Scotch College

Jesus in our suburbs

Graham Bradbeer

At the recent 21st Melbourne Prayer Breakfast, over 1000 participants gathered to pray for our city.

Their civic concerns would have gladdened the heart of James Forbes. Following the establishment of several primary schools, his crowning educational achievement was a senior school, a ‘Melbourne Academy’, for teaching ‘the higher branches of science and literature, and in which young men might pursue their preparatory studies, with a view to the service of Christian ministry’.

His school came into existence in 1851, and from 1855 it was known as the Scotch College. For Forbes, the needs of the infant colony would be met by people committed to a Christian vision of service; service to God by service in the community. How relevant to the modern Melbourne is such an old vision? The recent elections suggest our community’s Christian foundations are being revisited.

Margaret Court, Guest Speaker at the Melbourne Prayer Breakfast, achieved fame as the winner of 64 major tennis tournament victories, including 11 Australian Opens, five US Opens, five French and three Wimbledon singles titles. To date no other player, man or woman, has exceeded her record. While ranked number 1 in the world she became aware of a void in her own life. It was in 1975, busy as a wife and mother that she gave her heart to Christ. Later she trained for Christian service. Today she is pastor of a church in suburban Perth. Her congregation, Victory Life Centre, offers numerous services in the community, and has a weekly attendance in excess of 1300 people.

The connection between Christian perceptions and community values has come into prominence in this year’s elections. Jim Wallace of the Australian Christian Lobby explained the way in which the Christian vote was misjudged by the parties in the lead-up to the election. The Federal Treasurer spoke at Hillsong in Sydney but the Leader of the opposition declined. Wallace claimed it was the presence of grass roots Christianity in marginal seats from Sydney to Perth which influenced the election outcome, but this was poorly understood by Labor.

Curiously, there were real Labor gains in the electorate of Kevin Rudd, who declared at a previous Melbourne Prayer Breakfast: ‘I make no apology for the fact that I am a Christian. I came to faith 25 years ago and it was a mature, considered, adult decision. But I am still as failed and as flawed as the rest of humanity,’ he added, ‘so being a Christian is a continuing personal and professional challenge.’

Gerald Henderson has drawn attention to how poorly understood by journalists and commentators the ‘Christian revival’ has been. Henderson observes that experienced commentators like Kerry O’Brien and Tony Jones chose to be distinctly partisan in their interviews, setting up Christians as ‘the convenient targets of scorn’ in a way that they would not have done to leaders of other faiths.

About the same time, Rachael Kohn (Spirit of Things ABC Radio National) interviewed Nikki Gemmell, outed author of The Bride Stripped Bare, to uncover her newfound Christian faith. The Wollongong author, now resident in London, says, ‘I’m not someone who’s grown up strongly with the church, I’m someone who found it later in life, in my 30s’. Gemmell speaks warmly of her involvement in her Notting Hill church, with her husband and children, where she ‘revels in the sermons’. She admits to having no friends in Australia who are regular church-goers. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the church-goers are out there.

At the Melbourne Prayer Breakfast, Marina Prior was the guest singer. She sang, Be Thou My Vision, a song she loves to sing as a lullaby to her baby. We were as deeply moved by her singing as we were impressed by Margaret Court’s service – ‘What an impressive lady!’ Tim Shearer commented.

Many Scotch readers in their 30s discover, like Margaret Court, Marina Prior, Kevin Rudd and Nikki Gemmell, that the Christ of the suburban churches speaks precious things to today’s Melbourne. Join us to pray that this School and its people maintain that vison. Scotch Prayer Breakfast Friday 18 March, 7.15am.

Graham Bradbeer
Chaplain