Applied Carey Baptist College Alumni
Closing & Opening In what sense are children gifts from God? An Interview with Dr. Phil
Issue 2 / July 2011
Contents
Editorial Welcome to the second edition of Applied – a magazine for Carey Baptist College Alumni and friends. A big thank you to all of those who took the time to contact us after our first edition - please be assured we are very keen to maintain a strong relationship with you and to keep you informed about College life. As I write this I have just seen a summary of the reasons why our 2011 intake of students decided to study at Carey. Forty-one percent of the students indicated that the major influence on them was a friend. Another 16% noted that it was because of the encouragement of a pastoral leader. So much for all the glossy promotional material! In this edition I am keen to ask you to think about someone you know who might benefit from some study and training at Carey. Maybe a young adult who enjoys being stretched in their biblical thinking? Perhaps it could be someone whose ministry might benefit from a bit of theology or practical training? Someone whose secular career could be enhanced by learning to reflect theologically? Maybe it’s someone who shows potential to be a pastoral leader and should be considering one of our pastoral leadership tracks? Can I encourage you to think about the people around you? Spend some time praying for them. Tap them on the shoulder and tell them about the potential you see - that you think a theological education or ministry and mission training could be a good idea for them. Why not encourage them to contact us or even come to one of our open days? Join the statistics noted above and become the friend or the pastor of someone who is training with Carey Baptist College! And remember there are many ways people can study at Carey – weekly (on-site) classes, distance courses, block courses, and field education. At Carey we are serious about producing graduates with depth, for longevity in ministry and mission. Your partnership in this task is greatly appreciated and if you have any thoughts or ideas please do not hesitate to contact me at charles.hewlett@carey.ac.nz Regards
Credits
2 Editorial
Alumni Magazine ISSUE TWO
Charles Hewlett
Editor: Charles Hewlett Design: Roseanne Lee
4 Graduate Profiles
Contributors: Shireen Chua, Maurice McLaughlin, Jude Benton, Paul Windsor, Gareth Jones, Maryanne Wardlaw, Siong Ng.
6 Carey News
Maurice McLaughlin & Jude Benton
8 Closing and Opening Paul Windsor
Photos: From contributors Printing: Red_i For enquiries, please email shireen.chua@carey.ac.nz
9 In What Sense are Children Gifts from God? Gareth Jones
12 Helpful Tips from Siong
Carey Baptist College 473 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland
13 An Interview with Dr. Phil
PO Box 12149, Auckland, 1642
14 Extract: Shaping Godzone
Maryanne Wardlaw
Laurie Guy
09 525 4017 www.carey.ac.nz
(Colossians 1:28-29) Applied / 3
Graduate Profiles Maurice McLaughlin
I am well into my third year as a Prison Chaplain here at Christchurch Mens Prison. The last 8 months have however been more demanding because of the catastrophic earthquakes that have devastated much of the Christchurch CBD and surrounding areas. My role as the Coordinating Chaplain here has required much of me personally, every skill, all experiences and knowledge have been brought to bear in this branch of the Lord's service. I remember kindly and fondly my experiences at Carey. I appreciated greatly my journeys from Hastings, where I worked as an Industrial Chaplain, to Auckland to participate in some of the on-site papers. As an extramural student I was eyes wide open as I attended and Applied / 4
participated in Carey’s on-site papers. I did however feel a little adrift at times in comparison with on-site students who had a camaraderie gained through their full time attendance. I am grateful to Charles Hewlett for his listening ear when I first began my studies. Likewise I am grateful to Mike Crudge for his accuracy and honest supportive feedback while completing practicums. I also remember most kindly the encouragement I received from Derek Christensen. I think we all appreciate and remember favourites and Derek was a wonderful experienced resource at Carey for me, particularly with his knowledge of Chaplaincy and Marketplace Christianity. I enjoyed also the guest lecturers, like Alan Jamieson. (I look back and think how green I was 3 years ago. I almost cringe at my Thematic Integrative course and yet I think that the staff knew and saw all that. The degree is an Applied Theology degree. It isn't all theory. It is about equipping and preparing students to be able to work hands on in the workplace, marketplace and the local church). I feel very privileged to serve in my role. My day can be involved in meetings, calls to the at-risk unit to support prisoners, leading services, Bible studies, praying with men in desperate circumstances, listening, listening and listening some more, being with men as they journey through this place, (as Mick Duncan used to say "getting alongside" others.) Mick also reminded me that abandonment was one of the last pains that Christ endured for
us, and it is a strong feature in many of the men's lives here; it is indeed a tragedy. My role involves humbly learning to mirror a Christ-likeness alongside my colleagues. My Chaplaincy colleagues are from a range of backgrounds and denominations. They all seem to have a strong sense of compassion, and caring and they also seem to possess a generous passionate desire to serve the Lord. Maurice McLaughlin graduated in 2009.
