Welcome to Moore in the Word, a podcast of Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, that seeks to glorify God through biblically sound, thought-provoking, and challenging talks and interviews. In this episode, Archie Poulos, Head of Ministry and Director for the Centre for Ministry Development at Moore Theological College, interviews Dave Morgan, Team Leader of Athletes in Action in the South Island of New Zealand.
Archie interviews Dave about his ministry journey since graduating from Moore College in 2005. Dave talks a little bit about his experience of studying at Moore, having not previously completed a university degree. He explains how his training at Moore equipped him for serving at the University of New England in Armidale. He recalls what it was like to minister to the people of Christchurch in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
And he tells us about his current role and why he's passionate about working with athletes. We hope you find the episode helpful. I'm Archie Poulos and I've had the privilege of being in the ministry department at Moore College more than 20 years, and it's my joy today to interview David Morgan who Um, I started and you had your final year here at College or the last couple of years at College.
Yeah. And a lot's happened since and so I'm really keen to hear from you about what's been happening, what you're dreaming of. So when was your last year here at College, David? Finished up in 2005, which. As you said, you've been here 20 years. I was like, Oh my goodness. That was a long time ago. And so as a freshly minted graduate of the College, where did you go? My wife and I, we, and we had two young kids at the time we moved up to Armidale. So we worked at St. Mark's UNA.
So kind of a unique setting. Uh, it's a church which owns its own land in the middle of the university. So it's both university ministry and church based ministry. Ah, so can you tell us any stories about that? We loved our time, like, loved it. It was a healthy staff team. Um, we had a lot of fun, but yeah, lovely to see people become Christians, grow in Christ. But UNE also, uh, functioned as kind of the hub of the region.
So we had opportunities to serve at UNE and you may preach at church, but then as, other ministers around the place when on leave, you'd also be able to cover a number of the rural parishes. So, uh, many opportunities, um, great staff team, lots of MTS trainees. Um, yeah, it's lovely to see looking back on how God has been at work and where they're all placed now. And yeah, we had a great time. That's a lot going on for you in 2006. Uh, how did College prepare you for all of that?
That's so diverse. I was very nervous coming to College, uh, I hadn't done a degree prior, so I was one of those small percentage. Um, and I think probably the best analogy I had of, of College was, it's like medicine, not going to taste nice on the way down, but it's good for you. I was nervous coming, um, but wanted to embrace. I remember, um, Robert Doyle interviewed me and I was talking about being apprehensive. And he basically said, don't limit yourself. Come in, grow, learn.
Yes, ask for help, engage with other students, but you have no idea how God may use you and equip you for his service. You may be teaching overseas. I was like, I'm never lucky to do a degree, let alone a master's, or he said, don't limit yourself now, get involved and embrace the languages. And so I think my experience, it was certainly the toughest thing that I've done. And, um, certainly my time at College, I look back with such fond memories. It has shaped the way I read the Bible.
It's, uh, provided relationships that have been a great source of encouragement, stimulation to keep learning. I think that was generated at College. I could go on for a long time. Loved it. So to follow the Robert Doyle line, uh, that he gave you as you came in, what was something unexpected and exciting? that you can recount from those days up at UNE in St. Mark's? Unexpected.
I think, uh, in my first couple of weeks, uh, there was a combined youth conference and I was like, wow, it'd be great to see that. Oh, you're speaking at it. Okay, great. Uh, I need more information. And yeah, so from the region, they gathered together a youth conference. Um, I normally would have been terrified, uh, because I think it was five talks that I had to give. Yet through my time at College, I felt.
Equipped to actually, you know, do a better than average job, um, and actually, yeah, engage with whole range of kids. And, yeah, that was something that if very early on when. Actually, I'm equipped to do this. Can I explore something with you? Yeah, sure. One of the things I love about the Armidale Diocese is the way that everybody works to help everybody else. Has that helped you in the rest of your ministry over the last 18 years or so? Yeah, absolutely.
So some of the things that we really enjoyed there was, um, the connections not just in the staff team, but across different ministry centers and individuals who are isolated. How can we bring them in? Um, there was a particular guy, uh, Rich Newton, who was the TAS chaplain. And we used to do a ministry meeting every Tuesday night, which was go mountain biking together.
Uh, we'd mountain bike up a hill for an hour, uh, often in the ice, but it was the conversations on the way there, on the way back. Checking in on what's important in regards to caring for our family and ministry opportunities and challenges and teasing that through and that doing life together, um, was a great highlight. How long were you in Armidale for? I think it was four years we were there. Why on earth would you leave then? It just sounds like there's so many opportunities.
