Following are two featured interviews to give insight to reformers theology within the Inner west:
Interview with David Roberts, Pastor and Elder at Stanmore Baptist Church:
Conducted by Montanna House. Written Interview and Spoken Interview
“Before going to the questions we need to define what being “reformed” is because it has a variation of means to different people. During our discussion you indicated that you wanted me to answer the questions using what would probably be seen as a more full meaning of the word being those who would hold to the five points of Calvinism contained in the TULIP acronym:
Total depravity of man
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistable grace
Perseverance of the saints
Each of these theological points above are clearly supported and taught in the Bible. A heart and life application of these truths throw our dependence back onto God for everything rather than ourselves. A truly reformed position also takes the Bible as its final authority for all matters of faith and doctrine and would submit to the authority of the Scriptures in this way as God breathed Word of God for the life and practice. Where there is any question or query in life, action, or church practice what the Bible commands or directs is what is to be followed. God has given the Scriptures to us for this purpose that we might know how He wants us to live and serve him (2Tim 3:16). Being “reformed” should never be seen as being in an “exclusive club or an elite class of Christianity” it is simply a church or a Christian who is seeking to live in accordance with what God has directed in his Word which is what all Christians are ultimately called to do anyway.
The variances in the meaning of being “reformed” and these days evangelical comes about primarily because of the man’s issue with the acceptance how God, in his wisdom, has chosen to save his people and/or how He has called us to live as his people from His Word. This is what effects the doctrine, life and practice in the Christian church. There is no uncertainty with God, the uncertainty and variance in practice comes about due to sin, a lack of understanding, lack of knowledge and/or unwillingness on the part of Christians to follow Him in the way He has commanded us to.
While some Christians may not know of the label of being “reformed” there are many in the wider evangelical church who are faithfully seeking to live effective and fruitful Christian lives serving their Saviour. Some may even hold to all or a number of the five points of Calvanism and therefore hold reformed views but not call themselves strictly “reformed” or know what the term means. As the Christian church in our day moves further away from the clear teaching of Scripture this is unfortunately becoming less common..
In the context of the above mean of being “reformed” let’s look at your questions:
What impact has reformed theology had in the development of Christianity in Australia
Considering:
- Reformed churches in Australia
- Reformed theological colleges and Christian schools in Australia'
- Reformed pastors and theologians in Australia
There is a denomination of Reformed Church of Australia but based on my limited knowledge there would be few in our day that would hold to the theology encompassed in TULIP.
As a church we have broad association and fellowship with a number of Pastors and churches both within Australia and internationally that would hold the truly Calvinistic view. This group is however small and does not hold any great influence in the broader church as a whole. We know several Baptist churches in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane that would hold to this theology from Scripture. There would also be a number of Presbyterian churches that would call themselves Reformed Presbyterian Churches or general Presbyterian Churches that would hold to this theology from Scripture.
I am not aware of any specific Reformed TheologicaLColleges in Australia however the Presbyterian Colleges in Sydney (Christ College) and Melbourne would for the most part teach five point Calvinistic theology. Based on my limited knowledge I am not aware of any others that would teach or promote reformed five point Calvinistic (TULIP) theology in the way we have defined it.
Specific questions:
1. When did Stanmore Baptist church start? What impact did it have on the area and in Sydney?
Stanmore Baptist Church was formed in 1901 from a group of 12 families that were part of Petersham Baptist Church. At the time the Stanmore area was primarily still farm land that was about to be sub-divided and settled for housing for the expanding population of Sydney. There was a desire to plant a new church in this expanding area. The original church was built in 1901 and extended in 1903 due to the growing need for space. The first minister of the church was CJ Tinsley who was called to the church from Spurgeon’s College in London where he was studying at the time. God used and blessed his ministry greatly. He became known as a gifted preacher who had a heart for God, prayer and seeking to save the lost. By 1910 the church had grown from the founding families to a membership of 519, by 1915 there were 550 members. His pastorate at Stanmore was to be his first and last. He ministered there for 44 years and over that time baptised approximately 1,250 people and brought nearly 2,000 into church membership. The church became a centre for teaching, ministry to the community in many forms, including hostels and homes for men, women and children, missions and sending out missionaries all over the world. While I can’t say for sure whether CJ Tinsley was reformed in the way we have defined it there was no doubt he loved Gods Word and loved to teach it, he was a man of prayer and he had a heart to see the lost saved. A quote from him is on my Office wall which says: We must preach or we will perish; we must evangelise or we will fossilise, we must be a missionary force or we will become a mission field.