Jude Benton (nee Elwood) When I was at Carey I was single, studying to be a Baptist Pastor, spending my time working part-time as a children’s minster at Orakei Baptist, and enjoying developing expressions of creative worship and prayer. Now, 6 years later, I’m married, ordained as an Anglican priest at Nelson Cathedral (where the demographic is primarily closer to the dispatch end of the life spectrum than the hatching end), and trying to make sense of services that are highly liturgical and structured. I would never have guessed that I would end up where I am, and yet I believe that training at Carey was the best preparation that I could have had for this journey – and what a journey it’s been. Beginning in the Pastoral Leadership
Track at only 20 was a great privilege, and yet a challenge as well. Our year group was fantastic, a wonderful mix of people with a variety of ages and life experiences who for three years shared each other’s lives and prayed for each other’s journeys. Some of those friendships remain among the deepest that I have, and although the business of life means that much time can pass between conversations, the laughter and encouragement is entered into quickly when we do get together. The 4 placement churches that I spent time in each taught me something different about mission and ministry, practical lessons (sometimes learnt the hard way) that I continue to draw from now. When I think about the things I learnt at Carey those I remember best are Paul Windsor’s quadrants: the four corners of preaching (yep, my sermon plan is still done in four sections), the four chapters of scripture (the good, the bad, the new, and the perfect made it into the last sermon), the tensions of salt & grace, light and truth (a great way to continually check where I am ministering), and the weekly planning of the four urgent / important boxes (my workmates wish tidying my desk would move into urgent & important sometime soon.) They are the things I remember most as they are the elements that transcend the type of church, and the style of worship, that keep me focused on who I am, and how I’m ministering – again, kept in check by that most memorable quadrant of all Being / Doing / Knowing / Feeling. Jude Benton graduated in 2006. Applied / 5
Carey News
Dr George Wieland
After Dinner Mint speaker, Mayor Len Brown.
Recent Events Carey goes to Wellington – 6 staff members spent a weekend interacting and speaking with churches in Wellington. Conversations around Love Wins - over 150 people came to Carey on a Thursday evening to discuss Rob Bell's latest book. The Church and Environment Day jointly organised by the Baptist Historical Society and Carey Baptist College was well attended with some good discussion. Director of Mission Research & Training At Carey Baptist College we take seriously our task of producing graduates for ministry and mission in the world we are about to live in. As a result of this we are creating a new teaching and training position at the College focusing on contemporary mission. We are pleased to announce that Dr George Wieland will be our first Director of Mission Research and Training and will commence this role at the beginning of 2012. A core paper to be taught by George will be The Mission of God (developing a missional hermeneutic, articulating a mission-oriented understanding of God Applied / 6
Chinese Programme Congratulations to Dr Joe Huang, Director of the Chinese Programme at Carey. Joe has been invited by a publishing house (Tien Dao, HK) to write a commentary on 1 Corinthians chs. 7-16. This is a part of a global project lasting for three decades. Its overall calibre is approximate to NICNT/ NICOT, with an emphasis on both exegesis and exposition. Many Chinese Bible scholars have contributed in more than 72 volumes.
