In June of 2015, about 20 women gathered in London for a meeting to discuss women’s ministries in complementarian contexts around the world. Our hope was to learn from one another and encourage each other in our task.
We heard from women in Australia, South Africa, Europe, UAE, and the USA. Led by the Proclamation Trust, we first met at The Evangelical Ministry Assembly (EMA) and enjoyed excellent teaching and fellowship. Afterwards, we traveled to The Oast House Retreat Center to debrief, discuss, and get to know one another.
It was one of those gatherings that left me wanting to share with others the kingdom work being done by women in a variety of settings. I’ve asked these ladies to tell us a bit about their ministries, so that we can all glean from their wisdom and prayerfully support their labors around the world.
Today, we’ll get a glimpse into the ministry work of Jane Tooher. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and for the past 6.5 years has served on the faculty at Moore Theological College (seminary).
Can you share with us a little about the culture where you live and the work you are doing?
Sydney is for many a very easy place to live – a high standard of living, a wonderful climate, and a growing ethnic mix. The evangelist John Chapman commenting on the obstacles to evangelism in our city said that many Sydney-siders think they’re already in heaven so they don’t think they need God. Although outwardly life for many looks great, of course there are numerous men and women that are deeply discontent who are trying to find contentment in various ways instead of turning in repentance to God and trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, the one in whom we find our true identity and therefore lasting contentment. Church attendance is low, and similarly to what is happening in other Western cultures, Christian values are becoming less tolerated, and openly ridiculed and rejected as un-Australian. 
Against this backdrop is the Sydney Anglican diocese that in God’s mercy has been evangelical and reformed for 200 years. In the light of what is happening in other parts of the Anglican Communion we are very thankful to God that we can say that all of our bishops are Christian: they all believe that the Bible is the word of God, they all believe Jesus is God, they all believe in penal substitutionary atonement, along with other key orthodox doctrines. Given this, it’s not surprising that the vast majority of clergy and ministry workers are happy to identify as conservative evangelicals. The diocese is generally low-church placing great emphasis in the importance of the ministries of the local church. Alongside this (and they feed into each other) is Moore Theological College (seminary), the official training college for clergy and ministry workers, which is 160 years old.
I joined the faculty of Moore in August 2009 where I serve in the Ministry Department, and also do some co-teaching in New Testament and Church History. The main reason I was invited to join the faculty was to begin a women’s centre. The more I thought about what this would look like, the more I thought that although the centre will focus on the encouragement of Biblically appropriate ministries for women, men need to have ownership of it as well. I wanted it to be truly complementarian rather than a centre that was completely separate to men. That I thought would be better for the spread of the gospel, better for the church, better for women, and better for men.
Therefore I thought it was important that the name of the centre communicated the partnership men and women can have in ministry, and so we ended up calling it The Priscilla & Aquila Centre (P&A). When we look at the references to Priscilla & Aquila in the New Testament we see a couple involved in a variety of ministries, whose character is testament to God’s Spirit at work in them (e.g. Acts 18:2-3, 18-19; Rom 16:3-5; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19). Although they are a married couple, their example is applicable to other men and women working together in ministry to a certain extent.
One of the official values of Moore College is gender complementarity and so P&A assumes a position of complementarianism. My idea for the centre was that we needed to do a lot more serious and creative thinking about the application end of complementarianism. In the Sydney diocese we’d spent a lot of time exegeting particular passages pertinent to the ministries of men and women. Although that always needs to continue as we’re always being taught by God’s word, I felt we could do more serious and creative thinking on the application end of complementarianism. P&A is not primarily polemical or political. They have their place. Rather it assumes a complementarian position and is positive about the many and various ways that can look like in the ministries of women in partnership with men.
What are some of the challenges of your ministry at Moore College? What are some of the joys?
Most of the challenges of ministry are definitely a result of my own sin! Like other seminaries, one particular challenge is that we only have students for a certain amount of time, and so people come and go and relationships are not often as deep as I would like. But on the flipside of seeing so many leave each year, is also one of the great joys as we see our female and male graduates take the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. It is a great joy also to see the different men and women God brings to Moore and how he has worked in them: their different gifting, personalities, backgrounds, and the various ministries they’re involved in and want to be involved in. It is also a great joy to be part of a faculty who work extremely well together and are greatly served by our principal Mark Thompson. One of the other joys of serving at Moore is the emphasis that is placed on learning within community, so not just in the lecture room but in chapel, over morning tea and lunch, chaplaincy groups and the like. Moore is also a residential college and so most of our students live at some stage on campus and we learn a lot from each other informally by being neighbors, and I have definitely been blessed by the students (and faculty) who live near me. It also means it is easy to have people in my home so it is great to be able to host a chaplaincy group and a student prayer group that prays for gospel work in the UK.
In what ways have you seen the Lord at work?
Countless, but I think one that really stands out and gives me much joy is that I have seen men and women over their time at college less likely to give way to fear. They have become confident to do gospel work in places or in a particular role they previously wouldn’t of thought was for them. This is often because of the conversations and the modeling of other students help create what was previously abnormal for them, something normal. So e.g. they once didn’t think indigenous mission work was for them and now they are making plans to do ministry with Aboriginal people, or e.g. the idea of being in a role where you need to raise your own funds was terrifying for them but now they are embracing that to reach university students for Christ.
How have you been encouraged or supported in your ministry by pastors and elders?
I’ve been, and still continue to be, enormously encouraged and supported by each of the bosses I’ve had: Mark Thompson, his predecessor John Woodhouse, and the three senior pastors I had when I was serving in parish ministry in Sydney and London, Phillip Jensen, Phil Wheeler and Marcus Nodder. Their encouragement and support has happened primarily by their prayers and through their teaching of God’s word to me, their godly examples, the way they relate to their families and others, the priorities they have, their commitment to the word of God and their understanding of how good God’s word is. Their understanding that complementarianism is not just right but it’s also good, and so they desire to keep thinking and talking through complementarianism with me for the benefit of the building up of the church and the spread of the gospel.
For those reading this today, what are two specific ways we can pray for your work?
I would very much appreciate prayer for wisdom in knowing how best to direct the P&A Centre.
Please pray that Moore College always remains true to God’s word, and that the staff, students, and faculty grow in our love for God and that we grow to be more like Jesus, and that we glorify God in all that we seek to do at college.