2. What specific impacts based on reform theology have you personally seen in Stanmore Baptist church or other churches?
When reformed theology is truly embraced it takes our dependence from ourselves and puts it back on God where it belongs. When we understand and accept we are totally depraved and sinful because of the fall, that it is God who truly saves and that once he truly saves us we cannot be lost we have no-one to turn to and depend on but Him. These convictions bring a greater love for God as Saviour, dependence on God’s Word and prayer and turn us to Him as dependence on self has no spiritual or lasting benefit. The Christian life is not one of dependence on self, or trying to make ourselves better in our own strength. It is dependence on God, following His Word, being serious in dealing with sin and killing it in our lives before it spiritually kills us.
In my lifetime Stanmore Baptist came to a Reformed theological position in the mid 1980’s when one of the deacons gave the Pastor at the time a set of the works of John Owen (a puritan writer) to read. In reading these books and measuring the contents against the Bible he came to a truly Calvinistic position and accepted these doctrines as biblical truth. Once this occurred he started to preach the same from the pulpit. When this happened, I observed there was a real separation between those in the congregation who were willing to take God’s Word seriously and apply it to all aspects of life and those who were not. In those who did take God and his Word more seriously I saw a deepening love for God and His Word, prayer, and desire to meet with His people. These observations and consequential changes as a result of the application of biblical truth in people’s hearts and lives has continued since that time and is still the same in the church today.
3. How have you seen the development of Australia change due to reform theology? (i.e. TULIP ideologies impacting Australia)
In my experience reformed theology in Australia does not have a strong voice nor is it widely accepted because this term often brings negative views by many due to lack of true understanding as to what it really is, bad experiences as a result of these doctrine being mis-handled or mis-applied in the past and/or lack of desire to follow the Bible as Gods Word for life for us and rather seek to add or take from the principles for life it gives us.
4. What personal experiences have you had being in Stanmore church and seeing the changes and growth in Reform theology within Australia?
See answer to Question 2
These observations and answers above are by no means comprehensive but hope it is a help and sufficient for what you need for your assignment. If you want to talk about anything further you know you can call.
Regards
David”
Interview with Andrew Deli, Assistant Manager of the Reformers Bookstore and Deacon at Stanmore Baptist Church
1. What specific impacts based on reformed theology have you personally seen in Stanmore Baptist church or other churches?
Stanmore Baptist Church is a reformed confessional church, observing the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. For congregants, visitors and conference attendees, all messages seek to glorify God alone for His marvellous acts in creation, Kingship and the salvation that is found in Christ alone. The church seeks to build up the local body first in love and joyful obedience to God, as well as reach out to the local community and make available faithful teaching from other teachers: local and international, at the primary expense of the church to bless others.
Reformers Bookshop has a narrow range compared to most other Christian book sellers, providing resources that are in keeping with biblical teaching that are adherent to reformed confession. The understanding that as a provider of literature, we are endorsing the teaching of others that, in willingly providing and permitting the acquisition of, we are responsible before God for caring for His flock or, as we seek not to do, lead His people astray with false teaching. The bookshop has expanded to provide helpful resources to the local area as well as Australia and world-wide by digital means.