Lunch!
and the world, and developing applied theological/missiological approaches to issues of life and ministry). New Books We have recently hosted book launches for two of our staff members. A number of historians gathered with Laurie Guy to celebrate the release of Shaping Godzone: public issues and church voices in New Zealand 1840-2000. Also, a number of leaders from the health and disability sector gathered to celebrate with Charles and Joanne Hewlett the release of their book Hurting Hope: what parents feel when their children suffer. Intermission In the month of July our Intermission students spent two weeks in Wellington on an Urban Mission Exposure Course. This included a ‘night of powerlessness’ (sleeping on the street), time at the Ngataia Retreat Centre, ministering to those for whom life is hard, and living within the Urban Vision Community. Intermission is a discipleship year for people aged between 17-22.
Lunch-time Interviews Each Tuesday over lunch at Carey a leader from ministry, mission or marketplace is interviewed. Highlights from Semester One included: Len Brown (Mayor of Auckland), Digby Wilkinson (Pastor, Palmerston North Central Baptist), Pona Solomona (Prison Chaplain, Mt Eden), Derek McCormack (ViceChancellor of AUT), Ants Watts (Pastor, Spreydon Baptist), and Lyn Campbell (President of the Baptist Union). Tim Bulkeley After 19 outstanding years of teaching at Carey, Tim Bulkeley has announced his retirement from the beginning of
2012. There will be formal opportunity later in the year to acknowledge his contribution to theological education. It is hard to imagine Carey without Tim! Missions Week In May we hosted our first Mission Week – thanks to the help of Rachel Murray at Mission World. There were many highlights including: promotions from mission groups, yummy ethnic foods, a key-note address from Ray Totarewa from YWAM, and prayer for Carey graduates who are serving overseas. This will become an important week in our calendar. Guests to Carey In an attempt to engage in current ministry, mission, and marketplace discussion Carey regularly hosts guests on our campus. In Semester Two these include: Bill Dyrness (Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary), Ash Barker (Founding Director of Urban Neighbours of Hope), Alan Jamison (Pastor, Spreydon Baptist Church), and in January 2012 William Young, (author of The Shack). Please feel free to join us – contact Carey for more details.
KIWI-MADE PREACHING FORUM Provoking engagement with the issues confronting preachers in Aoteroa today. SPECIAL GUEST AND COMPANION FOR THE JOURNEY:
Dr. Chris Wright (International Director, Langham Partnership International)
AUCKLAND
25 October 2011
WAIKANAE
27 October 2011
CHRISTCHURCH 29 October 2011 (9.30am–4.30pm)
Brought to you by Langham Partnership NZ, in partnership with TSCF, Carey Baptist College and the NZ Christian Network.
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Closing and Opening Paul Windsor
I’ve always enjoyed a good metaphor. How about a door? Doors have been closing and opening for me. Carey had its opportunities to shape community, to inhabit classrooms, to build teams, to participate in governance, to tap student shoulders, to inhabit networks, to spark vision etc. Closing the Carey door has meant moving away – largely, if not completely – from all these kinds of opportunities. There is much to miss. At the same time a Langham door has been opening. I find myself training biblical preachers in the majority world in an organisation founded by John Stott. Working at the interface of these three worlds is such a privilege. If it is true that ‘the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet' (Buechner), then these three worlds express a ‘deep gladness’ for me. Furthermore it is not difficult to demonstrate how the world’s ‘deep hunger’, knowingly or unknowingly, is for the Word of God, satisfied so often by the best in anointed and applied biblical preaching. Applied / 8
My major responsibility lies with the Langham Preaching programmes in Asia and the Pacific. We go only where we are invited and we work only in partnership with others. Sometimes this has meant consolidating an existing grassroots initiative (for example, in Pakistan, Myanmar, North India, North Thailand, and Vanuatu); while in other places it has meant starting a new work (for example, in Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka, North-East India, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea). Wherever we work, the dream is to see a viral movement of biblical preaching spread through these countries. In addition to this, I assist the Director in the leadership of the global work wherever I can make a contribution. For example, I edit and write an occasional newsletter on Langham Preaching’s work – Preaching Good News. We pulled together a Consultation for teachers of homiletics in the majority world. Every single graduate from every single college will be expected to be a preacher. And yet, again and again, homiletics is done poorly. We hope to rehabilitate homiletics as an indispensable and integrating exercise at the core of the mission, vision and practice of these colleges. However it is not all adrenalin and air points. Amidst the privilege there is a demanding travel schedule and an isolating work environment to manage. But there is contentment to be found in trusting the one who holds the door handle. Previously the Principal at Carey Baptist College, Paul Windsor works now with Langham Partnership International, serving as Associate Director in its Langham Preaching programme.
