Christ College exists because of God’s mission. We exist because God has acted, is acting and will act to redeem the world and his people. God’s mission is grounded in the eternal commitment of the Father, Son and Spirit to be glorified in the redemption of God’s elect people when the creation itself will share in their freedom and
glory. It was promised and anticipated in the life of Israel and was accomplished in the life, death, resurrection, ascension and reign of the Lord Jesus. What was accomplished in the work of Christ is now being applied to God’s people by the work of the Spirit, as they are brought to life, justified, adopted and renewed. The Spirit works through the message of the gospel given to the church and conveyed authoritatively in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Theological education is based on the reality that God has made himself known and brought his people to know him; its purpose is to strengthen men and women to play their part in the mission to which God has called his church. This mission, always in dependence on God, is firstly to call people to God by the gospel, and secondly to see them matured to serve God both in the church and in the wider culture. Christ College exists to equip and strengthen people to participate in God’s mission to his glory.

Christ College is committed to the Bible-based, Christ-centred theological vision laid out in the Westminster Confession of Faith, read in the light of the Declaratory Statement of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. This theological vision affirms the authority of God’s Word in Scripture, the sovereignty of God in creation, providence and salvation, the centrality of the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection, and the significance of God’s church in his worldwide mission. Flowing from these biblically-rooted Reformed convictions, we are committed to the centrality of ministry of the Word and prayer in the life and mission of the church, to God’s call to his people to live for Christ in all of life, and to a complementarian understanding of relationships between men and women in the church and in the family.

Christ College rejoices in being part of God’s ages-long and world-wide church, and is committed to forming pastoral leaders for God’s church in its various forms, gospel workers for a range of mission ventures in all the world, and faithful Christian leaders equipped to serve the Lord wherever he calls them. As the theological college of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in NSW, Christ College is particularly committed to advancing God’s mission by providing pastoral leaders – ministers, elders and other male and female workers – for that church.

Christ College is committed to providing Christ-centred leadership for God’s church to God’s world.
 
Faculty and Staff
Christ College is committed to recruiting and developing Faculty and Staff who provide outstanding Christian leadership in their areas of expertise. These men and women contribute to God’s mission according to their particular gifts and assignments as:
i. teachers whose ministry in and out of the classroom forms the next generation of Christ-centred and Christlike pastoral leaders for God’s church;
ii. preachers who proclaim God’s grace in Christ in ways that strengthen, equip and transform God’s church;
iii. pastors who personally care for students and their families, discipling them towards maturity in Christ;
iv. researchers who enrich the Church’s understanding of God and his world, and who assert, maintain and defend biblical truth in publications that strengthen the church, equip its leaders, encourage its members, and advance God’s mission in the world;
v. administrators who manage and enhance the College’s programs and material resources.
 
Effective Pastoral Leaders
Christ College is committed to forming effective pastoral leaders for God’s church and its mission in the world. Effective pastoral leaders are those who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, know God in Christ, love God in Christ, know themselves in Christ, preach and teach Christ from the Scriptures, lead God’s church under Christ, and care for people like Christ. They contribute to God’s mission as pastoral leaders in reformed and evangelical churches, and as Christian gospel workers in a range of para-church and mission organisations in Sydney, Australia and the wider world. They make an impact by strengthening existing churches, revitalising struggling churches, and planting new churches that are grounded in God’s Word, centred on the gospel of Christ, characterised by Christian love, and effective in their witness in the world.
 
Faithful Christian Leaders
Christ College is committed to forming faithful Christian leaders for God’s world. Faithful Christian leaders are those who know God in Christ, love God in Christ, know themselves in Christ, bear witness to Christ in word and deed, serve God’s church and world under Christ, and care for people like Christ. They contribute to God’s mission as leaders in the public square, professions, business, industry, trades, the arts, and the home. They make an impact by faithfully serving Christ in the good works to which he has called them, bearing witness to him in word and deed, and effecting change that honours God and blesses others.

Christ College is committed to providing transformative, applied theological education for adult learners.
 
Transformative
We are committed to providing theological education which prayerfully applies God’s Word to students and so enables them, by the work of God’s Spirit, to grow towards maturity in Christ.
 
Applied
Our programs provide students with a robust academic education in the classic theological disciplines of biblical, systematic and practical theology, along with the capacity to integrate them, so that graduates effectively apply their knowledge and skills in the work to which God has called them.
 
Adult learning in community
We are committed to fostering a collaborative approach to teaching and learning which centres on the application of God’s Word to the lives and ministries of students, while building on the expertise and experience that adult learners bring to their education. We recognise that the richest teaching and learning occurs in community, and when it is applied to the realities of Christian life and ministry.

Christ College rejoices that all people are made in God’s image, and that those who belong to Christ are being
remade in that image by the work of God’s Spirit. We delight in the diversity of our student body made up of men and women from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds and at all ages and stages of life. We are committed to training every student for the particular calling God has on their life.

Christ College recognises that God calls his people to manage the people and resources he trusts to their care wisely. We are committed to reviewing every aspect of the College regularly, and to embracing best practice in theological education. We are committed to developing the College’s faculty and staff continually, as well as making the best use of the College’s resources, including our programs, library, and infrastructure, in order to advance the College’s mission.