Liberamente - September 2012 - Issue 18

Student News | Issue 18, 2012

Liberamente

‘FREELY, WITH LIBERTY’

IN THIS ISSUE: David Wescombe-Down Celebrates A Golden Anniversary Maintaining A Healthy Perspective: A Message From the Principal GCRI Public Lecture Reader’s Corner Tabor Adelaide Open Day Notices

Key dates to remember!

Remember to make note of the following dates: 26-27 September SAYWC - South Australian Youth Workers Conference 22 September - 7 October Mid Semester Break 5-9 November Course Information Week

Tabor Learning Opportunities David Wescombe-Down Celebrates a Golden Anniversary!

In August this year David Wescombe-Down, Senior Tabor Education Lecturer, celebrated a significant milestone in his career: 50 years in teaching.

At just the tender age of 16 David taught his first class at Brighton High School (now Brighton Secondary School). After finishing Year 12 at Marion High School in 1962 at just 16 years he was too young to go to Teachers College (as it was then). Instead the Education Department appointed David as a Junior Teacher (last of the male apprentice teachers!) at Brighton High School in 1963. Here David took part in teaching observations, studied 2 PE & 1 Educational Psychology subjects and undertook lots of supervised practical teaching with the Deputy Principal, Mr Viv Rose & PE Senior, Mr Gary Munn.

By Semester 2, David had his own timetable & a teaching load of 12 lessons per week. If a phone call came in for any teacher in front of boys at the time, he carried the message to the teacher & took over supervision of the class till the teacher returned. This was a very awkward situation at times, since some of the Year 11 & 12 students were his age at the time!

Since then David has experienced many career highlights. He lists some of these below.

1969-72: Cryptographic (codes & ciphers) instructor to Vietnam-bound Royal Australian Navy communications personnel 1973: Self defence instructor, SA Police, Fort Largs Academy 1975-7: Co-designer of the initial TAFE Fitness Leader course & electives.

1978: Presented with US Presidential Sports Award (for contributions to Human Movement Studies & Physical Education) by Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the USA. An awesome experience: brass bands, marching

girls etc, fly past for the recipients!

1993: Awarded Queensland Department of Primary Industry “Outstanding contribution to industry” award: Project Leader & co-author DPI-TAFEQLD joint venture ‘Wormbuster Team: Sheep & cattle internal parasite control” 1995: First peer-reviewed appointment to TAFEQLD Principal Teacher Level 2 in SE Queensland 1995: Queensland State Finalist, inaugural AUSTAFE National Educational Leadership Award 2003: Conducted the first evidence-based Middle Schooling 12-month trial for SA Catholic Education in Class 8A at Siena College. An outstanding year for the 24 girls & me.

2005 & 2006: UniSA Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of Teaching & Learning “Teaching excellence” awards; Science Education and Design & Technology subjects 2006: UniSA nominee (Professor Caroline McMillen, PVC Research & Innovation) for the Premier’s Excellence in Science & Communications Award 2006: International curricula development: appointed Lead Writer for Abu Dhabi Education Council via TAFE Global tender to design K-5 Integrated Science & Mathematics – written in English for the first time in the Arab world.

2006: Listed in Who’s Who in Education, as A/Prof of Education, UniSA 2011: Appointed Adjunct Associate Professor of Education University of Adelaide 2012: Tabor Adelaide & the most academically productive period of my career! It has resulted in 1 edited anthology, 7 textbooks and 9 journal articles being accepted for publication to date. It has been great to co-write with Phil, Margaret C, Oksana & Shelley during this journey.

Thanks too Frank, for managing my workload to enable this – I really appreciate it.

02 | Liberamente. “freely, with liberty”

Maintaining a Healthy Perspective In many ways second semester is the crunch semester. Academically it’s often the time when the rubber hits the road; there’s a lot of work to do, and many of us, students and staff, find ourselves under stress (that’s right, you’re not alone!) Added to that we’re already tired from our efforts in the first semester and the weather’s cold and dreary and it gets dark early . . . and so on.

It’s dangerously easy, under these conditions, for us to lose our perspective on life and drift into unhealthy thought patterns. We wonder if all this effort is worth it (it is!), students might think about dropping out; staff wonder about a different job.

Let me suggest two spiritual disciplines to help maintain a healthy perspective.

The discipline of prayer It’s difficult to think straight when we’re under stress – which means it’s difficult to pray when we’re under stress. At these times we need a pattern for prayer which we can use to slow us down, to stop our (sometimes feverish!) minds wandering and thus to allow God to speak into our lives.

The Lord’s Prayer is one such pattern (it comes highly recommended!)

Try praying through the Lord’s Prayer slowly, pausing after each clause to let the Holy Spirit guide you as to what this prayer means for you.

