Peter Jensen: Developing leadership through change

[...]I have said that we need a leadership like that of Moses. What does that mean? First, unswerving commitment to the word of God; second, willingness to lead through change. But what if our churches are poorly resourced, or passive, or satisfied, or frightened or ill-equipped? What if a church cannot face this challenge for fear of sacrifice and change? That is where godly leadership and trained mission partners come in. It is also where the resources of our whole network in the Diocese need to be available to the local church. We cannot simply leave the minister to do it all.

Take one obvious way in which the network serves the churches. By God’s grace our Diocese already rests on a powerful and powerfully sustained theological base, a deep commitment to God’s word amongst clergy and people. Without it we could not even contemplate the Mission on which we have embarked. Sometimes we fail and lapse from it; we are not always worthy of this mercy of God; we can never take it for granted; it is under constant assault. But we do have it and it is worth knowing where it has come from so that we can appreciate it and guard it. By what means has God provided such leadership for us already? The chief answer is Moore College. The Principal and Faculty model that clear submission to biblical authority which must also be a mark of our churches if we are to prosper at all in such a secular climate.

48. Moore is one of the very earliest tertiary institutions in Australia, ranking in age with such great Universities as Sydney and Melbourne. Its immense contribution to our well-being and its contribution to the evangelical cause elsewhere. is beyond cavil. I say this so that we may glorify God for his mercy and be all the more determined to guard its life as virtually the first duty of the Synod.

49. What has it given us first and foremost? Biblical Theology. The last four decades have seen a sustained secular assault on Christian truth. The College has responded by teaching the Bible in a way which makes sense. It is the secret to the life of our churches. By it, we remain committed to Biblical authority even in a society which constantly denies it in word and deed. Read more