Meet Matt
Matt Sparks studied at SMBC while preparing to be Lead Pastor at Anchor Church Sydney.
“One of the things I really valued about SMBC was the flexibility… I think I did every single mode of study – full-time, part-time, intensives. It was great for me because it allowed for me to fit my study around my ministry commitments, and allowed me to put my learning into immediate application.”
“The city of Sydney is vastly post-Christian, people’s world view is very different to where we sat, and SMBC prepared me really well for that. I sat in lectures with lecturers who had been on the field, practitioners doing misison work, church planting work in a cross-cultural context, and peer students who were also going overseas to do the same thing. And that DNA embedded itself in me, and prepared me very well to be doing church planting right here in Sydney, and helped me think in our context just like a missionary.”
Meet Mel
Mel and her husband came to SMBC with a background in vetinary and animal science, with an open mind to where God is leading them.
“When we looked into SMBC, we were so taken by their mission focus, and how they deliberately cater their degrees and course and the way they teach their subjects to be thinking about training people, contextualising the gospel, for where people might go in the future…. we loved the intentionalality of that.”
“Another wonderful enjoyable thing about SMBC is their emphasis on spiritual transformation – that what we are learning academically about God shouldn’t just stay in our heads but move to our heart and our hands as we go out and share the Gospel.”
Meet Andrew
Andrew studied the Master of Divinity, and travelled from Perth to SMBC to pursue full time ministry.
“I love the community with students… our family feels so blessed, not just me, but my wife and my two kids.”
“I’ve loved the learning… as I’ve wrestled with [the tensions in the Bible] that’s been really helpful having a systemic framework in theology and guidelines to know what lines up with Bible.”
“The skills that the college has equipped me with, preaching for example… learning a skill set, a methodology, and then practicing that in a safe loving environment has been really helpful for me.”
Meet Emma
Emma and her husband are from Newcastle. Emma is a trained GP and her husband works at church.
“My dad went to Bible college, and then went back to secular work… but said that going to college was one of the best things he’d ever done.”
“I’ve been loving it being here, it’s been so good. Learning more about the Bible, learning about how to share the Bible, and learning in community has been so good.”
“Being able to read the Bible in it’s original languages and getting just a bit extra depth of understanding really has been a joyous experience, and I’ve also enjoyed clarifying my thoughts on various aspects of Christian doctrine.”
“I know that what I’m learning here at college is going to be of help for whatever I do with church and also for my own relationship with God.”
Meet Brian
Brian studied a Master of Divinity. After a few years in ministry apprenticeship, Brian came to SMBC to get trained for full time ministry.
“When I looked around SMBC seemed like a really good fit for me… one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about being at college has been the humility and the great character of the lecturers who pray for you and they care about you, it’s so unique, what a privilege it is to be with people who are not just teaching you the things that they know you but also caring about you spiritually as a person as well.”
“It’s been a really great place that has equipped me to handle God’s Word better.”
Meet Kim
Kim travelled to SMBC from Ireland, to be equipped and trained for full time ministry.
“I’ve been learning so much. I’ve just loved being immersed in God’s Word… and having my mind stretched in a way that it never has been before.”
“It’s such a privilege to be able to spend this time and really looking at God’s Word and learning from it.”
“I’ve seen the way that it’s been preparing me for ministry… I did a church planting module… it got me thinking about the church and how it works, especially discipleship.”
Meet Sam
Sam came from a background in University Ministry, and studied at SMBC with his wife, and exploring full time ministry.
“We came along to SMBC, loved the community, found it to be a very genuine place to visit.”
“Ali my wife did the Graduate Diploma and I’m in the second year now of my Master of Divinity, and we love studying together so much – being able to make friends together and also be part of such a supportive community was such a fantastic thing.”