BCSA Newsletter October 2022

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We give great thanks for a wonderful Open Day held at Bible College SA on Saturday October 8. Nearly 25 women and men spent the morning with us to find out more about studying at Bible College SA. Our faculty shared about the different programs we offer, and some of our current students gave insight into their own experience of studying with us and why they would encourage others to do the same.

Our open events are important markers on our calendar each year, as they help facilitate the crucial conversations amongst leaders and churches in Adelaide to be raising up the next generations within their various ministries for a lifetime of well-formed gospel service and encourage these conversations to be ongoing throughout the year.

If you missed our Open Day but would like to know more about studying at Bible College SA, please contact our registrar, Rebecca Vincent, on 8291 8188 or via email at registrar@biblecollege.sa.edu.au.

As we move through October, we are feeling that the academic year at Bible College SA is already drawing to a close. Indeed, our last week of lectures starts on the 24th of this month, and then final exams are just two weeks after that. It is a bit of a cliche, but sometimes the years really do seem to fly past!

Of course, here at the College, we cannot be only focussed on just the short-term, as our mission is fundamentally about looking to the years and even decades—especially the decades—ahead. We might enrol some students this year, have them graduate the year after next, and then reset our thinking to the next cohorts who are coming in to be trained and formed with us. But we also need to keep considering the longer horizons too.

Our real goal, after all, is not just to see the College buzzing year after year with great groups of students, but to see faithful graduates persevering in long-term kingdom ministry and leadership across our city, state, and beyond.

The reality is that many things—including building the kingdom—can be long, slow, and steady works. We all love the explosive moment when God appears to be doing incredible things all at once. That’s exciting and energising! But things like planting and growing a church, discipling a young person, building a dependable gospel-institution, mentoring leaders, establishing a helpful annual Christian conference, and teaching through the fullness of the Scriptures all take time, lots of time.

Depth and maturity don’t come fast. They are not the instant result of an inspiring meeting or a great idea. They are the fruits of many hours and years of committed and disciplined service.

We are often reminded that Jesus could come back at any moment, so we always need to be ready. This is the very straightforward message of texts like Matthew 24:32–51. However, what we are less often reminded of is that Jesus could come back at any moment, including a moment that’s years, generations, or even centuries away. This means that while we always need to be ready, we also always need to be thinking about long-term, intergenerational ministries that will serve people and places for many lifetimes. This is more what we see in the subsequent passages, Matthew 25:1–30.

In light of these thoughts, I want to thank you for your prayers, advocacy, and financial gifts for Bible College SA, and ask you to please continue on with all of this fantastic and much-needed support. Under God, we are working hard here not just to see out this year, but to keep building a College that will serve our children’s generation, their children’s generation, and their children’s generation too, on until Jesus returns, whenever that might be.

Applications are open for study at Bible College SA in 2023. We offer a diverse range of courses from undergraduate to postgraduate level, each one crafted to provide a thorough understanding of the biblical texts and Christian theology, and also with practical application to life and ministry.

If you want to have a greater understanding of the Bible, be better equipped to serve in your church, work as a chaplain, head out on global mission, or take on any other ministry work, large or small, please consider applying to study with us in 2023. You can find all the information you need on our website at biblecollege.sa.edu/study-with-us.

Applications for semester 1 2023 close January 13th, 2023.

Save the date! After two years of having to hold our graduation as a private function due to various limitations, it is with great pleasure that the Bible College SA community is invited to attend our Graduation service for 2022! Please join with us as we celebrate the achievements of 18 students, at CoroUniting Church, 415 Main Road, Coromandel Valley, on Tuesday the 6th December, from 7:30pm. This will be a time of great thanksgiving, as we not only celebrate with all our graduands as they receive their academic awards but also send them out as they continue in gospel ministry service. For more information, or to register your interest to attend, please contact our office on 8291 8188 or at admin@biblecollege.sa.edu.au. We hope you can join us this year!

Can you please tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Caleb Turko. Born and raised in and around the Port, Jesus Christ made himself and his glory known to me in my teens. From there, I finished school, went overseas on a mission trip, and, after seeing a lack of theological education among many churches and ministries, decided to study at BCSA. In my free time, I like to surf, read, and listen to trendy tunes.

What are you currently studying?
I am currently studying a Bachelor of Theology.

What do you like most about studying at BCSA?
While BCSA is a smaller college, it places great emphasis on creating a culture of continued discipleship. The struggles and issues challenging the church are tackled head on through the subjects we are studying and students are challenged to grow each other to face these challenges. There is an impactful influence from the faculty members who care about growing the heart as much as the head.

In what ministry do you hope to work when you finish at BCSA?
I am not certain, as there is a need for gospel workers everywhere. However, planting churches where they are needed has a particular drawing for me.

What is one thing you are learning at the moment that is particularly insightful?
Old Testament Foundations is providing great insight regarding the total narrative of Scripture. It gives particular insight into the ministry of Jesus Christ through the lens of the nation of Israel and the establishment of the New Covenant for all people.

• Please pray for our students as they near the end of studies for another year, that they will diligently complete all that is required of them at this time. Pray also for our graduating students, that they will continue to draw from all that they have learnt during their time here for many years to come.

• Please pray for our faculty that they will successfully finish well in their classes for this year. That as they teach in these final few weeks of semester, they would do so with great vigour and wisdom, to thoroughly equip our students, especially those who are graduating.

• We give great thanks for all our new and continuing partners for the College, who faithfully support us each month through their giving and with their prayers. Please pray for God to continue to build this group and that our work would continue strongly for many more years to come.

• Please pray for our sister schools Melbourne School of Theology and its principal Tim Meyers, and Presbyterian Theological College and its principal Peter Hastie, as they prepare students for gospel ministry within Victoria, and the Presbyterian church.

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