About Cornhill

Cornhill Australia’s Purpose, Mission and  Vision

Purpose (why we exist): To promote expositional preaching that sharpens people’s minds, warms people’s hearts and changes people’s lives.

Vision (where we are going): To represent the best practice and be a faithful and helpful influence in the training of preachers throughout the wider Sydney evangelical network and beyond.

Mission (how we will get there): Attract and train gospel workers to develop their expositional skills for a range of ministry contexts.

Who are we training?

We train men and women from a wide range of cultures, ages, churches and academic backgrounds, who can set aside a day per week for study and practice.

Our training will benefit anyone with a word ministry, with a firm commitment to the trustworthiness and sufficiency of Scripture, and a willingness to learn and serve.

Our students include:

  • ministry apprentices, prior to theological college
  • those preparing to teach the bible in a range of other contexts (e.g. children’s ministry, youth leaders, small group leaders, lay leaders), but not intending to go to theological college
  • experienced preachers who want to hone their skills
  • lay people preparing for a useful retirement or second-phase of church ministry involvement
  • people preparing for overseas mission service
  • people who are just seeking to know the Bible better and grow in Christian maturity

We hold a complementarian view on the role of men and women in church ministry; we are happy to accept students who do not hold that view but who accept that that is what will be taught and assumed on the course.

Doctrinal Basis

We believe in:

  • the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead
  • the sovereignty of God in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement
  • the divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture as originally given, and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct
  • the universal sinfulness and guilt of human nature since the fall, rendering man subject to God’s wrath and condemnation
  • the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God; his virgin birth and his real and sinless humanity; his death on the cross, his bodily resurrection and his present reign in heaven and earth
  • redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of our representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man
  • justification as God’s act of undeserved mercy, in which the sinner is pardoned all his sins, and accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, this justification being received by faith alone.
  • the need for the Holy Spirit to make the work of Christ effective to the individual sinner, granting him repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ
  • the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all those thus regenerated, producing in them an increasing likeness to Christ in character and behaviour, and empowering them for their witness in the world
  • the one holy universal Church, which is the Body of Christ, and to which all true believers belong
  • the future personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge all men, executing God’s just condemnation on the impenitent and receiving the redeemed to eternal glory.

History

  • Cornhill Australia is based on the pattern of training begun in 1991 by the Proclamation Trust at the Cornhill Training Course in London and now also established in Glasgow and Belfast.
  • In 2007 a group of Sydney ministers began to meet together to consider ways of encouraging better preaching in our churches. They decided to institute a Cornhill-type training course locally, beginning on Monday and Tuesday mornings in 2011.
  • In 2012 Gavin Perkins was appointed as the first Course Director, and was instrumental in planning and implementing the Cornhill work in Sydney.
  • In 2013 a second year of the course was offered for the first time.
  • In 2018 Peter Ryan was appointed as the Course Director.
  • In 2019 the training course moved to one full day per week (Tuesdays).
  • In 2021 we started a second cohort of the course on Thursdays at Rooty Hill, in Sydney’s west, as well as the Tuesday cohort.
  • In 2023 we began Cornhill Distance as a pilot program.
  • In 2024 we began Cornhill Extra

Affiliations and partnerships

  • Cornhill Australia works with MTS to provide an MTS-Cornhill apprenticeship. You can do the Cornhill Australia course either as an MTS-Cornhill apprentice, or as an independent student.
  • Moore Theological College (MTC) kindly provides rooms for us to use.  Cornhill Australia is governed and managed independently from MTC.
  • Cornhill Australia is non-denominational.

Legal entity

Cornhill Australia is a registered business name of Cornhill Sydney Ltd.

Cornhill Sydney Ltd:

  • is a registered company (ABN 15 146 822 442), limited by guarantee
  • is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) (ACN 146 822 442)
  • has four directors: Graham Baikie, Cam Capel, Simon Manchester, David Peterson.

Finances

In 2023 Cornhill Australia’s costs were funded (in round terms) by student fees (70%), cash donations (15%), volunteer time (15%).

If you would like to make a donation to Cornhill Australia, please email info@cornhillaustralia.org.au.