News - Ministry of teaching affirmed

Avondale College education students help launch an initiative to reposition teaching as ministry.

Launch affirms ministry of teaching
Cooranbong, New South Wales

An Avondale College initiative to reposition teaching as a ministry launched nationally in Seventh-day Adventist churches on September 15.
The initiative, called “Ministry of Teaching,” includes the following resources: Ministry of Teaching, a website containing teachers’ reflections on the ministry of teaching and pathways to enter it; TEACH, a biannual, online journal of Christian education, published by Avondale Academic Press; and an Adventist education issue of RECORD (September 15 issue).
Affirmation of teachers, the desperate need for more teachers in Christian schools and a desire for Adventist Church administrators to recognise education as a “mainstream” form of evangelism provided the impetus for the initiative.
The dean of the Avondale College’s Faculty of Education, Dr Peter Beamish, who is also the Ministry of Teaching coordinator, speaks passionately about a generation of young adults “wanting to make a significant contribution to the community.”
His message? “Stop! Is God calling you to the ministry of teaching?
“If the answer’s yes, then I’m calling you not to enter the classroom but to enter the ministry.”
Dr Beamish launched the first issue of TEACH, published as a one-off hardcopy, at a luncheon for Avondale staff members and education students on September 17.
Editor Dr Wilf Rieger dedicated the journal to Christian teachers and “to the One who inspires us—Jesus, a teacher sent from God.”
Avondale College president Dr John Cox received the first copy. Vice-president (academic administration) Dr Vivienne Watts had previously challenged the faculty to reach publication levels equivalent to those in a research-intensive university. “This journal has helped you reach that target this year,” she said.
Every teacher in Adventist schools in Australia and New Zealand, and one in every three teachers in Christian schools in Australia, will receive a free copy of TEACH. Avondale is also sending 1600 copies to teachers and schools in the Pacific islands.
Avondale Academic Press will publish the next issue of TEACH in April 2008.—Brenton Stacey