Thank You Alan
By Anthony Brammall
Alan has worn many hats at SMBC. As well as being the senior lecturer in New Testament, he has been the only papyrologist on staff – and a world-respected one at that. He has managed the growing New Testament team of lecturers, facilitating both their professional growth and their happy cohesion as a New Testament team.
He has also served the many other AUT colleges in his years as the biblical languages moderator. As the faculty’s representative to the library, he has skilfully advised the librarians and monitored and guided this indispensable tool of the college.
With his formal training and experience in teaching, Alan has worked conscientiously to build his own pedagogy and encourage others likewise. Often with his wife Wendy alongside, he has contributed so much pastoral and gospel wisdom to students and staff alike. At lunch times, you can rely on Alan to be generous with his time, his listening ear, and conversation.
Alan has brought a rich and thoughtful mixture of teaching, missions and pastoral experience to his tasks at SMBC. Whether in faculty discussions or his own teaching areas, he has always brought a winsome combination of cutting-edge modernity and tried and true ‘old ways’ to his work. He’s the oldest among us, but he’s always been open to new ideas!
And, of course, he is truly an academic. His hard-won PhD, completed through the University of New England, is a wonderful example of Alan’s painstaking and methodical approach to life, faith and study. He is thorough in scholarship and in lecture preparation, in a way that spurs us all on to do the same.
“Alan has brought a rich and thoughtful mixture of teaching, missions and pastoral experience to his tasks at SMBC.”
Thank you, Alan, for serving the Lord Jesus and us so lovingly and generously, and for so long. Thanks for your quirkily dry humour, and your disarming, one-sided crinkle-of-the-mouth smile that indicates a submerged joke waiting to rise to the surface.
Thanks for your attention to detail in so many areas – especially your indefatigable quest for correct grammar and spelling, even if you have terrified many a student with your red pen comments on essays and exams.
Thanks for being prepared and willing to help and advise and serve, going the extra mile even in the midst of great busyness. And thank you above all for drawing us always to the trustworthy biblical text, to the cross, and the urgency to keep proclaiming the gospel that saves.
Reflections on a Long Journey
By Alan Mugridge
It started in late 1992, when our family returned to Australia after several years teaching at St Philipp’s Theological College in Kongwa, Tanzania. The position of Lecturer in New Testament came up at SMBC, and I was accepted and began work in January 1993, alongside Principal David Cook and his small team.
What a journey it has been! There’s been so much that has changed. The number of students has increased, the number of faculty members and other staff has grown and changed, the new library and lecture rooms were built, student accommodation has been expanded and modernised, the number of courses has multiplied, and many courses are now offered in hybrid mode. I can hardly remember all the ways that things have changed.
And yet, there are lots of ways that things are still the same, and I’m grateful to the Lord for that. SMBC maintains a firm doctrinal basis founded on the Scriptures and the core truths of the Christian faith. Students continue to come from a variety of backgrounds – in their work and life experience, their church affiliation, their married or single status, their educational qualifications, and in a host of other ways. But they all come with a desire to serve the Lord Jesus and his people, as well as reaching out with the gospel to a world of people who are in dire need of forgiveness, hope and eternal life.
That’s why the SMBC graduation service is such an enormous cause to praise God and give thanks for his work in the students. It’s the best evening of the year for me, because this is what SMBC is here for – to send out all kinds of people into all sorts of ministries and in a range of places, or even just to return to the workforce. They come to go! And they go better prepared to serve the Lord wherever they are, living Christian lives and testifying to the gospel in their words in an increasingly needy and uncertain world.
“That’s why the SMBC graduation service is such an enormous cause to praise God… It’s the best evening of the year for me, because this is what SMBC is here for – to send out all kinds of people into all sorts into ministries”
Occasionally, past students visit the college. Some are grandparents! Some have struggled in a hostile environment. Some have quietly borne witness to Christ in a secular society or a society with a very different religious outlook. Some have found life enormously fulfilling, but for many, it has not all been a bed of roses.
Yet, many press on in Christian faith and continue to bear witness to Christ wherever they are. I know of some who are in aged-care homes and still praying for and witnessing to those around them and further away.
