Synod members were challenged to think globally last night as multimedia presentations on the Anglican Church in Chile, Indonesia and Malaysia were showcased during Mission Hour.
A senior clergyman from Chile thanked Sydney Diocese for its contribution to theological training in his Diocese.
Senior Chilean Anglican clergyman, the Rev Sammy Morrison, says the Moore College Preliminary Theological Certificate has been integral to training ordained and lay church members in Chile.
"It is easy to summarise what we have received from Sydney " theological training," Mr Morrisons says.
Independent Missionaries Grahame and Patty Scarratt first took the PTC course to Chile in 1980 and the course has since been translated into Spanish and used to train both clergy and laity.
"Almost every young or adult member who is active in church has taken at least one of the courses," Mr Morrison says.
Mr Morrison also compared the Diocese of Chile with Sydney Diocese as churches in "mission mode'.
"Like you we are in a missionary diocese. We are in mission mode. This means we are growing," he says.
"We are growing in churches, in numbers, but the most important growth we are looking for is in maturity."
Mr Morrison says that like Sydney, his diocese is moving ahead with increased church planting and ordinations.
"In the last two decades of last century we were able to plant six churches in 20 years. We have since planted five churches in the past five years and next year we have plans to plant two more churches and another in 2007."
"Last year we saw the first group graduate from our Centre for Pastoral Studies. Four of them are now serving in different congregations around the country. Another graduate has joined the faculty to help students acquire learning skills," he says.
Mission Hour also featured Nick Loi and Robin Gan, two Malaysian men currently in fourth year at Moore College, who will be ordained in Kuala Lumpur in December to serve in the Diocese of West Malaysia.
Georges River Regional Bishop, Peter Tasker, who hosted Mission Hour, asked Mr Gan what opportunities were offered in ministering to Malaysia.
"We're looking forward to the opportunities of gospel ministry," Mr Gan says.
"Although there has been Anglicanism in Malaysia since the 1800s, until recently there was very little by way of Bible-centred gospel ministry. We're keen to get in there and do all we can."
The Rector of St Stephen's, Newtown, the Rev Peter Rodgers gave a presentation on Indonesia, where he was a CMS Missionary from 1991-2002.
He told the Synod that the growth in church leadership is not matching the rapid church growth in Indonesia.
"There are now 27 separate congregations in Bandung,” he says, “growth is exceeding any of the expectations people had.”
"With this rapid church growth comes the problem of training leaders. At the moment there are just three Indonesian Anglican clergy."
Mr Rodgers challenged Sydney Anglicans to assist the Indonesian Anglican Church in its early stages by ensuring the growth of the future diocese is Bible-based.
"The Anglican Church of Indonesia is in its infancy. Mainline church denominations in Indonesia are all embracing liberalism " they will feel the pressure to do the same," he says.
"We can help by offering scholarships to potential leaders to train within the region. We can offer scholarships for their clergy to study in Australia and we can send our Bible teachers to Bandung to teach there part-time."
