AC Research Professor of Economics and Theology, Professor Paul Oslington, writes for The Australian // "The entrepreneurial start-ups Hillsong and C3 alluded to in clue three have grown rapidly from their Sydney bases to make the Pentecostal movement now the second largest religious movement in Australia by attendance after the Catholic Church (according to National Church Life Survey Data).

All this expansion is nourished by research in Australia’s theology sector, such as that carried out in the Jagelman Institute for Leadership at Alphacrucis College, and in areas such as Christian schooling, new models of chaplaincy, community building, the economics of religious markets, and many other topics."

Full article available here: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/

AC has been awarded a grant worth $250,000 to partner with Mission Australia (MA) in a 5-year research program to implement and evaluate MA's new Community Chaplaincy Program.

Mission Australia’s statement reads:

We are thrilled to officially offer Alphacrucis the 5-year research partnership for Mission Australia’s new Community Chaplaincy Program.

Mission Australia (MA) has begun a five-year Community Chaplaincy program to enable deep engagement with clients and other community members in identified areas of deep and persistent disadvantage across Australia. The program aims to strengthen connections between community chaplains, local churches and other faith-based organisations to support more people in need, to provide activities to support the spiritual wellbeing of individuals and families, and to strengthen the capacity and cohesion of communities.

During the discussions over the last month, we have found the team at Alphacrucis to be strongly aligned to MA’s values and mission. In addition and importantly, the Alphacrucis team have also demonstrated their ability and intention to build meaningful relationships using an action research approach with MA staff and will ‘do with’ and not ‘do to’ MA Chaplains, staff and clients.

We are looking forward to working with you on this exciting and strategic project that will result in a proven and sharable Community Chaplaincy service model that delivers demonstrable value in the communities where they operate.

Historical re enactment educational event and dinner at NSW Parliament

In recognition of the significance and need for historical engagement AC, The Lachlan Macquarie Institute (LMI), and the President of the NSW Upper House are intending to host a world first unique combined educational event at NSW Parliament to recognise the impact and issues of Lachlan Macquarie’s NSW governorship. The event would involve a ‘mock trial’ educational game, and be followed by a dinner featuring a number of speakers including the author of the new book, ‘Judging the Macquaries’, Rev Dr John Harris.

This unique project would provide the opportunity for future leaders to debate and reflect on key historical issues that marked this period in Australian history. This includes Indigenous relations (particularly the Appin massacre), convict emancipation, British influence, religious impact, public leadership, and colony development. The event would also showcase the active learning pedagogy of a higher education historical role playing game, based on Barnard University’s Reacting to the Past model, with the potential for further development into an educational product for Australian schools.

NSW Parliament members, the NSW Governor, and all sponsors are invited to attend the event in NSW Parliament.

As part of the wider event there will be a number of opportunities for sponsors to engage and speak on issues of leadership, including as part of the educational game itself which involves several key historical events. For more information or partnership details, please contact nick.jensen@ac.edu.au or 0405163048.

After graduating in 2018, AC BMin alumna, Shirley Mortara, thought her age negated the value of her studies. She writes, “ I was wrong. With God age is not a factor. Never thought at 69, I would be doing the things I am now.” Shirley writes about her involvement in various administrative roles and speaking engagements she has had at her church, and notes that even though her health and mobility is not optimal, God still uses her.

Shirley is administratively involved in a ministry birthed out of Central Christian Life Church called “Beauty for Ashes”. This ministry supplies hygiene packs and school packs to victims of Domestic Violence, and works with the police and Coast Shelter. In 2019, Beauty for Ashes was awarded a community grant of $121, 000.

After sharing her story, Shirley states that she “just wanted to let you know [that] age is not a factor when it comes to God using a person.”

For more information about Beauty for Ashes vist: https://www.beauty4ashescc.com.au/

AC President, Professor Stephen Fogarty, speaks with Hope 103.2's Laura Bennett. //"In Australia in 2014, over 5.8 million people participated in volunteer work, worth an estimated $43 billion dollars in value across the country... It’s no small thing that volunteers make this commitment—so how can leaders value their contribution and motivate volunteer teams?

"A leader needs to have enough humility to put themselves on the same level as those they’re leading.""//

Full radio interview available here: https://hope1032.com.au/

AC President, Professor Stephen Fogarty, writes for The Sydney Morning Herald // "People’s beliefs, consciences, opinions and religion aren’t something that can be just kept in box. It makes up the fundamentals of who we are.

As I recall the PM's final words to Australia’s largest annual conference, he said: "I speak about my faith because I want everyone to feel comfortable to talk about their faith in this country. It’s not a political agenda; it’s who we are, and who you are."

Amen to that."

Full article available here: https://www.smh.com.au/

AC Lecturer in Theology, Dr Jacqueline Service, writes for TEAR Australia // "Moments are immediate. Moments are decisive. Moments can change trajectories. Moments are important.

