Our Mission is based on the conviction that people need to be saved through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be brought to a knowledge of Jesus through the gospel as it is used by the Holy Spirit. God’s appointed way of sharing the gospel is through human messengers.
Since the last edition of Southern Cross, we have mourned the death and thanked God for the life of one of our most notable missionaries, Dr Alan Cole. He was a man of great brilliance, personal charm, dedication and generosity. There were a number of fields of human endeavour in which he could have made a striking reputation and even enriched himself. Nothing was further from his mind. He gave his life to the end in the service of the Lord Jesus and his fellow human beings through sharing the gospel.
Who will take his place? We are praying that the Lord will raise up many servants, many messengers of the glad news. The first Mission policy is prayer – and one subject for prayer can always be the need for those who will offer themselves to be the messengers of the gospel. The second policy is the multiplication of Christian fellowships – but this depends upon the work of those who will share God’s word.
So, the third policy is this: “To multiply the number of well-trained persons (ordained, lay, full time, part time, voluntary) lovingly dedicated to the creation and development of such parishes congregations and fellowships by proclaiming the gospel.” Notice the breadth of this policy. We are not merely talking about ordained ministers, or even of full-time workers only. Many people are needed, and I hope that every parish will be an educational institution, training mature Christian workers.
On the other hand, central to our prayers is the multiplication of full-time workers. We want to see our colleges full of enthusiastic and spiritually mature people training for the ministry of God’s word. The colleges, and especially Moore College, are absolutely vital to the Mission, and any support in prayer is always appropriate.
One of the things which encourages me mightily is that we have indeed a remarkable growth in numbers of students in recent years. I have asked the Dean, Phillip Jensen, to take special responsibility for policy three, and he and his colleagues are engaged at full stretch in the business of the recruitment, training, deployment and nurture of those in full-time ministry.
Three issues require attention. In the first place, we need a more flexible and realistic ministry structure than the one we now have. Secondly, Moore College requires massive support in order to do the job which we are asking it to do. Surely we cannot turn students away! We want the College to grow significantly, and that means a revolution in its life. The Principal and the Council are already working at this, but it is a project for the whole Diocese to endorse and support. I can hardly think of one with more potential for good.
The third matter again involves us all. Our churches need to send people into training. Who are the people in your fellowship who could be the pastors, evangelists, mission-aries, youth workers, leaders of tomorrow? They may not identify themselves – you may help a person to see the potential that they have. In any case, here once again is a subject about which we can always be praying. Turn the first policy (prayer) into the third (ministry) for the sake of the second (fellowships)!