“How would one of your theologians like to address a neglected topic – of how God delegates his creativity to humans – in the conceiving and raising of children; and in the alleviation of suffering; and especially in the healing of the body? “As an evangelical I believe in God's direct intervention in people's lives – but we need to acknowledge more proactively that through the development of medical science much of the healing of the body is now in the hands of doctors, pharmacists and research scientists."
In what sense are children gifts from God? Gareth Jones
Over recent years we have had the privilege of Professor Gareth Jones teaching our Bioethics course. Gareth is the director of the Bioethics Centre, and a Professor in Anatomy and Structural Biology. We asked him to reflect on David Diprose's (1957–59) question to us.
Frequently one hears children described as “a gift from God”. Most of us who work from a Christian foundation are comfortable with this claim, but what precisely are we saying? Are all children gifts from God, or only those who are desperately wanted by a loving couple? And what about those who are brought into existence using some form of reproductive technology, let alone those who are conceived by rape or suffer from a serious congenital problem? In other words, what are its implications for how we conceive and subsequently regard our children? Questions such as these prompt us to ask whether our usual concept of ‘gift’ is as helpful as we generally assume when dealing with children. My answer is that it is useful in part, but only in part. But where does the idea come from? While the term has strong religious overtones (after all, it uses the name of God), it does not feature nearly as prominently in the Bible as one might Applied / 9
think. In the Old Testament Hannah demonstrates the agony, despair and social ostracism of the infertile (1 Samuel 1:5-20). When her prayer was answered and she bore a child she regarded the child as a special gift from God. Also in the Old Testament one encounters other instances of children as a gift, heritage or reward from the Lord, usually within the context of faithfulness to God (Psalm 127: 3-5). More generally, one can argue that we receive children in trust from God, leading to the idea that children are gifts rather than products. We accept what is given, rather than demand a child that meets all our specifications. They are far more than mere instruments for achieving their parents’ ends. It is this giftedness that is crucial ethically and theologically.
No one owns children—not their parents, nor the church, nor society. They stand before God in their own right. But even this notion has to be used with care. If taken to extremes it can lead to a passive acceptance of what is: doing nothing when confronted by infertility or a specific condition that makes fertilization very difficult, or standing back and failing to improve the health and well-being of premature babies and neonates. While the giftedness motif limits what we may or may not do, it is not intended to paralyse us in the reproductive area. On the contrary, it will encourage us to improve the health of children as much as possible, to have balanced families capable of looking after their children as well as they can, to nurture children, and to give prominence to their needs. In constraining us, the motif will lead to the very clear Applied / 10
conclusion that children are not to be treated as commodities, to be bought and sold; we will not reject children on flimsy grounds; we will not mould children to fulfil their parents’ (or society’s) every wish. To seek to bend children to our own ends is a mutually destructive endeavour. But what about the aim to produce the ‘perfect baby’ or the ‘designer baby’? Both notions are intensely misleading; there is no such thing as biological perfection, while our ability to design children is exceedingly limited. Nevertheless, these notions should not prevent us from utilizing the best of modern techniques at our disposal, including genetic analyses, genetic counselling, and procedures like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Each has to be assessed very carefully and must always be viewed within a framework of our responsibilities as believers, and of our ultimate trust in the Lord. Children are not primarily gifts to their parents in the sense that they are primarily about blessing the receiver; this does occur of course, but the focus is to be on the child rather than the parent. The gift ultimately is the gift of new life to the individual concerned, a gift that comes from God. It is a gift to be used and developed, in response to the overtures of God in Christ. No one owns children—not their parents, nor the church, nor society. They stand before God in their own right.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:14 are relevant here: "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs". Children are always significant. They are never to exist on the margins, but are to be protected and provided for as those who are one with us in a God-centred world. From this it follows that we accept the children we are given, even if they are not entirely what we may initially have wanted—another daughter, a child at an inconvenient time in our lives, a disabled child who will not be able to run like all the other children, an intellectually retarded child or one with a debilitating genetic condition. What then of the artificial reproductive technologies (ARTs) in their many manifestations - in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the production of ‘surplus’ embryos, sperm or egg donation, embryo donation, even the use of a surrogate? Each of these makes considerable demands on our ethical thinking, and for Christians on their theological commitments. None of these are amenable to simple answers, and these are topics for another time. What is important in the present context is that the giftedness motif takes us far beyond any simple allegiance to the natural, or rejection of the artificial. Regardless of whether or not artificial means are employed to prevent or encourage child bearing, it is the way in which children are viewed and treated that is central to a Christian ethic. As gifts they are to be handled with care, and this has nothing to do with how they were conceived or when they were conceived. Once here and in our midst, they are important; they are one with us in the human endeavour. •
