Harry Lam’s Journey Towards Ordination

Harry Lam currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his wife Shirley and their four kids aged seven, five, three and one. While he admits that working towards ordination during this season of life is “a little bit crazy,” he really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Harry’s parents are Chinese and they both grew up in Cambodia before moving to Sydney, which is where he grew up. While Harry’s mum would take him to church occasionally, he wouldn’t say he grew up in a Christian home where he was taught the gospel. It wasn’t until Harry was a teenager that he started to read the Bible for himself and began choosing to go to church each week. While this was happening, Harry began to grow in his understanding of all that God has done for him through Jesus.

According to Harry, the real catalyst for spiritual growth was when he started university and joined the Christian group on campus. Harry joined the AFES group Credo while studying a combined Law degree at UTS. The impact of the Credo ministry was significant for Harry — so much so that he ended up as a ministry apprentice with the same AFES group after he graduated.

At that time, Harry partially viewed his apprenticeship as a form of training for cross-cultural mission work. He had spent a year on exchange in Japan, which opened his eyes to the real need for gospel workers there. The next step was to get further equipped, so after two years on campus with Credo, Harry headed to SMBC. During his two years of study there, he was directed to Christ College.

“It was actually a missionary from Japan who encouraged us to do some denominational training,” Harry explains. “He said, ‘You need to get your convictions straight first. The cross-cultural mission training is great, but it’s also good to really be firm on your convictions, and a denominational college would be really helpful for that.’”

Harry wasn’t easily convinced. He says he held out initially, but after much prayer and discussion with Shirley, he eventually agreed it would be a good idea — so he enrolled at Christ College.

“It was probably one of the best decisions we made, to be honest,” Harry reflects. “I think it was really helpful for us to be really firm on our convictions.”

As it turned out, Harry’s original plan to head overseas for cross-cultural mission didn’t end up working out as expected. The mission agency didn’t say no, but they did suggest Harry and Shirley work out a number of things first. That prompted them to start asking questions about how they could best serve the Lord together.

While studying part-time at Christ College and also working as an AFES staff worker, Harry’s Bible College training helped him see the real value of church ministry.

“As much as I loved the uni student ministry, I realised that it was such a short period of time in people’s lives,” Harry shares. “I discovered that I really wanted to utilise my gifts in a church setting.”

So at the start of 2023 Harry officially started working towards ordination part-time. He resigned from AFES at the start of 2024, and he’s taken on a part-time pastoral assistant role at Kingsway Church. To say life is busy would be an understatement, but Harry is deeply grateful for the opportunities he has.

In Harry’s opinion, one of the biggest strengths of Christ College is its staff.

“They are just amazing,” he says. “The way they teach really is theology well-applied into all of life. I know that’s the tagline — Christ for all of life — but it’s done in a way that it’s really sharpened up my theology, and also applies it very well into all aspects of life, which is what I found I was really lacking.”

Harry has loved the community, too. He hasn’t found it difficult to get connected despite the fact he’s studying part-time. He would say that’s partially because it’s a smaller college, but also partially because all the students are on the same page.

“The kind of people you’re surrounded by makes a big difference, and Christ College is full of people who are very convicted of where they want to be,” Harry says.

When asked, Harry says he would encourage anyone contemplating theological study to consider Christ College. Whether someone is looking into church ministry or even global mission, Harry says it is “beneficial for all contexts of ministry.”

As for himself, Harry expects to be ordained at the end of 2025, God-willing. He and Shirley are looking forward to seeing how God can use them in church-based ministry in a full-time capacity.