Yeah. We loved it. Um, the problem was that I was a New Zealander and yeah, that's a problem and, and going through College, um, we had a more College mission to Christchurch and, um, we have lots of family throughout New Zealand and, uh, liberalism is growing huge and, uh, there was a massive need for Bible teaching throughout New Zealand. And, uh, that was weighing heavy on us. Um, and so when we went to Armidale was an intentional step of further being equipped.
I knew I'd had the theological education here, but I wanted to be in a support environment under a leader that I trusted who, uh, could actually help me and model to me what it looks like to apply those tools that I learned at College in ministry situations, so that I'd be equipped. for long term gospel ministry in Christchurch. Yeah, it's very, very wise. So you got on a plane, took your, how many children by this stage? Uh, that stage we had 3. 9 something kids.
So our youngest son was actually born just after we arrived. Okay. And what did you go back to Christchurch to do? So there was liberalism and so you decided to work in a church. Is that what you did? So, um, during more College mission, we came and worked with a evangelical church. in the heart of Christchurch, St. John's Latimer Square. And I was, uh, invited to come and join that ministry team. It was a growing church.
I think there was 130 kids under 13 at the time, 550 regulars on a church over a number of different locations. Uh, they were under resourced. Uh, I was invited to join that team. Yeah. Okay. So tell us the story of your time then at Latimer Square. A strange time in the fact that, uh, the two senior guys above me, um, both. In a very short period of time, went on a long service leave and then resigned. So I went from being the third minister to then being priest in charge.
Uh, so I started, um, 1st of June and then 4th of September was the first earthquake. So the next 18 months were interesting times. Can you remind us about the earthquake? Because we're on the other side of the Tasman and some of us have forgotten it. Yeah, so 2010, there was a 7. 2 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch, uh, a number of homes were destroyed, um, but no lives were lost. So we had major aftershocks after that.
And then, um, in February the following year, 22, uh, I think it's 185 people were killed. As more earthquakes went off and we're a church right in the heart of the city and part of my role for a time was chaplain of Latham Square, when the international youth use that time. So the urban search and rescue teams were in there pulling bodies out and helping on some of those sites. And it was a crazy time. There was a historical church there, a church building.
We didn't have any emotional ties to that building when many people in the church had the parents were married there, they were married there, and in God's providence, to be there leading a church and not being emotionally attached was probably a helpful thing, but there was also 12 families with their houses destroyed, um, whole bunch of people who saw things they wish they never saw, and as a church
being so limited as a staff team, it was, Um, lovely to actually stand up before a church who's grieving and large number of church go. This is a big step up for me. But guess what? That's a big step up for you too. Like as a church, we need to be caring for each other, looking after each other. And it was a time where, um, lay leadership really stepped up. Yeah, it was lovely in hindsight, looking back how God was at work, kindly caring for his people.
Yeah. Yeah. One of the things that helped my prayers was seeing a photo of one of the staff of St John's standing on an excavator. Pete Collier. Yeah, Pete Collier. Yeah. On the digger. Yeah. Preaching to people there. Because everybody must have been in turmoil and, uh, lost and wondering why and what does the future hold? Is there another quake coming? And passages, one Peter, in Inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. And you know, where our hope is found. All of a sudden.
You know, we know they're true, but there's like a deeper gravity. This is only six or seven years after you'd finished College. If somebody had said, this is what's going to be going on for Dave Morgan, what would have you said, you know, at the end of 2005, you know? Yeah, you'd never put your hand up for it. There's, um, lots of things that we learnt through that time that were so invaluable. I am thankful that we've gone through it. And have learnt through that process.
I think there's any trial or hardship, you don't like it at the time, but it's good for you. It is the extremities, isn't it, that often God uses. I know that here at the College we speak to our students about, uh, it's great that you get Bible and theology and we must keep doing that and doing it as well as we can. We do want people to leave here who are humble, courageous. wise and see the gravity of what God's called us to. And it sounds like that's exactly what you needed.
Two things that helped was, um, trying to care for my wife and my wife to care for me. You try to be kind of the rock for the other person. But what we learned was that's actually wrong. The Lord is our rock. He's our safe place. There's the rock. There's the rock. For our kids, uh, we had to apologize to our kids. We, we taught our kids in the earthquakes. We've gone through the worst. That was, we've had the earthquake. These are just aftershocks. And then a number of months later.
There's a bigger one and 185 people are killed, including, um, people that our kids know. And they go, hang on, such and such as mum, they were Christian, they died in the earthquakes. How do we know that you, you know, mum or dad won't die? Kids ask amazing questions and they put their finger on the button and to be able to chat to the kids and go, you know what, we've got it wrong. Sorry, but we're stuffed up. This is where our hope is found, not in science.