Potential New Postgraduate Qualifications Carey has been keen to offer postgraduate qualifications in applied theology. This involves courses with a bifocal emphasis: both academic and applied. We lodged an application for Carey Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Applied Theology qualifications in April. The qualifications will take one to two years full-time to complete. The Masters is geared to practitioners in mission and ministry who may have time for as little as one course only per year. Most of the courses will be year-long to make them more accessible. Most will be delivered as block courses, involving one or two trips to Carey each year. If we are successful, then the LaidlawCarey partnership will obviously change, though there will be ongoing partnership at all levels. We are waiting on New Zealand Qualifications Authority approval processes. In the meantime we are planning for 2012 on the basis that approval will come through. We want to get as much feedback as possible from potential students for our programmes and courses, whether your future study would be in 2012 or much later. If you are, even remotely likely to be a possible student, could you email me: laurie@carey.ac.nz. You will be sent a survey form which asks questions such as how you would rate the proposed courses for next year and other courses to follow, the number of course you might do in a year, your other thoughts. We’d really value your doing the survey. It will only take five minutes. We await your email! Laurie Guy (Vice-Principal, Academic).
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An Interview with Dr. Phil Maryanne Wardlaw
Have you ever struggled looking for NZ information for your sermon? Unsure of a key event in NZ history or wanting images for your powerpoint? There are a number of good reliable NZ websites that are freely available for everyone to use. For images and multimedia: http://www.matapihi.org.nz http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz Reference: The Encyclopedia of NZ now includes the Dictionary of NZ Biography http://www.teara.govt.nz
NZ History http://www.nzhistory.net.nz Newspapers and articles: Early NZ newspapers http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz Applied / 12
Index to newspapers and magazines http://innz.natlib.govt.nz Research: Recent research/thesis http://nexresearch.org.nz
Publications held at other libraries http://nzlc.natlib.govt.nz/ Single search: Search across multiple NZ sites http://find.natlib.govt.nz Carey Baptist College library is keen to provide resources for graduates. There is a small annual subscription fee which allows users to borrow books, access journal databases and read our electronic books. Library staff are happy to assist whenever is possible. For more information please visit: http://www.carey.ac.nz/library/
If life is all about balance, then Phil Halstead thrives on tightropes. His two jobs tap into different skills but are, to him, entirely complementary. “What I love is that theory informs practice, but practice must inform theory,” he says. “It’s just fantastic to live in two such communities.” Those communities are Carey Baptist College, where he lectures in counseling and culture, and St Paul’s Anglican church in central Auckland, where he heads up pastoral care. These roles, which he has held since 2009 and 2008 respectively, are outlets for his passion for helping people and the culmination of 11 years’ full time study. Phil completed a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Theology from Auckland University, and holds a PhD in both theology and psychology (also Auckland University). These disciplines – far from being mutually exclusive – inform
one another, in Phil’s experience. His PhD research explored a connection between adults’ relationships with their parents and their relationship with God. Psychometric testing and anecdotal evidence both verified that addressing relationship issues with earthly parents, particularly in the area of forgiveness, carries over into a more real relationship with the Heavenly Father. Psalm 26:3, which speaks of being led by God’s steadfast love, is key for Phil’s life and work. “I love the discipline of creating space to intentionally listen daily to God,” he says. Phil’s first career was with Turners & Growers, where he worked as an auctioneer and in customer services over the course of 15 years. It was there that he met his wife, Angelika. They have lived in the Te Atatu Peninsula, West Auckland, since being married 19 years ago. They have a 12-year-old daughter, Aimee. Swimming, jogging and reading are Phil’s main extracurricular activities. He has been with the same swimming squad for 15 years, and Aimee is following in his footsteps (or wake, perhaps), swimming competitively. “My life is very full, but everything I do is congruent,” Phil says. “So it feels light.” Phil Halstead is on staff at Carey Baptist College as a lecturer in Applied theology. He received his PhD in Theology in 2009.