I know of others in regional areas around Australia who are pastors of churches or just engaging with the people in their local communities. I know of some engaged in Bible translation in Australia and other countries, and those are very long-term projects. Others are actively working as pastors and evangelists, bringing the gospel to young and old, and they keep on keeping on!
Some are in large towns or cities, and others are in tiny villages. They are scattered around the world. I don’t know how many students have passed through SMBC in my time here, but I thank God for all of them, even the ones who have struggled with their faith or made unwise life decisions.
I pray that the Lord Jesus will draw and keep all of them close to him, and enable them to persevere in faith, as they run the race looking to Jesus, “the author and perfecter of our faith”, until they stand before the Son of Man and hear his words, “Well done, good and faithful servant . . . Enter into the joy of your Master.”
SMBC has played an important part in preparing men and women for Christian life and service for a hundred and ten years, and I have been privileged to be a part of that for thirty-three of those years. I trust and pray that SMBC will continue to serve the Lord in this way.
Words of Appreciation from Alan’s Colleagues
As I think back across the 17 years I have known Alan, two words immediately spring to mind. The first is “scholar”. Whenever I come across some knotty issue in the Greek NT or LXX, I wonder, “What would Alan make of this?” His attention to detail and careful scholarship have always impressed. The second word is “gentleman”. His grace, gentleness, and calm demeanour have been constant. The blending of those two characteristics has been a real blessing to those who have studied at college during his long tenure.
– Geoff Harper, SMBC Director of Research, Lecturer in Old Testament
Over the years, I have asked for Alan’s advice a number of times when marking student assessments – especially for those tricky cases of a borderline fail. Given Alan’s experience as a moderator, his reputation for being a straight shooter with a keen eye for detail, and his renowned liberal use of red ink on essays, each time I came expecting an opinion on the harsher, more critical side of the scale.
To my surprise, it was always the opposite! I would always come away struck by Alan’s desire to consider a student’s circumstances, to grant the benefit of the doubt, and to extend grace – sometimes far beyond what I would have done!
It’s probably true that ruthless marking can be an act of love. However, Alan’s gracious, “benefit of the doubt” approach is for me a glimpse into his many decades of loving and caring for students and is a role model for us all.
– Janson Condren, SMBC Head of Old Testament
As my teacher, Alan taught me not to accept an argument just because it is a good thought, nor simply because it has been published. Any interesting idea we posited would result in his reply, “That would need to be checked.” I’m sure this careful refrain has saved me and countless others from many days wandering foolish paths.
As a colleague, I will miss having access to Alan’s extensive knowledge and experience. Alan’s love for and knowledge of original manuscripts is a huge loss to the college, which is irreplaceable. I will also miss his open door and willingness for a chat and a laugh. I will miss the twinkle in his eye.
– Anna Brotherson, Lecturer in New Testament Greek
A couple of things that stick out for me are Alan’s willingness to help wherever needed – always willing to answer any questions about Greek and even do extra marking (last year he helped a lot with marking when we were a bit understaffed). His willingness to do that shows his servant-heartedness. Saw that in lots of different ways.
His sense of humour was something to behold. Such a dry sense of humour, that was often easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention.
– Matt Vander Heiden, Lecturer in New Testament
Alan Mugridge is the gold standard. If you can impress Alan, you should pop the champagne, the hard work is done! Alan honours the hard work – he looks for those who show care for God’s Word. Because care in handling God’s Word is care for God’s people.
I’ve never met anyone as humble about his own abilities. The man understands textual criticism. Some of us avoid it like the plague, but Alan has courage!
He is also wildly funny, if you pay attention. You won’t hear it in the volume of his voice or by him doing an impersonation – just a dawning realisation – he’s being sarcastic. It is the best kind of humour, the stuff that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
– Mark Stephens, Lecturer in New Testament
I’m delighted to represent the New Testament team to express our gratitude to Alan for his gracious, faithful, sacrificial service for us and the college for so many years as he transitions to new areas and ways of serving the Lord and his people.
Part of the reason why I’m delighted to do this is because theologically we do this as a way to give thanks to God for Alan and for Wendy. A lifetime of Christlike faithful service, theologically, is evidence of God’s grace and the work of his Holy Spirit in and through Alan for the benefit of God’s people. So we thank Alan and Wendy, and we give thanks to God for you both, and we will miss seeing you around here!
– Alan Thompson, Head of New Testament
