A life of 9s – 2019. The (possible) last post

A life of 9s – 2019. The (possible) last post

I start this post from the transit lounge of an airport. Fittingly, in terms of what follows, it is an Australian stopover for a few hours between Timor Leste where I have been for the last 10 days and Singapore where I will be for the next four days.

AHEAD FOR ME

From the 31^st of December 2019 I will no longer be a member of the full-time teaching staff at Christ College. God-willing, my wife and I will move to Bathurst to commence a new chapter of life and service. I will continue as a part-time teacher at the College for at least some time, while ramping up my involvement in ministry education at the margins, with particular reference to the majority world. I largely cease to hold office in my denomination.

This post tells the story of how I come to this point and what came in the nine years before it.

THE LAST YEARS

The years since returning to Australia in January 2011 have seen a mix of activities which I categorise under the headings:

·       Teaching at Christ College

·       Denominational ministries

·       Extended ministries

·       Personal life

I will cover each in turn.

Teaching at Christ College

My appointment was as “Lecturer in Ministry and Practice”. That is something of a misnomer. For one thing I also teach in the history and thought of Christianity. For another, as one committed to andragogy, I do not lecture. I seek to facilitate learning by a mix of inputs from myself and others (including students) and classes marked by student activity. Teaching is about learners and learning, not teachers and teaching.

As well as teaching the assigned units, I had other duties such as coordinating the field placement scheme for ministry students, caring for international students and a minor administrative role.

I have really enjoyed the time at College.  From my teens I have been a teacher of various things and was on track for teacher training after leaving school. I first taught in theological college in 1991 and it has been fairly continuous since then, including being adjunct faculty to various colleges in Singapore. Thus, my ministry (and my heart) has toggled between being a pastor and an educator.

Being a FT teacher in a well-led college that underwent major changes was a great learning opportunity. I grew much in knowledge of the things I taught; of theology more generally; of educational design and planning; and of classroom teaching. Interactions with colleagues and students was another stimulus. I generally enjoyed the people around me, made more good friends and it was a privilege to work in such a team.

Some of the major changes at College were outward – with a major building project delivering a purpose-built facility with good affordances for students, visitors and staff. Invariably the new building had ongoing maintenance issues and invariably it changed the inter-personal dynamic.  It was a lesson for me in how a changed physical environment changes human interactions. College also developed a new strategic plan and, from that, revised the major educational offering – the course of training for Presbyterian pastors. This involve developing an elaborate set of graduate attributes (derived from the who and what of a pastor) and reverse engineering from them to course design and learning outcomes at all levels.

It is a great privilege and responsibility to be a theological teacher and to see (mostly) younger students formed in faith and for service. The multiplier effects of their ministries continue for decades. Just to give one example, I have led people through the preparation and delivery of their first sermon – some of whom will be preaching in 40 plus years.

Denominational ministries

The return to Australia took me back to my home denomination - the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Before returning I had considered my level of involvement and determined not to resume my previous levels. That meant a default of not taking ongoing committee etc roles, a default significantly, although not totally, maintained.

Local church Glenda and I joined the Concord congregation of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, which was a Chinese-background church plant from Chinese Presbyterian Church Surry Hills. The church had grown from one campus at its formation in the 1990s to two campuses when we joined and to five by 2019. This is exciting to see but involved a heavy cost on the campus of our membership as the pastor, key leaders and significant members were drawn off for the next church plant. This is a good pain for kingdom growth, but it did lead to some disaffection in the sending church.

Glenda was more involved than I as outside ministry commitments often took me away on Sundays. I have previously been a member of a church led by another pastor (1989-1990). It’s not necessarily an easy gig and my solution is to sit somewhat light to the church by not becoming an elected leader. This stance is informed by the experiences of others in similar situations and self-knowledge of my personality. I expect to continue this as we move to a new church in our next chapter.

Presbytery Part of being a Presbyterian minister is sharing in the courts of the church. On returning to Sydney I resumed active membership in the presbytery where I had been licensed in 1978 and became a full member in 1983. This involved attendance at monthly meetings and filling various duties assigned to me, including chairing the meetings for a season.

It was a thrill to see, and be involved in, renewal in some older congregations who were locked into a death-spiral of traditionalism and to see some new church plants emerge. (That being said, it was sad to see some congregations locked in a death cycle of disconnect from their changing community and shrinking effectiveness.) Each of these renewals and church plants had their own story, which is a lesson. No one model is fit for all renewals and plants. Having good people in key leadership roles is central and then let God write the story that fits this unique circumstance.

NSW Assembly Leaders of the whole NSW Presbyterian Church meet annually over five days in General Assembly. The ordination promises of ministers and elders commit them to be present, to give good attention to the business and to do so in a pastoral manner. Not all do all these, and I have certainly not done all at all times

And so, I went to these meetings, gave attention to the business and was appointed to chair the meetings one year. I sat lighter to involvement then in last years, partly because my time away had changed my perspective on such meetings – they no longer seemed so important. More significantly, it was time for a new generation to lead. In my first year back the then moderator remarked on how the baby boomers (my generation) had to yield to gens X and Y and then to the millennials. I did not always agree with the directions of the new generations, just as I’m sure the generations before me did not always agree with my generation’s directions. There is a time to step back and let God take the work forward rather than join those lamenting the passing of the good old days and trying to cling to power.