And yeah, that's sort of lessons we look back and super are thankful for. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. How long did you spend at St John's? We I planted a church in 2012. So we're there from end of 2008. Planted a church, did you just wake up one day and think, I've had enough, I'm out of here? No, no, no. So I was priest in charge. And so that means that you're running the church until a new vicar is established in the crossship system.
And so, uh, once Costa was appointed as the, the new minister, then we were talking and the options were, um, do we work together long term because I think you'll get frustrated under me. You can clearly run a church or do we plant. And so then the question was, how do we plant that will allow gospel ministry to occur? Can you take us through how you thought that out? How we thought it out was, I'm always a little slow on the uptake. uptake.
And so we had a number of people kind of agitating, uh, in our local area. I was teaching Bible in schools in the local school. We had four kids at that school. Um, there was a number of Christians locally who were like, would love to have a church in a local area. Um, we started, uh, an evaluation process, kind of doing a 360 degree review of our ministry. Um, how best do we serve? That was the question we're asking.
And through that process and, and talking to people who know us well, who've been involved in ministry with us. And then, you know, do we plant at that stage to leave a push? And so we're assessed through that. Um, and that was a very helpful mechanism just to think through how best do we serve? Here's an opportunity. Christchurch had changed. Uh, it was no longer, we didn't have a city center that was very much pushed into the suburbs. In our area, how do we reach these people?
15, 000 people that were within a 15 minute walk of this school that we're at. We're hearing that you have the heart of an evangelist, which is what is necessary, isn't it? Yeah. There was a number of things that were, uh, really refreshing. Um, we had a whole bunch of people who'd come along who'd never been to church before, a whole bunch of people who, uh, were giving it a go again. So they may have not been at church for 10, 20 years, uh, and because of that, Um, there was, uh, an honesty.
And so we had Bible study groups and people, their questions were real questions as they're grappling with the Bible, their, uh, prayer points, um, you know, what things are we struggling with? And they were open and honest. There was none of this, I'm fine, I don't need prayer this week. I had a good week, next. Do you think that was provoked by all that Christchurch had gone through? Or do you think that's true all the time? There was the shock of the first earthquake.
And then there was a pride because in the 7. 2 earthquake, there was no fatalities. Christchurch is staunch, stand tall, you know, we saw it written all over the place. And so, uh, there wasn't people turning to God. Yet, fast forward. Over the next couple of years, earthquake after earthquake after earthquake and fatalities, there was a lot more of, God, what is happening? And there was, uh, an openness, um, for a period of time.
The people that came and were inquiring and became Christians were, you know, clearly people that God had been involved in their life, poking them, drawing them to himself. Now, how long were you pastoring this plaid? Uh, we were running that church for 10 years. COVID was tough, which it was for, yeah, everywhere. Kylie and I do a, a big review. We do one every five years, then every 10 years. And the question we ask is, um, how best can we serve the Lord? and everything's open.
Do we continue here? And there was opportunities to continue, and that would have been great. Um, or is this an opportunity to look elsewhere? We can serve where our kids at, what responsibilities do we have in the place where God has placed us here and now, how is the best way to serve? That's a real missionary way of thinking. Yeah. Marry a missionary kid. That's what you get. Yeah. That's good.
So obviously in 2022, you made a change and I can see something on your shirt that no one else can see. And it says athletes in action. Is that just a piece of merchandise that you picked up at the airport or? No. So, um, before I went to College, I studied health fitness sports training. And part of that role was working with, uh, a number of elite athletes.
And so I'd had background working with athletes, and so running churches, uh, always had a soft, soft side for the athletes in our midst, because I kind of got some of the unique challenges that face them, um, and sometimes, uh, it's hard for athletes to be connected to a local church when their work means that they're away so often. New Zealand kind of functions as the capital of the Pacific Islands. And we've got many Pacific Island athletes who are coming to New Zealand for sport.
This is a big opportunity. Many of them, uh, have a faith, and as they grow in their trust and knowledge of Jesus, as they head back to the islands, I want to see them equipped, uh, they will, because of their position, because of their sport, be natural leaders in their communities, but I want to see them as natural leaders, but with the gospel. I'm assuming that not many of us know anything about Athletes in Action, so here's your chance to, to sell it to us. What does it exist for?
