Rev Dr Kevin Hovey

Rev Dr Kevin Hovey

Senior Lecturer, Pastoral and Cross Cultural Ministry, Senior Lecturer in Missiology

+61 2 8893 9018
Contact Kevin Hovey

Kevin's current role, Head of Department: Pastoral and Cross Cultural Ministry, is an interesting convergence of many experiences and roles covering more than 47 years as an ordained minister of the Australian Christian Churches.

Starting with 31 years as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, ministry was focused on developing and training local leaders. This ranged from church planting and informal mentoring of leaders in remote villages to developing Bible college structures and curriculum. Serving as consultant to the National Executive Council of Assemblies of God of Papua New Guinea provided opportunities for input – and for growth. In 2017, this service was recognized by the Papua New Guinea government with the Member of Logohu award that was announced in the Independence Day Honours list, with the tagline of "For service to the community and Assemblies of God Church.".

While still on field, he was able to complete a Master of Arts in Missiology at Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Missions. Progressively the need for missionary training became evident, so the internationally recognized World Harvest Institute “missionary finishing program”, as some have termed it was developed. Post Papua New Guinea, missionary leadership, missionary strategy and missionary training roles have continued to keep a focus on the task of mission, but with a greater focus on seeing that outworked through local churches and through trained field personnel. 

Kevin’s PhD thesis, completed in 2017, is entitled Guiding Light: Contributions of Alan R. Tippett Toward the Development and Dissemination of Twentieth Century Missiology, which has since been published using the same name by Pickwick Publications.

He also serves as the Oceania representative on the Pentecostal World Fellowship’s World Missions Commission, rubbing shoulders with key mission leaders from around the world. Pentecostal World Fellowship's member denominations represent approximately 100 million Pentecostal Christians.

Qualifications

PhD (Alphacrucis College)
Dissertation Title Guiding Light: Contributions of Alan R. Tippett Toward the Development and Dissemination of Twentieth Century Missiology 2017

Master of Arts in Missiology (School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary)
Dissertation Title A Manual for Cross Cultural Christians 1983

Diploma in Biblical Studies (Southern Cross College) 1997

Research Interests

Missions, missiology, missionary training, mission strategy, contextualization, Pentecostal ministry in spirit-world aware contexts

Effective pastoral ministry: preparation, practice and reflection

Books

  • 2019
    • Hovey, K G (2019). Guiding Light: Contributions of Alan R. Tippett Toward the Development and Dissemination of Twentieth Century Missiology. Pickwick Publications. | AC Link
  • 1995
    • Hovey, Kevin G (1995). Before All Else Fails Read the Instructions: A Manual for Cross Cultural Christians (2nd Edition). Harvest Publications. | External link
  • 1992
    • Hovey, Kevin G (1992). Tok Welkam long Holi Spirit (Saying Welcome to the Holy Spirit). Assemblies Publications.

Book Chapters

  • 2015
    • Tippett, A. R., Priest, D (2015). The Integrating Gospel and The Christian: Fiji 1835-67 In Foreword, The Integrating Gospel, (pp. ix-x). William Carey Library. | External link
  • 2012
    • Hamalainen, A, McClung, G, (et al) (2012). Together in One Mission: Pentecostal Cooperation in World Evangelization In , (pp. ). .
  • 1991
    • Hovey, Kevin G (1991). A Living Tapestry In , Invading Paradise: Inspiring Stories of the AOG Missionaries in Papua New Guinea (pp. Pages 53 - 56). AOG World Missions.
  • 1987
    • Havea, Sione 'Amanaki, Et Al. (1987). South Pacific Theology: Papers from the Consultation on Pacific Theology, Papua New Guinea, January 1986 In Hovey, Kevin G, Christian living in Papua New Guinea : some problems and solutions (pp. ). Regnum.

Journal Articles

  • 2014
    • Hovey, Kevin George (2014). Alan Tippett: Australian Missiologist. Australian Journal of Missions Studies, Volume 8 Number 2 pages 30 - 33.
    • Hovey, Kevin G (2014). Australian Journal of Mission Studies. Australian Journal of Mission Studies, Volume 8, Number 2 Guest Editorial, pages 1 - 2.
  • 1990
    • Hovey, Kevin G (1990). Pentecostal Churches in Papua New Guinea. Catalyst: Social Pastoral Magazine for Melanesia, Volume 20, Number 1 Pages 63 - 71.
  • 1983
    • Hovey, Kevin G (1983). Towards Effective Ministry in Cargo Endemic Areas. Point, No 2: Religious Movements in Melanesia Today Pages 115 - 129.

