Australian Lutheran College (ALC) has engaged three experienced practitioners to teach in its higher education program.
Dr Tania Nelson, the LCA’s executive officer for local mission, and Ms Sue Westhorp, a clinical pastoral educator, will be teaching units in ALC’s new practical-based Diploma in Ministry. Dr Tim Stringer, who is pastor of Victoria’s Greensborough Parish and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Biblical Preaching, will be teaching the unit Preaching the Word.
‘We are confident that students enrolling in ALC’s new Diploma in Ministry will be greatly blessed by the personal experiences these skilled practitioners in ministry bring to their teaching’, said ALC Principal James Winderlich.
‘While God’s word has not changed, the context in which our graduates are serving has changed and will continue to change. Our new ways of teaching at ALC demonstrate how we are responding to our church’s changing training needs.’
Tania agreed that understanding context is critical to effective mission and ministry. ‘With God’s mission as a foundational concept in their ministry journey, the students are well-placed to contextualise their learning where God has placed them’, she said.
‘As St Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”. That’s contextualisation 101! My prayer is that the students bring Jesus into all they do. That’s how we all contribute to the wider church.’
James said the Diploma in Ministry offers the ideal foundational training for people exploring God’s call towards vocations in local mission, chaplaincy and those seeking to one day be ordained for the pastoral ministry. ‘And remember that you don’t need to relocate to Adelaide for this or any other ALC program. We are wherever you are.’
Read more about ALC changes, the Diploma in Ministry and the new casual academics at www.lca.org.au/alc-welcomes-new-teachers
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