would be part of the role and give us training for that.”
Centre for Global Mission
The Centre for Global Mission (CGM) supports Christian organisations worldwide in the preparation of their leaders by providing high quality Bible-based theological training resources for the glory of the Lord Jesus.
One of the central roles of the Centre for Global Mission is to co-ordinate the delivery of the distance PTC (Preliminary Theological Certificate) material as a resource to our partner organisations and other theological colleges overseas.
CGM Director, Malcolm Richards and PTC Course Coordinator, Caz Sandison.
Moore PTC
The Moore PTC (Preliminary Theological Certificate) grew out of training for lay preachers for the Sydney Anglican diocese. The original PTC notes were a copy of one of T.C. Hammond’s evening lecture notes that were sent to those who had missed a lecture. Twenty-four people sat for the first exam in 1941. From this small beginning, the demand for solid Bible teaching grew.
Today the Moore PTC helps everyday Christians deepen their knowledge of God’s word and increase in confidence to it teach others. Flexible study options include online personal study or study together with others in church or Bible study. There are over 20 subject units available, with the first subjects in Level 1 now available in Chinese.
The Rev Nigel Parker, St Paul’s Anglican Church Shellharbour, has had regular PTC groups running in his congregation for over 13 years.
“The PTC gives people a great grounding in their knowledge of God’s word and then for their ability to serve God’s people. There is such benefit having trained people and equipped people on the ground in church ministry.”
Churches throughout the Diocese continue to use PTC to grow generations of Christians in their knowledge of the word of God and their love for him.
Find out more about establishing PTC groups in your ministry.
Moore on Mission
College mission is an integral part of the Christian formation that we are committed to at Moore. It’s where theory meets practice. Mission gives an opportunity for students to be active in God’s mission of bringing all things under Christ.
It also gives expression to our unity and partnership in the gospel. Moore has the privilege of supporting the gospel proclamation of our partners by providing willing and able labourers to join them in the harvest during mission week.
In 2025 fifteen teams partnered with churches and other ministry organisations for a week of mission. Nine of these missions were based in the Sydney diocese.
Northmead Anglican Church experienced the encouragement and growth in their congregation as a result of the 2025 Moore Mission partnership. Adrian Russell, Senior Minister, shared:
“It’s been awesome having the Moore Mission here at Northmead Anglican. It’s such an encouraging week. We’ve had an enormous amount of ministry happening. So much evangelism and door knocking. People have responded. Our people have been encouraged and fired up. It’s just been spectacular partnering together and we’re thankful to God.”
Find out more about hosting a Moore Mission
team here.
Moore College Sunday
Following the encouragement of the Archbishop, it has been the established practice of many churches in the diocese to set aside one Sunday in August as Moore College Sunday.
This is an opportunity for local churches to partner with the College by praying for the work of preparing men and women to take the gospel of the Lord Jesus to our city and throughout the world. College posts resources for use on Moore College Sunday on the website each year.
For many years College has also been faithfully supported by the prayers of God’s people throughout the year. You can find information about prayer points and opportunities to gather for prayer on the website.
Find prayer points for the College here.
Partner with the College for Moore College Sunday.
Support the College in our vision to equip men and women as the Lord’s messengers of living hope. Partner with College today. Find out more about how we can partner together for God’s glory by contacting the Partnerships team on +61 (02) 9577 9900 or email at partnerships@moore.edu.au
We look forward to partnering with you as we give thanks for 170 years of excellent theological education in 2026.