Presentations

Academic Conference

  • 2014
    • Orality in Pentecostal Churches (2014), Bookends Conference - ”Bookends – learning and sharing faith in a YouTube world”, SMBC Sydney, 31 May 2014

Professional Memberships

American Sociaty of Missiology (since 2017)

Associate Field Team, Australian Christian Churches International (since 2011)

Australian Association of Mission Studies (since 2004)

International Association of Mission Studies (since 2019)

Current Supervision

  • Current
    • Coenradi, R, A Study of an Islamic Boarding School (Pesantren) Network in Indonesia : Patterns of Belief, Religious Practice and Identity. (PhD thesis)
    • Somh, P, In what ways was the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) an impetus for the nationwide movement towards the acceptance of Christianity in Southern Sudan between 1983 and 2005? (PhD thesis)
    • Sue, W, Ancestral practices and their implications for the Christian church (PhD thesis)
    • Odion, O, The Pentecostal Phenomenon: An Examination of Factors Contributing to the Growth, Expansion, and Influence of Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria from 1998 to 2018. (DMin thesis)
    • Onyait, S, Mission as Transformation: An Analysis of the Role of Pentecostal Churches in Engendering Holistic transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa with Reference to Kenya and Uganda from 1980 to 2019 (PhD thesis)
    • Elsayed, Y, Signs, wonders, and miracles in Pentecostalism and Sufism (PhD thesis)
    • Winchester, R, Developing Transformational Pentecostal Leaders in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand: A Model for In-Service Leadership Training (PhD thesis)
    • Klar, M, A study of missiology and missionary work in Thailand. (DMin thesis)

Completed Supervision

  • 2023
    • Seetahal, K, An Exploration of the influence which governmental and multilateral donor Organizations have on the poverty alleviation methods of Christian Faith-based Development Organisations (PhD thesis)
    • Matthew Tinker, Relationship Dynamics Between Missionaries, Mission Agencies and Supporting Churches in Fulfilling the Great Commission (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2022
    • TambyRajah, A, Examining the impact of the initial conversion experience of a person professing their faith in Christ on the conversion-discipleship-continuum, with an application to the ACC movement. (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Gallagher, L, Discipleship models for the (post-)Islamic Church in Indonesia (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2020
    • Yasmin Elsayed, Model strategies to overcome the communication barriers between the Pentecostal church and the first-generation Muslims in Australia. (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Daniel Ofori, Transitioning Monoethnic Churches: Movement of Monoethnic Migrant Pentecostal Churches to Multiethnic Congregations in Western Sydney (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Jason Kelaart, Millennials and Baby Bombers in Urban Australia: Uniquely Effective Spiritual Formation Strategies (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2019
    • Ives, J., What approaches could overcome identified common obstacles faced by church planters within Australian capital cities in the early 21st Century? (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Gary Barnier, The Church and the Disabled Community: A Missiological Approach (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Brian Siawarta, Making the Modern Contemporary Church (CC) Model Suitable in Outreach to the Millenial Muslims (MM) of Jakarta, Indonesia (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Wolfgang Sue, Ancestral Rites and its Implications for the Christian Faith (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Kavish Seetahal, A Path to End Poverty: The Christian Response (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2018
    • Wirawan, C., Creating an evangelistic culture in a local church (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Addisalem, T., Effective Church Model for Australian Ethnic Churches from non-English Speaking Backgrounds (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Zheng, C.T., Ministry Approaches in Chinese Collectivism (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2017
    • Catherine Fuertes, : What are some current challenges young family households face in their discipleship and what discipleship approaches exist to equip these families and address those challenges? (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Jacinda Wing, What is the most effective way to engage and support an individual to achieve & maintain the required change to fulfil their goal/s? (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2016
    • Botta, R., Are the key elements of Discipleship effectively described by the following four elements, Character; Spiritual Life; Skills and Theology? (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Lee, S., Reflection on a twenty-five year journey as an ethnic service pastor (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2015
    • Kollie, V., Leadership & Community Change (Masters Project/Thesis)
    • Patterson, P., How to Successfully Plant New Churches in Rural Sri Lanka (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2014
    • Esera, I., Is it possible that the same cultural and historical elements that aided the spread of Christianity and church growth in and through Samoa, could subsequently become barriers to the influence of Christianity in and through Samoan churches planted outside (Masters Project/Thesis)
  • 2010
    • Gerrard, D., Discuss why church planting in urban centres is relevant today and how missionary church planting approaches should be part of that process. In particular, that will cover a way a missionary analyses the local culture, and then plants churches that engage (Masters Project/Thesis)

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