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Phillip Jensen

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Phillip Jensen is an Australian clergyman of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral. He is the brother of Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.

Education and ministry

Jensen studied theology at Moore Theological College and won the Hey Sharp prize for coming first in the Licenciate of Theology (ThL), the standard course of study at that time, a year after his brother Peter won it. Jensen became Anglican chaplain to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 1975 and Rector of St Matthias, Centennial Park, in 1977. Jensen could be described as deeply conservative in his Calvinist theology yet radical and iconoclastic in his ministry style.[citation needed]

Basing his university ministry around expository preaching and "walk-up evangelism", Jensen and his "Campus Bible Study" revolutionised student ministry. The result was a large number of conversions, large student gatherings at UNSW and the growth of St Matthias' Church from a group of 20–30 in 1977 to well over 1000 by the mid 1990s. Forthright, sometimes brusque, Jensen gained many supporters and detractors.

Jensen's work at UNSW included the creation of the Ministry Training Strategy (MTS) which took willing young men and women and trained them in practical ministry skills, preparing them for church ministry, ordained or otherwise. Other initiatives included the establishment of the ministry's media arm, Matthias Media.

It was the strong growth of the MTS strategy in other universities and churches throughout the 1980s and 1990s that saw student numbers at Moore Theological College grow from around 150 in 1985 to over 400 in 2004. Many of these graduates are now rectors of Anglican churches in Sydney and leaders in many evangelical churches throughout Sydney and the world. He also authored the Two Ways To Live gospel tract and founded The Briefing, a sometimes polemical magazine that mixes conservative Evangelical and Calvinistic theology with intellectual rigour in a uniquely Australian style which continues to be championed by Tony Payne and Gordon Cheng. He has also been involved in the establishment of some independent evangelical churches and facilitated links between them and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney.

In 2003 the Chapter of St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney appointed Jensen as Dean of Sydney. His appointment brought accusations of nepotism on the grounds that Jensen's brother, the newly elected Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, was a member of the Cathedral Chapter responsible for his election. Peter Jensen, however, did not take part in the final secret ballot to appoint his brother as dean.

Views

Jensen has spoken publicly against secularism, syncretism, intellectual relativism, gambling, same-sex relationships and Roman Catholicism.[1] He is also an opponent of ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate within the Anglican Church of Australia. He has been criticised in the secular media.[2]

It is now widely recognised that Jensen has been influential in shaping Anglican Church League policy. He and a number of other influential Sydney Anglicans have promoted lay administration of the Lord's Supper and offered opinions on the future structure and functioning of the Anglican Communion in the light of the ordination of practising homosexuals to the episcopacy.

Jensen's attitude to traditional Anglican styles of cathedral worship has drawn criticism, especially from defenders of classical sacred music such as the Tallis Scholars' director, Peter Phillips, who accused him of "vandalising" Anglican culture.[3] Jensen has defended his changes in the cathedral's style of worship on the grounds of attempting to broaden the demographic of the congregation. Phillip Jensen, like most Sydney Anglican clergy, has discarded use of the cassock, scarf and surplice but, idiosyncratically, has revived use of the Geneva gown. Choral Evensong on Sunday evenings has been replaced with "The Bible Talks" (renamed City Night Church in 2009) and a more contemporary style of gathering. Jensen has stated that the cathedral choir continues to play an active role in the life of the cathedral, though others point out that its opportunities for performance have been much diminished, a conflict which led to the departure of the previous music director, Michael Deasey.[4] The St Andrew's Cathedral School's Girls' Vocal Ensemble has, for the first time, been allowed a regular opportunity to sing in the cathedral, however, this has been changed recently. The liturgy in St Andrew's Cathedral has undergone considerable change since Jensen's appointment as dean, though according to him and his supporters it remains grounded in the theological outlook of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 with its emphasis on the confession of sin and salvation solely through the merits of Christ.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ ABC Radio National The Religion Report 12 March 2003 cf. Go to external link
  2. ^ Anglican Media Sydney, 19 October 2004 Dean Jensen Challenges SMH Inaccuracies cf. Go to external link
  3. ^ ABC PM, 30 January 2008 Archbishop of Sydney 'vandalising' Anglican culture Go to external link
  4. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February 2008 Discord rages in music war Go to external link
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