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Shaping Godzone: Public Issues and Church Voices in New Zealand 1840–2000 Laurie Guy
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EXTRACT (pp. 32, 37, 38): Missionaries largely stood in high regard amongst New Zealand Maori in 1840. They served as bridges, connecting Maori both to the Christian gospel and to incoming Europeans. As bridges missionaries served as interpreters, not only of language, but also of two fundamentally different ways of thinking and living. The high regard in which they were held made missionaries key go-betweens in the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Yet twenty-five years later, much of their esteem amongst Maori had disappeared. This was a by-product of an increasingly deep, relational divide between European and Maori. The significant crushing of Maori resistance in the centre of the North Island, the confiscation of major swathes of fertile land and an ever-increasing flood of migrants, were all threats to Maori ways and Maori mana – threatening cultural genocide. Europeans (Pakeha) brought otherness, dominance and danger. Missionaries were caught up in this. They had – so popular sayings indicated – taught the Maori to pray and, while Maori eyes were closed, stolen their lands. Or, in another variation of that saying, the missionaries were sent to break in the Maori as men break in a wild horse; to rub them quietly down the face to keep them quiet while the land was being taken from them. Maori grievance, encompassing even the missionaries, is understandable. When held against the missionaries, was it, however, a fair reaction? What was the missionary and church role in the quarter-century from 1840 to 1865…
Hobson’s endeavour to secure Maori support for the Treaty of Waitangi depended heavily on CMS missionaries acting as go-betweens in the signing process. At its initial signing Henry Williams and his son Edward translated the document into Maori. The translation was a free one, which, while making sense to Maori, was not an exact rendition of the English version. As a written document it might be expected to be interpreted precisely; and yet it was to be signed by a people who were fundamentally orally based and for whom meaning was added only gradually and by oral repetition and probably seldom if ever with the precision that might come from a more literary-based society… Many Maori in the far north looked significantly to missionary personnel for guidance as to whether they should sign the treaty. They leant on their advice and good intentions. Hone Heke, for example, stated prior to the signing: ‘[W]e Natives are children – yes, mere children. Yes, it is not for us, but for you, our fathers – you missionaries – it is for you to decide, what it shall be… You then choose for us.’ In encouraging Maori to sign the treaty, missionaries were part of an approach in which ‘the treaty was presented in a manner calculated to secure Maori agreement’, particularly through the playing down of the treaty intention to transfer power to the Crown. Without missionary support Hobson may well not have secured many Maori signatures to the Treaty of Waitangi, a view that Hobson himself
subsequently articulated. This missionary involvement means that missionaries carried significant moral responsibility to ensure the ongoing implementation of the treaty in a manner that was fair and just. Effectively, in Maori eyes they were ‘guarantors of British good faith’…
They had – so popular sayings indicated – taught the Maori to pray and, while Maori eyes were closed, stolen their lands. When the treaty’s terms were abused in subsequent years and land was taken from Maori in unjust circumstances, it is not surprising that Maori should consider themselves to have been deceived by people they trusted, even though many missionary and church leaders continued to be advocates for Maori rights. The subsequent feeling of betrayal did much to harm the cause of the Christian churches among Maori in New Zealand. • (Victoria University Press June 2011) Available from Victoria University Press and from Church Stores, Ellerslie.
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Serious about training for ministry? Pastoral Leadership john.tucker@carey.ac.nz Youth Pastoral Leadership brian.krum@carey.ac.nz Mission Leadership george.wieland@carey.ac.nz Child & Family Leadership andrew.picard@carey.ac.nz
Training people of humility, integrity and passion to love, feed and lead the people God gives them to serve.