General Assembly of Australia Every three years, a representative group of ministers and elders from all parts of Australia gather for the GAA which, within the provisions of a federal constitution, has supreme legislative and judicial powers. I was again appointed a member and came to chair a committee that screened ministers incoming from other denominations domestically and internationally. This latter role meant occasional inter-state travel to chair interview panels, as well as report drafting and committee administration.

I have been an active member of the courts at all three levels over the years and some of that is documented in previous posts in this series. This has involved skills in networking and in knowing and using the rules of the church for strategic advantage. I have enjoyed this. I also expect that I will cease to have a seat in the courts of the church when I leave my college post at year’s end. I will miss this, but it is time to move on.

Extended ministries

More than one person has remarked that I am never content with the one thing in life generally. In whatever I am doing I soon look for adjunct activities that broaden my sphere of action. That reflects a personally restless nature and an activism that seeks to change the world around me. This has good and less good sides. The corollary of this discontent is that I never really leave a place but tend to remain part of the extended family of past ministry situations. I expect that to stand as I move to a new chapter.

The same restlessness happened during my years on the full time Christ College staff. In addition to the wider church roles notes above I undertook local preaching and teaching assignments and was increasingly engaged in majority- world ministry training.

The global activities included:

·       Renewed and continued involvement in the Timor Leste training project where I became coordinator and became involved in developmental processes.

·       Membership of the Increase Association to support Asia-wide church-based training for discipleship and ministry. This saw me present and participate at course-writing workshops and mentor a writing team in Nepal through e-support and some field visits

·       Conducting a teaching visit to Presbyterian Church of South Sudan pastors leading churches situated in the refugee camps of western Ethiopia.

·       Guest teaching in a Jakarta and a Malang seminary.

·       Conferences in KL, Auckland, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Jakarta and Panama City.

In June 2016 I attended a Bangkok conference on ministry training for the majority world. Amidst the hype of a large theologically diverse gathering I heard a statistic that sticks in my heart: there are 2.2 million pastors globally and only 5% of them have any formal training. I know that formal training does not make a pastor and that the lack of formal training does not mean that someone cannot pastor well. However, there is some correlation between receiving training and faithful, sustained and effective ministry.

That statistic stuck in my heart and proved significant in the decisions reported below.

A further extended ministry involved writing activities. I had a few book chapters and journal articles published and co-edited two books in a series connected to my own denomination.

Personal life

The period 2009-2019 saw each of our adult children consolidate their lives. Another one married, and four further grandchildren were born. One child moved from Canada to Australia and another to Canberra. By the end of the period each of our children appeared to have established the settled pattern of their adult lives and we had a good intra-family dynamic.

For her part, Glenda retired from secondary teaching, although returning for a defined period in mid 2019.

We both grew older, passed official retirement age but with no desire to epitomise an older vision of inactive aging. And so, we both continued active in mind and body and look forward to that in the coming chapter. Good health followed both of us, although we are conscious of how quickly this can change as we approach 70.

THE (POSSIBLE) LAST POST

The decision to move to the new chapter as outlined at the top of this post, followed our usual course of decision making:

·       Objective fit:  In mid 2017 I was approached about an overseas ministry position. In the course of considering it our daughter asked: Where are you best used and where are you most easily replaced? That led to a conclusion that I was easily replaced in my College post but was uniquely placed for the expected role of ministry education at the margins. I am largely free of immediate family commitments, my wife is supportive, I am of good health, I travel easily and well, and I seem able to connect effectively across a range of cultures.

·       Sustained prayerful inward conviction: Before the above-mentioned mid-2016 Bangkok conference I already had much majority-world ministry training exposure and had forward thoughts in that direction. The conference catalysed that into a personal conviction that was examined, tested and prayed over in the following years. The mid-2017 approach mentioned above proved to be a diversion in its specifics but did catch the attention of my wife and I to the possibility of a ministry future outside of Australia. As prayers and conversations passed, we were both of a settled view that the path on which we are now travelling was the way to go.

·       Counsel of others: As mentioned in previous posts, I value the counsel of others in decision-making, lest I fall prey to self-delusion. As we shared our sense of the coming vision for the next chapter, comments confirmed that there was a real need and that I seem suited to it.

And so, the new chapter lies ahead at the end of 2019.

It will be a personal new chapter as we move home and our financial position changes – no more salary! It will be a new ministry chapter as I move to the indicated roles. Already 2020 has part-time teaching at my present college; contract ministry training for an inland mission body; along with ministry training in Timor Leste, Indonesia, Uganda and South Africa. Onward!

Inevitably ahead on God’s horizon will be the decline of old age and eventually death. I do not look forward to this and will do what I can to delay it. I grieve what will be lost in older age: personal vitality and being able to serve others with contributions that make a difference. I lament the increasing inabilities of older age and increasing dependence on others. I do not fear death because of the work of Christ for me in his death and resurrection but do have anxiety about the dying process.

But for now, the message is onward. My text for the immediate horizon is:

·       Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13-14).

And then for the next horizon:

·       I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Tim 4:7-8).

I do not call this coming phase ‘retirement’ but a new chapter. In doing so I am inspired by the prayer with which John Piper ends his book on retirement: Lord, spare me this curse. That too, is my prayer.