Dr John Woodhouse appointed Principal of Moore Theological College
Dr Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, today announced the appointment of the Rev Dr John Woodhouse, Rector of Christ Church St Ives as the new Principal of Moore Theological College, Newtown.
In making the announcement Dr Jensen said “I am particularly delighted to announce that Dr John Woodhouse has accepted the invitation to become the 12th Principal of the College. He is a man with great experience and Biblical understanding. He has a clear and incisive mind, and imparts teaching in a way that is easy to understand.
“His personal qualities of godliness and pastoral concern qualify him very well for this important role. I look forward to the contribution he will make in training men and women for gospel ministry, and extend my best wishes to him and his wife Moya as they prepare to leave their parish to take up this new ministry,” the Archbishop said.
Dr Woodhouse, speaking about his new position said “It is a very great privilege to be invited to work with the faculty, staff, students and supporters of Moore College in the vital work of teaching and training men and women to make the message of Jesus Christ known in today’s world. I believe that God is sending unprecedented numbers of able and faithful people to the College for training in the task of making Christ known. In a real sense we are working with God in this, and look forward to seeing a growing knowledge, understanding and love of God and his truth in our troubled and divided world.”
Dr Woodhouse is a distinguished theologian and Bible expositor whose gifts are widely recognised. He receives many invitations to address clergy conferences and academic gatherings both within Australia and overseas. In recent years he has addressed gatherings of clergy in England on a number of occasions, and also in Ireland, Singapore and South Africa.
John Woodhouse was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of New South Wales in 1969. He worked as a geologist for two years before entering Moore College to study theology. He earned a Bachelor of Divinity with Honours from the University of London in 1975.He was ordained in 1976 by Archbishop Marcus Loane and worked as a part-time lecturer at Moore College and part-time Curate at St Barnabas’ Broadway. In 1978 he went to the UK and commenced postgraduate research at the Victoria University of Manchester, being awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1981. He returned to Sydney and was appointed full-time to the Faculty of Moore College.
In 1991 he became Rector of Christ Church St Ives while still lecturing one day per week at Moore College. His distinguished parish ministry has seen a notable growth in congregational numbers for Christ Church, with the staff expanding from 5 to 11 persons. In recent years, a major building programme undertaken by the church at the cost of $2.75 million has been fully funded.
Dr Woodhouse has been very active in the life of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, including the Synod. Recently he became chair of the Diocesan Doctrine Commission.
Moore Theological College is the theological education and ministry training centre for the Diocese of Sydney, however through its external and correspondence courses its reach is international. As Principal of Moore College, John Woodhouse will succeed Dr Peter Jensen who held that role until he was elected Archbishop of Sydney in 2001.
The 2002 enrolment in Moore College is 267 full time students and 135 part time students. This includes 56 women students and 75 ordination candidates, 12 of whom are women. These full time students include men and women from Malaysia, Singapore, USA, New Zealand and Britain. In the College External programme, there are 350 Evening Course students, and in the Moore College Correspondence Course there are 3,900 enrolled students, 650 of whom are UK residents.
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