What are, what are the goals of it? Athletes in Action, uh, is in 96 countries, so it's a big ministry. It has its history, uh, with. Campus Crusade for Christ, so Lee Strobel. So it's a intentional evangelistic discipleship ministry. Athletes in Action is not a church. We work to support and connect with local churches. And so as I meet up with athletes, I want to make sure they're connected to a Bible teaching church.
I want to see that in Bible studies, their professional life is often really short. We want to see them grounded for their entirety. If you could dream of what God might do with you and through you and in this ministry, what would you like five years time to be? Yeah, there's more and more hubs being set up, sporting hubs. So there's new, a stadium is, uh, forming at the moment. But it's not just a stadium.
In the stadium, there's function centers, meeting centers, other gospel opportunities here. We've had a number of teams, um, kind of contact us. And so I'm running some Bible studies for some, uh, teams, um, which is exciting. Some professional. Sporting teams. Sporting teams. Yep. So rugby, super rugby teams, um, women's teams. In the past, they've been kind of little prayer times.
Now, they've been going, okay, we want to be in God's word and needing someone to come and teach and disciple these athletes. And so in this professional space, more and more have opened up. The other two big changes are Lincoln Uni and Canterbury have invested heavily in sport. So what that means is, uh, high performance sport is now, um, coming into the university space. So New Zealand cricket has a hub at Lincoln University. There's a new sports coaching degree.
And so there's these kind of hubs that are being set up. What might it look like to actually have equipped Christians to be able to disciple and teach in those places is really exciting to think about. Also, um, as the climate is changing across Australia, there's a number of conversations about what might it look like to replicate or to grow the ministry. And to reach athletes across Australia as well.
What you're speaking about is using the circumstances that God has given that his name be glorified everywhere. Our situation at the moment is there is way too much ministry. I'm the only one in the South Island. My job is to, uh, set up Athletes in Action. We spent, uh, three days, uh, during the O Weeks at Canterbury Uni, two days there, one day in Lincoln.
And we had 70 athletes, high performance athletes, 46 said they're Christian and they're struggling and they would love to meet up with other athletes to encourage each other in our faith. And then there was 24 other athletes who said, I'm Christian ish. I'm Christian, but I don't actually know what I believe. But I'm keen to meet up with someone to explore that further. That's 70 people who are keen to be discipled followed up and I'm like, it's just me.
Yeah. We're long for 70 people who walk into our churches like that. So there's scope for people who have a, you know, a heart for a particular sport. There, there's also some opportunities there. You come through College without having done a prior degree, you take, you take the medicine as Robert Doyle suggested to you, and look how, where God has placed you, uh, university church ministry, church planting, rebuilding after the earthquake, uh, another church, another church plant, uh, now.
Um, athletes in action, uh, so many great opportunities and doors that the Lord opens, aren't there? Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. And lovely to connect with, um, You know, people who you went through College with and see their stories and where they are now. Yeah. Heaps of opportunity. Oh, it's been great to have you with us.
Thank you for giving us the time and also encouraging our hearts as you tell us what's going on and also some of the ways that the Lord has moulded you through all of these days. Thanks very much, David Morgan. No problem. Thank you for listening to Moore in the Word, a podcast of Moore Theological College. Our vision as a College is to see God glorified by men and women living for and proclaiming Jesus Christ, growing healthy churches, and reaching the lost.
This interview is just one of many from the College's 100 Ministry Stories Project. For more than 160 years, Moore Theological College has been sending men and women into a wide range of ministries in Sydney, every state of Australia, and almost every continent in the world. 100 Ministry Stories helps us to remember and praise God for the work that he has been doing in the world in our times. Remembering what God has done in our lives helps us respond to our world in steadfast hope.
It is our prayer that as you hear how the Lord is at work, you will be encouraged in your faith and built up in joyful assurance. Find out more on our website. That's moore.edu.au/100. If you are a graduate and keen to contribute to the 100 Ministry Stories Project, we would love to hear from you. Get in contact with the Communications Team to express your interest or find out more. You can email us at comms@moore. edu.au. That's comms@moore.edu.au.
You can find out more and register for any of our events by visiting the Moore College website. That's moore.edu.au. If you have not already done so, we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast through your favourite podcast platform so that you'll never miss an episode. For past episodes, further resources, and to make a tax deductible donation to support the work of the College and its mission, please visit our website at moore. edu.
au. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend and leave a review on your platform of choice. We always benefit from feedback from our listeners, so if you'd like to get in touch, you can email us at comms@moore. edu. au. The Moore in the Word podcast was edited and produced by me, Karen Beilharz, and the Communications Team at Moore Theological College. The music for our podcast was provided by MarkJuly from Pixabay. Until next time.