Bible College SA Newsletter: May 2023

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Many people have walked through the doors of Bible College SA these past few months. Not only have we had our students on campus for their weekly lectures, ministry formation, and community groups, but also different groups of believers from across Adelaide have come to participate in our recent events too. We had a very encouraging Open Night last Wednesday (you can read more about that below!), and on 27 April, we had an excellent Entrust Conference.

Over 50 pastors and ministry workers from across the city and beyond gathered to hear Guy Mason, lead pastor of the City on a Hill churches, along with several of our locally based ministry leaders as they discussed the importance and practicalities of raising up new leaders. We are so thankful to have been able to host an event to help equip current leaders for this critical work. Please pray that as we continue these conversations around leadership development, they will produce much fruit and effectiveness for the Kingdom for many years to come.

Following this day, on Friday 7 May, we were delighted to be able to host a special afternoon tea to thank a number of our long-term partners who have been faithfully supporting us prayerfully and financially for decades. This is a wonderful group of people who are great friends of the College, and this is an event that we look forward to every year. Given the long history of connection with the College, it serves not only as a thank you from us, but also as something of an annual reunion for many of them too.

While the events we hold on campus can all be very different, behind each of them lies our common focus on fulfilling our mission to train the next generations for gospel ministry. Open Day helps potential future students learn about studying with us. Entrust builds energy for current leaders to be raising up future leaders. And our supporters’ afternoon tea thanks those who help to enable the training of women and men as effective workers for the harvest and shepherds for the sheep.

As we approach our centenary next year, please keep praying that we would stay squarely committed to our mission so that, under God, we might see the churches and ministries of our city and state flourish for the century ahead, or until Jesus returns.

I’ve just walked past the Bible College SA notice board and counted twelve ministry job advertisements pinned up. On top of them, I know of a good number of other local churches and ministries that are right now actively looking for new staff. And then, it’s sadly too easy to think of all the gospel ministry needs and opportunities across our city and state that no one is even starting to address because there’s no one available to lead them.

Add to this the enormous needs in other places too. Recently, at the College’s prayer afternoon, one of our graduates who is now based in Africa told of the incredible need for gospel workers there. He also flagged that in the decades ahead Africa is projected to grow by billions—not millions, billions!—of people, all of whom will need to hear the message of Jesus and be taught the Bible.

Clearly, we need more shepherds for the sheep and workers for the harvest.

Under God, the sole focus of Bible College SA is training and preparing those shepherds and workers for lifetimes of faithful and fruitful Kingdom service.

Our annual Open Night last week was a great encouragement with over 30 people coming along to find out more about studying with us, and about how our ethos and programs are uniquely designed and delivered to give them the highest standard of Christian education and preparation. God-willing, a good number of them will apply to enrol with us as preparation for their future service of Jesus.

But, given all that I’ve noted above, even if every one of these people enrolled, we would still have nowhere near enough to meet the spiritual needs of our generation, let alone the next. If you know anyone who is thinking about the possibility of getting more training in Bible, theology and ministry but who missed our Open Night, please do let them know that they can contact the College at any time for information about studying, and they can even get in touch just to chat with one of our faculty members about what training for more effective service of Jesus might look like.

Beyond that, we also very much need you to please pray for, and to give to, our vital strategic ministry as you are able.

Prayer is, of course, essential and always our first move. When noting the spiritual need of his day Jesus calls us to ‘ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest’ (Matthew 9:38), and so we bring this prayer to him regularly.

And then money is much needed too. Here at Bible College SA, although we teach with university-level accreditation and at standards that are consistently recognised as being well above the Australian universities, we do not get government funding like the universities do. Instead, we must rely on our faithful supporters.

Of course, we know that as the College’s costs are rising rapidly, so too is the cost of living for many of our donors. But we also know that through different personal circumstances, the pinch is not being felt in the same way by everyone. If you are someone who is in a position to start, or to increase, your financial gifts to the College, that would be a great blessing to us and it will directly enable us to continue pressing ahead with the urgent and most important work of preparing the next generations of gospel workers for Adelaide, South Australia, and beyond at the highest standards. Of course, if that is not you, please know just how very grateful we are for whatever you might be able to offer, but most especially for your ongoing commitment to prayer.

We are so thankful for your wonderful partnership with us in a world and a time where the need for Kingdom workers is as critical as it ever has been.