For Christians the re-orientation of our lives towards the Triune God should not merely be articulated in the moment of our voting. Rather, our engagement for the common good of our political and social environment should be a continual movement of speech-in-action."

Full article available here: https://www.tear.org.au/.

AC Associate Dean of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, Dr David Hastie, writes for The Australian // "The Morrison government’s commitment to bond teachers into rural and remote schools gets my standing ovation.

In the NSW Hunter region, the St Philip’s group of six schools has flipped the [University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education's] model of teacher training: the clinical practice model on steroids. This hub model involves a cluster of schools, connected through geographical proximity and ethos, of up to 10,000 school student enrolments. They go into close partnership with a tertiary institution: in this particular prototype through an MOU with AC, Australia’s largest Protestant-affiliated teacher-training provider. This combination of “local” and incentive has created a great inducement for high-quality candidates to stay in the Hunter — including places like the tough mining town of Cessnock — to train in the place they call home."

Full article available here: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/.

AC President, Professor Stephen Fogarty interviewed by @eternity.news // “The idea is that ‘ministry’ is not just professional church ministry, so that in any vocation, employment, or as an entrepreneur, my employment can be seen as God’s call and a way of contributing to God.

The idea behind the double degrees was just as every Christian business person needs some Christian thinking – they really need to expose themselves to Christian theology to get a deeper, more holistic understanding of what business is – on the other side, every Christian minister gains from business training."

Full article available here: https://www.eternitynews.com.au/.

AC congratulates Ralph Estherby, the National Director of Chaplaincy Australia, who is on the 2019 Australia Day Honours List. Mr Estherby has been awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal for services to the men and women of the armed forces. This recognises the major contribution he has made to all the armed services in Australia. AC maintains a close relationship with Chaplaincy Australia through joint professional projects, as well as delivery of chaplaincy training.

For more information on the work of Chaplaincy Australia, please follow this link.

Professor Paul Oslington, Dean of the Faculty of Business, has won an award of $30 000 from a grant provider for his project Postgraduate Training for the Next Generation of Christian Non-for-Profit Leaders. The grant funds awarded will engage New River Leadership (Dr Peter Kaldor and Naomi Nash) to work collaboratively with Paul and other AC staff to establish a Non-for-Profit leadership stream within AC's existing Master of Leadership program.

The College is uniquely situated in its providing Christian theological and business/leadership training at a degree-level. This project addresses further needs specifically within the Christian NFP sector by training up Christian leaders who are equipped with both leadership and theological expertise, and therefore able to manage complex NFP organisations.  Paul’s project is anticipated to make a long term contribution to the quality of Christian leadership in the sector.

The annual Community Heritage Grants were announced at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on 30 October, 2018.

This year, grants worth $367,470 were distributed to 60 community groups and organisations from around Australia to assist in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections. The Australasian Pentecostal Studies Centre has been awarded $2475 for a disaster preparedness training workshop which is a vital step in ensuring the long-term preservation of our precious collection.  The workshop will equip participants with an industry-standard approach to the development of a Disaster Preparedness Plan and provide training in significance assessment; reducing risk and prioritisng actions; response and recovery plans; salvage procedures and practical disaster response. 

In the past, items in our collection have been subject to damage due to natural disaster, so the opportunity for grant-funded training in this area is vital.  

CHG is managed by the National Library. It is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications and the Arts; the National Archives of Australia; the National Film and Sound Archive; the National Museum of Australia and the National Library.

AC offer a range of opportunities for staff, students and volunteers to contribute to the local community. In 2018, the AC Library Amnesty Project, overseen by AC's Sydney Campus Library Manager, Emma Austin, called for donations for a hunger relief initiative. Together, the AC community donated 11.5kg of food, as well as a monetary donation from overdue library fee payments, to Food Bank NSW.

Food Bank is Australia's largest hunger relief organisation, providing 67million meals each year. It is a non-denominational, non-profit organisation which acts as a pantry to the charities and community groups who feed the hungry.

For more information on Food Bank, including information on how you can help, please visit their website here.

"Excellence in education is when we do everything that we can to make sure they become everything that they can"

- Carol Ann Tomlinson

This quote is at the heart of education at AC. We want to make sure that those seeking a Christian education from other countries have the opportunity to study at AC.

We have just granted a scholarship to a Christian leader from Malaysia to complete a PhD at AC. The cost of this scholarship is $30,000. I currently have five scholarship applications from Asian church leaders and teachers who wish to study at AC. We would like to be able to approve all of these applications and help to build the church in Asia.

As you know I run marathons every year to raise support for AC's University vision. This year I would like to focus on raising funds to provide scholarships for missionaries and for emerging leaders from majority world nations who wish to enhance their leadership and ministry skills by studying at AC.  

As I run I will be thinking about the lives we are changing that you helped to support.

Four marathons this year are really challenging me, but I need you to help push me. Support me to help the University by pledging your support in my effort to raise $50,000. No gift is too small.

Stephen Fogarty

AC President