by Geoff Robson

The day after Ivan Lee was announced as the new Bishop of Sydney’s Western Region, his phone ran hot. On the phone, members of the media sought interviews, well-organised groups from his new region began filling his 2003 diary, and friends congratulated him on his ‘promotion’.

But Mr Lee says he has never seen his new position as a step up the ladder. “I see this as a ministry position, not as a stepping stone or anything like that,” he said. “I’m honoured, and it shows a trust that people have in me, and I can’t despise that. But I hardly think of it as a promotion.”

In fact Mr Lee, 46, admits to a very real sadness as he prepares to leave St Aidan’s, Hurstville Grove, where he has been rector for the last five years. But he has accepted his new role to contribute to the diocesan Mission of seeing 10 per cent of the population in Bible-based churches in 10 years. “It could have been in one of the churches or as Bishop, but it’s the same mission and the same motivation for me,” he said.

“The local parish is where the action is and that’s where we’re going to change the world. I see the role of bishop, in one sense, as just enabling people to grow the local churches. That’s my passion, really.”

Mr Lee’s leadership style at Hurstville Grove has focused on ‘enabling people to lead and exercise their gifts’, while fostering a culture of ‘relational ministry’. It is this style, together with carefully planned strategy, that he hopes to bring to the Western Region.

“Ministry is based on relationship. That’s why I have always adopted a relational model as my foundation,” he said. “That’s what God is on about and that’s what evangelism is really about – relationship evangelism, where people can see God at work in you as well as hearing about God from you. That’s a powerful combination when it works together.

“Strategy is crucial, but when you try to build strategy without the relational base it just doesn’t work.”

When he is consecrated on December 20, Mr Lee will become the only serving Anglican Bishop of Chinese ethnicity in Australia.

With 18 Chinese congregations in Sydney, ministry to Chinese-speakers is one of the fastest growing sections of the Diocese, and is likely to be a key aspect of the diocesan Mission. As a second generation Chinese-Australian, Mr Lee will play an important role in developing strategies to reach Sydney’s growing non-Anglo population.

“I love multicultural Australia and my deepest desire is to see Australians of all cultural backgrounds discover the joy and forgiveness found in a new relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said.

But while he relishes the challenge of reaching Sydney’s diverse population, he says ethnicity doesn’t mean individuals can be put into a simple ‘box’. At Hurstville Grove, a new service started four years ago and aimed at Australian Asians is now split evenly between people of Anglo and Asian backgrounds.

“Some of the Australian Asians I talk to don’t want to be categorised and evangelised as a distinct group,” Mr Lee says. “In some ways, people aren’t as different as you think they are. To go back to that word ‘relationship’, love for your neighbour speaks the language of all cultures.”
Growing up with no church connections, Ivan Lee was an atheist by default until attending a Teen Ranch camp nearly 30 years ago. It was there that he first heard the message that Jesus had died for him and risen again.

After months of investigation he believed the Christian faith was credible, but still had not made a commitment. “What really convinced me to become a Christian in the end was the analysis of evil and the fallen human nature in the Bible, and the wonderful offer of forgiveness through Jesus’ death.”

Having served as rector of St Matthew’s, Merrylands West, in the Western Region, from 1985 to 1990, Mr Lee has hands-on experience in his new region. He also spent seven years as Senior Associate Minister at St Jude’s, Carlton in Melbourne, broadening his experience of both new models of ministry and the many struggles people face.

Mr Lee will succeed Bishop Brian King on February 1, 2003.