mgpcpastor's blog

Even though his term of service does not commence until September 2013, the Presbyterian Pulse have given us this feature interview (by Karen Thornton) with David Cook, moderator-general nominate for the 2013 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

“THE THIEF COMES ONLY TO STEAL AND KILL AND DESTROY; I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL.”
JOHN 10:10
Despite recently “retiring” from his paid job after 26 years heading up Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC), Presbyterian minister-without-a-charge Rev David Cook hadn’t given a moment’s thought to actually stopping work – or, for that matter, returning to pastoral ministry where he started out four decades ago.
Rather, Mr Cook, who finished up at the college last October, got straight into the business of rolling out his next season of the kind of ministry he feels God is calling him to do – spending six months of the year based in Sydney, where he lives with his Presbyterian Aged Care casual nurse wife Maxine and is a part time pastoral assistant at the Chinese Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Surry Hills; and the rest of the time mostly overseas, in itinerant ministry. His “retirement” began with four months in London.
Attached to the Malaysian School of Preaching, Mr Cook will spend time at Christchurch School of Preaching (in New Zealand), is involved with the Pioneers Mission Organisation, RBC (Radio Bible Class) Ministries based in Michigan in America and during the next year will be preaching in Adelaide, Melbourne and New Zealand. As well, every couple of years he spends a few months in the United Kingdom attached to St Helen’s Bishopsgate in London.
It was with this itinerant lifestyle in mind that he and Maxine chose their low maintenance, secure apartment in Drummoyne which they moved into in January – “we needed to be able to lock up and leave”. He certainly wasn’t expecting to be asked for his approval for a nomination for the role of Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia for a three year term beginning in 2013!
“Technically as far as the Presbyterian Church goes, I am a minister without charge and eligible for a call from a church seeking a minister, but I don’t want one,” he says over a cup of tea at home the day before a week-long dash to Malaysia for a conference. “The reason I am working at CPC is because the minister David Tsai invited me. He is an old friend. We studied at Moore College together and it is nice that we are spending these active years together in ministry. My job spec is to do exactly as he asks me to do, which means I preach most Sundays I am there.”
When asked last year if he would be willing for his name to go forward for the role of Moderator General, Mr Cook saw that it could fit into his ministry and his ideals and said ‘yes’.
“I want to continue my ministry doing what I do at CPC and other itinerant ministries, but this will mean I will have some responsibilities in the
denomination,”he said.“Everywhere I go I want to be a person who encourages faithful gospel ministry in local ministry. Every occasion I get to represent the Church I want to take it up. I will be preaching and teaching the Gospel. I want to encourage people in ministry who will promote the Gospel. Romans 1:16-17….the Gospel is the power of God and through faith in His son we need to be preaching Christ as the source of the true humanity…the abundant life which God promises is lived in Jesus and we need to come to faith in Him.”
Will he be a Moderator General outspoken on big issues,like same sex marriage,euthanasia,abortion and the like? “I hope in the three years I will be appointed for I can encourage Biblical preaching and the pastoring of the people of God. As you do that, that will feed all those other things,” he answers.
“I have been working outside the denomination for 26 years, but if something is laid on me I think well, I can in that office promote the interests of Christ, so that’s what I will do. I think the Moderator General is a position that really you are the chairman of the Assembly, but can be influential for doing good…..so I won’t be hesitant to promote the interest of the Gospel. John 10:10 is where I want to start before I talk about any of the issues.”
Mr Cook was born 65 years ago into a “loving but non-Christian family” at Crown St Women’s Hospital– ironically opposite CPC where he now works. In 1962 his father announced he had become a Christian, so the whole family followed him to church. Mr Cook, however, didn’t become a Christian himself until July 1967 after first really hearing the Gospel from then Beacon Hill Presbyterian Minister Keith McPhail and then attending a PFA youth fellowship camp where “I heard Jesus was Lord and has the right to be my Lord. I had been running my own life and had no right to. My life was changed at a quarter to 11 in the morning. I was changed. I knew that I had lost control of my life.”
At the time, Mr Cook was working at the Reserve Bank of Australia but after becoming a Christian and realizing he didn’t know his Bible, decided to go to SMBC. There he met his wife to be, who had just finished studying midwifery and had entered her first year of Bible College.They married in 1971 and Mr Cook decided to further his studies at Moore College in 1973 as an independent candidate for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.
The couple welcomed their first daughter Elisa, that year, followed by Joanna then Ashleigh, then son Ben, then son Luke. The family’s first ministry appointment was country Wee Waa, where they spent six years until God – and the Ashfield congregation back in Sydney called.
“I think the old system of sending you out to the country for your first ministry was a good one. In the country you learn to pastor people. The expectation is that you will be more involved in people’s lives and I believe that is very important for all ministers today. I owe a great debt to the Wee Waa congregation.
“I remember an old minister telling me, they will either have your feet or your head when you enter your first church _ your feet in visitation or your head in preparation. But I maintain you must give them both. The great lack I see these days, but not in our church at CPC, is the pastoral visitation of
people. I think it’s absolutely essential. I have always been dedicated to spending my mornings in the study and afternoons out with the people. I maintain if I am going to preach and apply the Word to scratch your itch, I need to be with you, to know what’s happening in your life. That mega church style of the talking head doesn’t sit well with me.”
Mr Cook said while he recognised ministers of very large churches were time poor, he believed the answer was in spending disciplined time in visiting.“My average week in Wee Waa and Ashfield was to visit the hospital two afternoons a week, do general pastoral visits one afternoon a week,other visits one afternoon a week, and spend the rest of the time in sermon preparation.“
During his time at Ashfield Presbyterian, Mr Cook was a member of the board of SMBC and principal selection committee. Somehow, when it became difficult to find the right person for the job, the committee turned the tables on him and offered it to him and he never looked back.
“Having a pastor as head of college is good,” he said.“We had 80-90 students then….by the time I left the number had grown and the campus had doubled. I think the secret of the growth was that it was something God did. I was determined it should not be a college, but more of a church. Students need to be pastored by their churches… we had no faculty common room and all the lecturers spent their time with the students in the dining room.
“I think it is vital to have that access. If I am your pastor and you don’t think you have access to me, then what sort of relationship do we have? If as principal I don’t know everyone’s name, then the college is too big.
“I think the unique thing about SMBC – and I am sure the culture will remain intact with (new principal, another Presbyterian minister Rev Stuart Coulton) is that we see ourselves as a Christian training institute in the context of a close community.You have to have a strong community for training people for ministry…”
As to this new season of ministry, Mr Cook reiterates that “I may be retired from SMBC, but I am not retired. If I said I was retired, my wife would come in,” he says with a wry smile. “We plan to continue our ministry as long as God gives us the health …for now we can move around and do this sort of thing so that is what we shall do. And I look forward to my appointment as Moderator General. John 10:10.”