Faculty

Prior to SMBC:

Richard studied medicine at the University of Sydney (1982-1986) before working as a doctor in the Wollongong Hospital system. He was a missionary and church planter in the Middle East and Bulgaria (1989-2001) and then took up the role as International Director for Equipping and Advance with WEC International (2002-2009), which involved providing missionary teams with on-the-job training. Richard was a visiting lecturer at Worldview College of Intercultural Studies (2005-2008) and at SMBC (2007-2008) before taking up the role of Director of the SMBC Centre for Cross-Cultural Mission in 2009.

Publications and Research:

• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2019. 'Defining Culturally Appropriate Leadership.' Missiology: An International Review 47(3): 240-251.
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2019. 'Helping New Believers Deal with Unseen Powers.' Evangelical Missions Quarterly 55(4): 22-24.
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2019. 'Nurturing Vitality through Appropriate Structure: A Challenge for Ecclesial Movements.' International Journal for Frontier Missions 36(3): 119-127.
• Hibbert, Evelyn, and Richard Hibbert. 2018. Walking Together on the Jesus Road: Discipling in Intercultural Contexts. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. (Available for purchase from the SMBC online store)
• ​Hibbert, Richard, Evelyn Hibbert, and Geoff Harper. 2017.'The Role of Divine Healing in Cross-Cultural Ministry.' Evangelical Review of Theology 41 (2017): 339–54.
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2017. 'Managing Conflict in a Multicultural Team.' Evangelical Missions Quarterly 53(3):18-23.
• Hibbert, Evelyn, and Richard Hibbert. 2016. Training Missionaries: Principles and Possibilities. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. (Available for purchase from the SMBC online store)
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2016. 'Diagnosing church health across cultures: A case study of Turkish Roma (Millet) churches." Missiology: An International Review 44(3): 243-256.
• ​Hibbert, Richard, Evelyn Hibbert, and Tim Silberman. 2015. 'The journey towards long-term missionary service: How Australian missionaries are being called and choose mission agencies.' Missiology: An International Review
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2015. 'Negotiating identity: Extending and applying Alan Tippett’s model of conversion.' Missiology: An International Review 43(1): 59-72.
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2014. 'Assessing the need for better integration in theological education: proposals, progress, and possibilities from the medical education model.' In Learning and Teaching Theology: Some Ways Ahead, ed. James Harrison and Les Ball, 107-117. Northcote, Vic: Morning Star Publishing.
• Hibbert, Richard, and Evelyn Hibbert. 2014. 'Nurturing missionary learning communities.' In Transforming Teaching for Mission: Educational Theory and Practice: The 2014 Proceedings of the Association of Professors of Missions, ed. Robert Danielson and William Hartley, 268-287. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits Press.
• Hibbert, Evelyn, and Richard Hibbert. 2014. Leading Multicultural Teams. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. (Available for purchase from the SMBC online store)
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2014. 'Contextualising sin for cross-cultural evangelism.' Missiology: An International Review 42(3):309-321
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2013. 'Why do they leave? An ethnographic investigation of defection from Turkish-speaking Roma churches in Bulgaria.' Missiology: An International Review 41(3): 315-328
• Hibbert, Evelyn and Richard Hibbert. 2013. 'It is time? How to know when to leave the field.' Evangelical Missions Quarterly 49(3): 264-271
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2012. 'Missionary facilitation of new movements to Christ: A study of 19th century and early 20th century China'. International Journal of Frontier Mission 29(4): 189-195
• Hibbert, Richard. 2010 'Why do people leave churches?' Landscape (October)
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2010 'Conversion and defection among Roma (Gypsies) in Bulgaria' (part 1) East-West Church and Ministry Report 18(3): 8-11
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2010 'Conversion and defection among Roma (Gypsies) in Bulgaria' (part 2) East-West Church and Ministry Report 18(4): 9-12
• Hibbert, Richard Y.  2010 'Toward an understanding of Turkish worldview.' Missiology: An International Review 38(3): 309-320
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2009 'The place of church planting in mission: Towards a theological framework.' Evangelical Review of Theology 33(4): 316-331
• Hibbert, Richard Y. 2008 'Defilement and cleansing: A possible approach to Christian encounter with Muslims.' Missiology: An International Review 36(3): 344-55

Speaking Ministry:

• Leading cross-cultural church planting training workshops for church planting teams
• Speaking at missions conferences

Academic Interests:

Cross-cultural church planting, the contextualisation of the gospel and church planting, teaching, learning, and the development of leaders across cultures.

Personal:

Richard is married to Evelyn and they have two grown-up children and one grandchild. They are members of Links House Church, Auburn. Richard enjoys walking in mountains and spending time with friends from many cultural backgrounds.

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