What does it mean for me to ‘hallow’ or bring honour to the name of God the Father? How am I called to think and act if I am to do that? How can I do any of that without the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit? How is my perspective adjusted as I realize that honouring God means following a savior who gave his life for others? And so we can pray though each clause. What does it mean for us and for this College to look to the providence of God to sustain us – to provide ‘our daily bread’? And then of course there’s the prayer about forgiveness (it’s quite healthy to recognize that God already knows that we are not perfect!)

Well, you get the idea. Under stress we need a pattern for prayer – the Lord has provided one and the Holy Spirit will speak to us as we engage regularly and faithfully in this discipline.

The discipline of encouragement With a loss of perspective under stress of one kind or another there often comes a kind of isolation – we can become a prisoner of our own negative self talk – and there’s a danger of drifting into a negative cycle which can leave us depressed and deenergised.

The command to “encourage one another” runs like a thread throughout the New Testament. As Christians – indeed as a Christian college – we are so often called to swim against the cultural tide, sometimes we’re discriminated against, sometimes we are disdained, often we are under-resourced. It’s so easy under such circumstances to become “dis-couraged” – that is, to have one’s courage sapped or leached away. To “en-courage” is to come

alongside another to “add courage” to their life. In encouraging us, our brothers and sisters in Christ help us to see things in a different perspective, they can break through our negative self talk and bring God’s perspective and God’s appreciation of us.

And this brings renewal and fresh energy. What a great thing to do, what a noble opportunity! We all need encouragement (me included!) and we are all called to give encouragement. It’s not an optional thing. The words “encourage one another” are a command. In other words it is imperative that we do this.

Can I “encourage” you to take up these spiritual disciplines as a way of maintaining a healthy perspective amidst the pressures of the 2nd semester. I think they can keep us energized and sustain our joy!

Don Owers Principal

GCRI Public Lecture Science and the Islamization of Knowledge On Thursday 8th of August more than fifty people attended the third Graeme Clark Research Institute public lecture by Dr. David Radford. Dr Radford is a graduate of Tabor Adelaide and Flinders University. He is currently a Lecturer in International Relations at Flinders University (Middle East and Central Asia) and will soon be taking up a research and lecturing position at the Hawke Research Institute/University of South Australia.

His comprehensive lecture explored the many-faceted push for greater recognition of non-Western progress in science by Islamic scholars and interests. In particular it seems that this agenda is a response to Western secularisation of knowledge, which seeks to remove religion from our understanding of the world around us. Dr Radford identified issues dealing with the Modernization, Indigenization and Nativization of knowledge as being critical for our understanding of the Islamization of Knowledge project.

This fascinating presentation was videotaped and both the text and videotape of the presentation will be available from the Graeme Clark Research Institute webpage: http://www. taboradelaide.edu.au/about/gcri.php The next GCRI Public lecture will feature Dr Greg Pike, who will be speaking on Contemporary Issues in Bioethics in Australia on 16th October, 2012. All are welcome to this very topical presentation.

03 | Liberamente. “freely, with liberty”

Tabor Reader’s Corner

different now, and larger.

Book of the Month - Library Review

Jeremy Woods

When God Doesn’t Answer Your Prayer – Jerry Sittser 2003

Library assistant

Scores of books have been written on prayer, and in western Christianity, perhaps reflecting the influence of the consumerist society we live in, an emphasis can easily lean on the visible results of prayer . But what if one prays earnestly and persistently yet a loved one still dies, a family splits, or an illness or injury stays around for years? This great book has the potential to recover your prayer life if it has been shipwrecked on the rocks of disillusionment. The author wrote an earlier book ‘’A Grace Disguised” about the loss of 3 members of his family in a car crash and how despite this his faith in God not only recovered but flourished. He does not give glib answers as to why prayers seem to go ignored at times, but seasoned wisdom and hope shines through these pages.

‘

This book helped me tremendously to see prayer as existential more than rational. The point of prayer is the relationship with God himself, however raw and honest, more than the things we get from the relationship. Whatever the reasons for ‘unanswered prayer’, surely our relationship with God can be bigger than whether all our prayers are answered in the way we want them to be. I found hidden hope as Sittser declares that ‘’ironically, the frustration that unanswered prayer engenders is itself turned into a prayer. Rather than cutting us off from God unanswered prayer drives us to God”. Your ‘prayer life’ can be rescued from a burdensome chore through the dilemma of unanswered prayer because it breaks us, transforms, and deepens our relationship to God, freeing us to talk to and listen to God from our deepest depths. Unanswered prayer exposes our emotional vulnerabilities but this creates an opportunity to know God more intimately than we ever imagined.

