Our Story

A short history of our beginnings by Rev. Duncan McLea

I recall attending a seminar where Bill Hybels was asked, “How do you train leaders?” His reply was simple. “Put a date in your diary.” I did, and we started meeting one Saturday morning a month in January 2016. That was a good start but we soon realised that it would take more than one Saturday morning a month to grow leaders. So, in 2017 we began meeting weekly on Monday mornings with a small group of students who were able to free up that time slot from other commitments to be there.  

We were finding our way and the turn of phrase I often used was, “We are building the plane while we fly it”. We knew where we wanted to go. We wanted to grow pioneering mission-shaped church leaders for our context for now and the future. We wanted to see young emerging leaders some of whom, but not necessarily all, would be called in ordained ministry in the Anglican Church. It was a case of getting the plane off the ground and then figuring out how we were going to get there.

In 2018 I worked initially very closely with Peter Holgate. Peter always had a dream and longing to see St John’s being a training parish that produced missional leaders. He gave his support and encouragement right up to the end of his life. I thank God for Peter who was, true to his name, a real rock of support.

We must also mention Archbishop Thabo who from the beginning was a strong backer and supporter of the SJLA and came to give his input into our students’ formation journey.

With help from Keegan Davids, another key role player in forming the SJLA, we moved to have a more structured three-year program with a well-set-out curriculum based on the praxis cycle and a clearer strategy. At the end of 2020, we saw our first group of students completing the three-year formation program and moving on.

And now in 2023, we can look back at how God has blessed this work and how the vision has become a reality. There are a number of students who have been ordained and are serving in Parishes and others preparing to be ordained or formally testing a call to ordination in the fellowship of Vocation.