2. How have you seen the development of Australia change due to reformed theology? (i.e. TULIP ideologies impacting Australia)
Reformed theology has shaped the global church to understand the value of the individual, but also the total depravity of all who are in need of both grace and mercy of a God who extends that as well as his justice. Where at a time individuals were told what to believe, reformed teaching reintroduced the call for all people to read and understand for themselves what is revealed in scripture alone. The enlightenment period followed, and from there many world views emerged. Today in Australia, we especially see reformed teaching enable believers to understand and rejoice with great freedom, but also a society that holds individuality and the pursuit of truth in ways that go against biblical truth, morals and laws. Christian values formed this nation, but are now rejected at almost every level, in a pursuit of depraved living.
3. When did Stanmore Baptist church start? What impact did it have on the area and in Sydney?
Stanmore Baptist Church started back in 1901, on December 12. The church had hundreds of people attend over the early years, with a whole hall dedicated to just the Sunday school, with the space filled with children hearing the gospel. Open-air preaching was conducted in the early 20th century, calling the community to repentance and belief. The leadership and congregants faithfully sought to seek and save the lost: both young and old, both male and female.
Reformers Bookshop was first started in 1983 by Stanmore Baptist Church, with a small reformed range of books, specifically from The Banner of Truth. It provided books to local visitors and provided a printed list of available books for those interested. It’s reach was small, but focused on the expounding of biblical truth through literature.
4. What personal experiences have you had being in Stanmore church and seeing the changes and growth in Reform theology within Australia?
Being part of leading Stanmore Baptist and working as the Assistant Manager at Reformers provides me a wonderful opportunity to see teaching and literature be made available and distributed to those seeking the Lord with humility and great hunger. It is heartbreaking when people reject what is true, but a great joy to faithfully do a work the Lord calls of me and His people - whether fruit is seen or not. I have engaged in some capacity of speaking in the community of gospel truths, as well as in the bookshop for those in need and struggling with their own lives. I get to see, in part, a greater love and appreciation in the individual for reformed doctrine as it teaches God’s word faithfully, while at the same time, others in Australia read or hear yet reject what God says in His word, exchanging that truth for self-interpreted false doctrines of comfortability or lies of those who teach what is wrong. Reformed theology is certainly impacting Australians, but not always in the way it seeks to impact (which is responding in humility with faith, repentance, and great inexpressible joy).
Conducted by Montanna House. Written Interview and Spoken Interview
“Before going to the questions we need to define what being “reformed” is because it has a variation of means to different people. During our discussion you indicated that you wanted me to answer the questions using what would probably be seen as a more full meaning of the word being those who would hold to the five points of Calvinism contained in the TULIP acronym:
Total depravity of man
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistable grace
Perseverance of the saints
Each of these theological points above are clearly supported and taught in the Bible. A heart and life application of these truths throw our dependence back onto God for everything rather than ourselves. A truly reformed position also takes the Bible as its final authority for all matters of faith and doctrine and would submit to the authority of the Scriptures in this way as God breathed Word of God for the life and practice. Where there is any question or query in life, action, or church practice what the Bible commands or directs is what is to be followed. God has given the Scriptures to us for this purpose that we might know how He wants us to live and serve him (2Tim 3:16). Being “reformed” should never be seen as being in an “exclusive club or an elite class of Christianity” it is simply a church or a Christian who is seeking to live in accordance with what God has directed in his Word which is what all Christians are ultimately called to do anyway.
The variances in the meaning of being “reformed” and these days evangelical comes about primarily because of the man’s issue with the acceptance how God, in his wisdom, has chosen to save his people and/or how He has called us to live as his people from His Word. This is what effects the doctrine, life and practice in the Christian church. There is no uncertainty with God, the uncertainty and variance in practice comes about due to sin, a lack of understanding, lack of knowledge and/or unwillingness on the part of Christians to follow Him in the way He has commanded us to.
While some Christians may not know of the label of being “reformed” there are many in the wider evangelical church who are faithfully seeking to live effective and fruitful Christian lives serving their Saviour. Some may even hold to all or a number of the five points of Calvanism and therefore hold reformed views but not call themselves strictly “reformed” or know what the term means. As the Christian church in our day moves further away from the clear teaching of Scripture this is unfortunately becoming less common..