What Sittser shows is that prayer is part of an epic story – what seems like unanswered prayer to us does not mean unanswered prayer to God. God answers every prayer; either he gives us what we pray for, or something far better that we will appreciate in time. It is not what God does for us that is the greatest answer to prayer but what God does in us. God cannot be controlled but he can be trusted. Prayer can be refined from a ‘shopping list’ mentality to a core ‘being to being’ connection. This usually occurs through a crisis, relationships, experience and the journey of time.

The greatest freedom this book gave me is that I saw I had been praying for years, even though I had struggled to pray verbally or visibly earlier in my life. Prayer has never stopped; it’s just

Tabor Adelaide Open Day Thank you to all students, staff and attendees who worked together to make the 2012 Tabor Adelaide Open Day a success. It was great to see Tabor showing off all that it has to offer!

WANTED Associate Pastor for H2One up to 3.5 days FTE H2One is a congregation of 40-50 young adults (within the wider Holdfast Baptist Church) whose mission statement is “to seek out people, making disciples who make disciples.”

We are a vibrant and dynamic group of young adults, ranging in age from 18 through to late 20’s who meet every Sunday night for fellowship, worship and teaching, as well as mid-week through our small group network.

As God is leading us into the next part of our journey, we are seeking an Associate Pastor to lead our congregation and work within the pastoral team of Holdfast.

H2One is closely linked to the other two congregations of Holdfast Baptist Church, located within the suburbs of Camden Park and Somerton Park. The Associate Pastor will be working under the Senior Pastor, the eldership of the church and the Holdfast membership.

Within H2One, the Associate Pastor will also work alongside a team of enthusiastic and capable leaders to equip them and the congregation, to serve God. Want to find out more?

Please contact the Senior Pastor, Mark Foley at pastormark@ holdfastbaptist.org.au or on 0414 431 956 for a Pastoral Profile that outlines who we are as a community, more information about the role and details on how to place an application.

Expressions of interest are to be received by Friday 7th September 2012

04 | Liberamente. “freely, with liberty”

JOB VACANCY Volunteer Admin Assistant Looking for some experience in administration?

Volunteer wanted for data entry work for 5-10 hours per week within the Tabor Adelaide Ministry, Theology and Culture (MTC) department.

The task of defending the Christian faith in an intelligible manner in today’s world is as challenging as ever. Come and engage in the big questions with Rev Dr Mark Worthing, who will be helping students appreciate the nature and importance of Christian apologetics in the light of historical, biblical, theological and cultural considerations.

- Must have basic computer skills.

- Role suitable for a current or past MTC student.

APOLOGETICS AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE INTENSIVE SEMINAR WITH REV DR MARK WORTHING September 24-28, 2012

Please email the school administrator Samantha Docherty sdocherty@adelaide.tabor.ed.au

Job Vacancy

Areas receiving considered focus will include

Casual Aquarium Maintenance Worker

- The contemporary spiritual and multi-faith climate

Small aquarium maintenance business looking for an

honest and reliable part time worker for the rough equivalent of a day a week.

- Hours are reasonably flexible.

- Must have own vehicle and be fit and strong.

- An interest in aquariums is essential.

Pay is not an hourly rate. It is based on completion of maintenance jobs. Initial training pay would be between $120 and $180 gross per fortnight. Training involves accompanying me, watching, learning and practicing under my supervision.

- The science/faith conversation and - The creative arts Contact postgrad@adelaide.tabor.edu.au for more information.

AN INVITATION To The Launch of Kevin Giles’ New Book,

Upon training to a point where you can work unsupervised, pay would increase to approximately $280 gross per fortnight, with the possibility of further increase if more jobs become available.

“The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Trinitarian Orthodoxy.”

For expressions of interest, please contact Neville via email on

TABOR ADELAIDE 181 GOODWOOD ROAD, MILLSWOOD IN THE CHAPEL

neville@aquariumtherapy.com.au

Tertiary education with a Christian perspective.

tel. +61 8 8373 8777 www.taboradelaide.edu.au

Contact Us. Tabor Adelaide, located in South Australia, is a multi denominational Christian Education Centre offering government accredited courses at tertiary level.

Newsletter Enquiries: liberamente@adelaide.tabor.edu.au General Enquiries: enquiry@adelaide.tabor.edu.au Library Enquiries: library@adelaide.tabor.edu.au Student Services: studentservices@adelaide.tabor.edu.au

THURSDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER AT 6 PM

CAR PARK ENTRANCE OFF MITCHELL STREET. Chair: Ms Ursula Franck Guest Speaker: The Rev’d Dr Tim Harris The evening will commence with light refreshments from 5.30pm, formalities at 6 pm.

Please RSVP jmanning@adelaide.tabor.edu.au or phone 8383 8727