Applications are now open for study commencing in Semester 2 this year. Our application process is straight forward and streamlined, and our staff are available to support you through each step. To get started, complete the application form on our website at biblecollege.sa.edu.au/study-with-us/ or contact our office on 8291 8188 or admin@biblecollege.sa.edu.au for further information.

Although the world appears to be through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, its impacts are still ongoing. One place where many of us are feeling this is in our churches where attendance and commitment patterns have changed, and there has even been some significant relational tension around the ways that pandemic was dealt with.

On the morning of Tuesday 13 June, Bible College SA is partnering with the South Australian chapter of The Gospel Coalition Australia in running a half day conference called Effective Church which we think will be really helpful for churches looking to get back up to full speed, and even to make some changes that will help them have greater gospel impact.

Our Principal, Rev Dr Tim Patrick, and our Practical Ministry Lecturer, Rev Dr David Wright, will unfold the Bible’s teaching on the core business of the local church and the importance of discipleship to grow members into the life of the church. Then, Dr Natasha Moore from the Centre for Public Christianity will discuss how the church can best engage with today’s world.

If you are in leadership in your local church then we would really encourage you to come along to this event. Register at effectivechurch.eventbrite.com.au, or contact our Partnerships and Events Officer, Mandy Krueger, at krueger@biblecollege.sa.edu.au, or 8291 8188 or for further information.

Can you please tell us a little about yourself?
Hi all! I’m Paul, born and raised in Adelaide. I’m married to my lovely wife Brianna who has just started this year as an intern doctor at the QEH. Shh don’t wake her, she’s currently working night shifts. I have a twin brother, an older brother, a mum, niece and sister-in-law. Brianna and I love Jesus, like popcorn chicken from KFC, and living a quiet life with our cat Zeke (short for Ezekiel). I enjoy reading, board games, and playing guitar or singing when no one is around. I became a Christian at 26; God saved me by his grace from a life of sin and despair. I was into New Age Spirituality and was deep down many conspiracy rabbit holes. Praise God for Jesus and the gospel! Now I work as a student minister at Trinity Church Adelaide and of course am studying full time here at Bible College SA.

What are you currently studying?
I am currently studying a Bachelor of Ministry. This includes classes on the Old Testament, New Testament, Biblical Theology and Church History.

What do you like most about studying at Bible College SA?
Firstly, the content is so enjoyable. Studying the Bible’s context and times in which it was written, or the way God used the authors or the different writing styles is helping me to appreciate it so much. Who doesn’t want to compare the Mesopotamian creation mythology with Genesis or get into the mind of a first century Jew who was immersed in Greek culture and under Roman oppression? It’s fascinating stuff. Secondly, when we apply what we learn in class to real life ministry examples, that excites me. It allows the Bible to be what it was meant to be, truth for today for the people of Adelaide.

In what ministry do you hope to work when you finish at Bible College SA?
I am only a couple of months into my degree, so thank God I have more time to work this out! What is clear is that I want to serve God in ministry after College, but I continue to discern exactly where he would have me serve and where I am best suited in his Kingdom. For now, I am very grateful to Trinity Church Adelaide for the love, support and opportunities they have given to me and their desire to see me flourish in ministry. Please do pray for me and my family concerning this decision.

What is one thing you are learning at the moment that is particularly insightful?I recently completed an essay on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus. It gave me a completely different perspective on this issue: we shouldn’t primarily be focusing on how the hardening worked but why? What is the purpose of it? God is a faithful God who used the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart to fulfil his covenantal promise, to make himself known to the world and save the nations through Israel and ultimately Jesus the Passover Lamb.

• Please pray that many who came to our recent Open Night will apply to study with us in second semester, or in 2024. Pray for our current cohort of students to continue to be shaped by all they are learning through their study.

• Please pray for our faculty as they are entering a heavy period of marking assessments. Pray for clarity and diligence during this process, and that feedback provided during this time will not only sharpen our students academically, but also grow them in wisdom, maturity, and effectiveness for gospel ministry.

• Please pray for our End of Financial Year Appeal, running from now through to the end of June. Please pray that God would continue to provide for us and bless us in our work. We give great thanks for all those who currently support us regularly.

• Please pray for our sister school, Christ College in Sydney, and its principal Dr Ian Smith, as they train and equip gospel workers for New South Wales and beyond.

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