In the context of the above mean of being “reformed” let’s look at your questions:
What impact has reformed theology had in the development of Christianity in Australia
Considering:
- Reformed churches in Australia
- Reformed theological colleges and Christian schools in Australia'
- Reformed pastors and theologians in Australia
There is a denomination of Reformed Church of Australia but based on my limited knowledge there would be few in our day that would hold to the theology encompassed in TULIP.
As a church we have broad association and fellowship with a number of Pastors and churches both within Australia and internationally that would hold the truly Calvinistic view. This group is however small and does not hold any great influence in the broader church as a whole. We know several Baptist churches in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane that would hold to this theology from Scripture. There would also be a number of Presbyterian churches that would call themselves Reformed Presbyterian Churches or general Presbyterian Churches that would hold to this theology from Scripture.
I am not aware of any specific Reformed TheologicaLColleges in Australia however the Presbyterian Colleges in Sydney (Christ College) and Melbourne would for the most part teach five point Calvinistic theology. Based on my limited knowledge I am not aware of any others that would teach or promote reformed five point Calvinistic (TULIP) theology in the way we have defined it.
Specific questions:
1. When did Stanmore Baptist church start? What impact did it have on the area and in Sydney?
Stanmore Baptist Church was formed in 1901 from a group of 12 families that were part of Petersham Baptist Church. At the time the Stanmore area was primarily still farm land that was about to be sub-divided and settled for housing for the expanding population of Sydney. There was a desire to plant a new church in this expanding area. The original church was built in 1901 and extended in 1903 due to the growing need for space. The first minister of the church was CJ Tinsley who was called to the church from Spurgeon’s College in London where he was studying at the time. God used and blessed his ministry greatly. He became known as a gifted preacher who had a heart for God, prayer and seeking to save the lost. By 1910 the church had grown from the founding families to a membership of 519, by 1915 there were 550 members. His pastorate at Stanmore was to be his first and last. He ministered there for 44 years and over that time baptised approximately 1,250 people and brought nearly 2,000 into church membership. The church became a centre for teaching, ministry to the community in many forms, including hostels and homes for men, women and children, missions and sending out missionaries all over the world. While I can’t say for sure whether CJ Tinsley was reformed in the way we have defined it there was no doubt he loved Gods Word and loved to teach it, he was a man of prayer and he had a heart to see the lost saved. A quote from him is on my Office wall which says: We must preach or we will perish; we must evangelise or we will fossilise, we must be a missionary force or we will become a mission field.
2. What specific impacts based on reform theology have you personally seen in Stanmore Baptist church or other churches?
When reformed theology is truly embraced it takes our dependence from ourselves and puts it back on God where it belongs. When we understand and accept we are totally depraved and sinful because of the fall, that it is God who truly saves and that once he truly saves us we cannot be lost we have no-one to turn to and depend on but Him. These convictions bring a greater love for God as Saviour, dependence on God’s Word and prayer and turn us to Him as dependence on self has no spiritual or lasting benefit. The Christian life is not one of dependence on self, or trying to make ourselves better in our own strength. It is dependence on God, following His Word, being serious in dealing with sin and killing it in our lives before it spiritually kills us.
In my lifetime Stanmore Baptist came to a Reformed theological position in the mid 1980’s when one of the deacons gave the Pastor at the time a set of the works of John Owen (a puritan writer) to read. In reading these books and measuring the contents against the Bible he came to a truly Calvinistic position and accepted these doctrines as biblical truth. Once this occurred he started to preach the same from the pulpit. When this happened, I observed there was a real separation between those in the congregation who were willing to take God’s Word seriously and apply it to all aspects of life and those who were not. In those who did take God and his Word more seriously I saw a deepening love for God and His Word, prayer, and desire to meet with His people. These observations and consequential changes as a result of the application of biblical truth in people’s hearts and lives has continued since that time and is still the same in the church today.
3. How have you seen the development of Australia change due to reform theology? (i.e. TULIP ideologies impacting Australia)
In my experience reformed theology in Australia does not have a strong voice nor is it widely accepted because this term often brings negative views by many due to lack of true understanding as to what it really is, bad experiences as a result of these doctrine being mis-handled or mis-applied in the past and/or lack of desire to follow the Bible as Gods Word for life for us and rather seek to add or take from the principles for life it gives us.
4. What personal experiences have you had being in Stanmore church and seeing the changes and growth in Reform theology within Australia?
See answer to Question 2
These observations and answers above are by no means comprehensive but hope it is a help and sufficient for what you need for your assignment. If you want to talk about anything further you know you can call.
Regards
David”
Interview with Andrew Deli, Assistant Manager of the Reformers Bookstore and Deacon at Stanmore Baptist Church
1. What specific impacts based on reformed theology have you personally seen in Stanmore Baptist church or other churches?
Stanmore Baptist Church is a reformed confessional church, observing the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. For congregants, visitors and conference attendees, all messages seek to glorify God alone for His marvellous acts in creation, Kingship and the salvation that is found in Christ alone. The church seeks to build up the local body first in love and joyful obedience to God, as well as reach out to the local community and make available faithful teaching from other teachers: local and international, at the primary expense of the church to bless others.
Reformers Bookshop has a narrow range compared to most other Christian book sellers, providing resources that are in keeping with biblical teaching that are adherent to reformed confession. The understanding that as a provider of literature, we are endorsing the teaching of others that, in willingly providing and permitting the acquisition of, we are responsible before God for caring for His flock or, as we seek not to do, lead His people astray with false teaching. The bookshop has expanded to provide helpful resources to the local area as well as Australia and world-wide by digital means.
2. How have you seen the development of Australia change due to reformed theology? (i.e. TULIP ideologies impacting Australia)
Reformed theology has shaped the global church to understand the value of the individual, but also the total depravity of all who are in need of both grace and mercy of a God who extends that as well as his justice. Where at a time individuals were told what to believe, reformed teaching reintroduced the call for all people to read and understand for themselves what is revealed in scripture alone. The enlightenment period followed, and from there many world views emerged. Today in Australia, we especially see reformed teaching enable believers to understand and rejoice with great freedom, but also a society that holds individuality and the pursuit of truth in ways that go against biblical truth, morals and laws. Christian values formed this nation, but are now rejected at almost every level, in a pursuit of depraved living.
3. When did Stanmore Baptist church start? What impact did it have on the area and in Sydney?
Stanmore Baptist Church started back in 1901, on December 12. The church had hundreds of people attend over the early years, with a whole hall dedicated to just the Sunday school, with the space filled with children hearing the gospel. Open-air preaching was conducted in the early 20th century, calling the community to repentance and belief. The leadership and congregants faithfully sought to seek and save the lost: both young and old, both male and female.
Reformers Bookshop was first started in 1983 by Stanmore Baptist Church, with a small reformed range of books, specifically from The Banner of Truth. It provided books to local visitors and provided a printed list of available books for those interested. It’s reach was small, but focused on the expounding of biblical truth through literature.
4. What personal experiences have you had being in Stanmore church and seeing the changes and growth in Reform theology within Australia?
Being part of leading Stanmore Baptist and working as the Assistant Manager at Reformers provides me a wonderful opportunity to see teaching and literature be made available and distributed to those seeking the Lord with humility and great hunger. It is heartbreaking when people reject what is true, but a great joy to faithfully do a work the Lord calls of me and His people - whether fruit is seen or not. I have engaged in some capacity of speaking in the community of gospel truths, as well as in the bookshop for those in need and struggling with their own lives. I get to see, in part, a greater love and appreciation in the individual for reformed doctrine as it teaches God’s word faithfully, while at the same time, others in Australia read or hear yet reject what God says in His word, exchanging that truth for self-interpreted false doctrines of comfortability or lies of those who teach what is wrong. Reformed theology is certainly impacting Australians, but not always in the way it seeks to impact (which is responding in humility with faith, repentance, and great inexpressible joy).