Whitley College

02/06/2026

We extend our sincere gratitude to Professor Phillip Batterham as he concludes his term on Council.

Phil has served Whitley with remarkable dedication, wisdom, and generosity. A Whitley alumnus and Honorary Professor Emeritus in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne, Phil has brought academic excellence, thoughtful insight, humility, and faithful support to the College’s governance and flourishing.

Phil’s connection with Whitley began through pastors at his church who studied here. Their preaching consistently challenged him to think deeply and engage afresh with familiar biblical texts.

Phil’s second line of connection came when he was appointed chair of the University of Melbourne / Melbourne College of Divinity during the years when the University of Divinity was coming into being, after which he was invited to join Whitley Council.

More recently, Phil and his wife began taking Whitley courses as audit students. Reflecting on the experience, Phil shared:

“I started my tertiary education in 1973, so I have had 53 years in the sector. Across those years, I have never been in the room with better teachers than I have encountered at Whitley. They unfailingly cause students to deeply think, read widely and reflect. I now see how my Pastors have been able to enrich my understanding of our faith.”

It has been an absolute privilege to have Phil serve on Whitley Council. We offer him our heartfelt thanks for his wisdom, encouragement and steadfast support, and we are delighted that he will remain part of the Whitley community as a student and attendee at College events.

02/06/2026

Whitley College's Dr Titus S. Olorunnisola and Whitley Principal Associate Professor Darrell Jackson are inviting scholars and practitioners to contribute to a forthcoming Springer Nature volume:
Migration and Religion in Australia and the Pacific - An Interdisciplinary Perspective.

Building on Whitley's 2024 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium, this collection will explore how migration and religion shape identity, belonging, politics, and social change across Australia and the Pacific.

Submissions are welcomed on a range of themes, including climate change and migration, religious diversity, interfaith relations, migrant wellbeing, intercultural dialogue, diaspora communities, and more.

Abstract submissions close 31 July 2026.

If your research or practice engages with migration, religion, culture, or social change, we encourage you to consider contributing.

For enquiries or to submit an abstract, contact:
[email protected]

Read more here: https://bit.ly/4fUcabg

29/05/2026

We warmly invite you to an engaging lecture by Dr Julia Rhyder on War Commemoration from Exodus to Maccabees.

Dr Rhyder is a Hebrew Bible scholar specialising in ritual texts and the history of Israelite religion, and is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations at Harvard University.

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2026
10:30 am - 1.00 pm
PILGRIM COLLEGE, College Cres, Parkville

This is a free, face-to-face event, hosted by the Fellowship for Biblical Studies in partnership with Pilgrim Theological College and Whitley College.

Please RSVP to [email protected] by Friday, June 26, 2026 to secure your attendance.

For further details please contact Associate Professor Sean Winter: [email protected]

We look forward to welcoming you.

26/05/2026

Today we gathered for our final chapel of Semester 1. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to the staff and students who helped lead the service. We are also grateful to Rev Jason Goroncy for bringing such a thoughtful message.

Drawing on the words of the Apostle Paul and French philosopher Simone Weil, Jason invited us to reflect on the treasure we carry, which is God – visible through our cracks and brokenness.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

“When an apprentice gets hurt, or complains of being tired, the workmen and peasants have this fine expression: "It is the trade entering his body." Each time that we have some pain to go through, we can say to ourselves quite truly that it is the universe, the order and beauty of the world, and the obedience of God that are entering our body.” (Simone Weil)

You can hear more from Jason next semester by joining his class, “Who Is Jesus?”

Our Semester 2 timetable is now available. Visit our website to discover the units on offer and join us for another semester of learning, conversation and community:
https://www.whitley.edu.au/current-students/timetable/

26/05/2026

The Baptist Union of Victoria’s 2025 Annual Report is now available.

We’re grateful to be part of a movement committed to faithful ministry, theological formation, and local and global engagement.

2025 was a year of significant growth for Whitley College, with expanded online access, increased enrolments, new international partnerships, and deeper engagement with Baptist churches across Australia and beyond.

We encourage you to visit page 39 of the report to see Whitley's 2025 highlights and impact.

Some highlights from 2025 include:
- 14% enrolment growth compared with 2024
- 58 graduates and 5 PhD completions
- 75+ CALD students across programs
- 64% of units offered online
- $35K+ committed to scholarships and fee support
- New international partnerships in Thailand, Germany, and Samoa
- 80+ leadership engagements with Baptist churches

Read the full BUV Annual Report here:
buv.com.au/2025annualreport/

2 0 2 5 A N N U A L R E P O R T

The BUV Support Hub is happy to announce the release of our 2025 Annual Report.
To find out what we, our agencies and affiliates have been up to go to buv.com.au/2025annualreport/

21/05/2026

In March this year, Whitley College welcomed Professor Douglas Campbell for his public lecture, 'The Desire to Punish: Incarceration, Justice, and the Church’s Crisis of Accountability'.

The lecture explored justice, accountability, incarceration, and restorative practice within the life of the church and wider society.

We are now pleased to share two resources from the event:

- Professor Campbell’s lecture paper, The Desire to Punish.
- A restorative practices resource guide featuring recommended reading, training opportunities, and networks for further engagement.

We hope these resources encourage ongoing reflection, conversation, and faithful engagement within churches and communities.

Visit the website to read more and access the resources: https://www.whitley.edu.au/continuing-the-conversation-desire-to-punish-by-professor-douglas-campbell/

21/05/2026

Members of Faculty, Honorary Researchers and other members of the Whitley research community gathered last week to celebrate the launch of a recent book, share current research plans and projects, and learn from our 2026 Visiting Scholar Dr Nuam Hatzaw.

We were delighted to share in an international book launch for Chinese Christian Witness: Identity, Creativity, Transmission, and Poetics, edited by a team that includes Dr Xiaoli Yang, a Whitley and University of Divinity Honorary Research Fellow. As our conversation made clear, there are more books by Whitley researchers in the pipeline on topics as varied as the Bible and Gender, Baptist Churches and Indigenous Communities, Exodus and Biblical Law, Virtue and Evolutionary Psychology, Trauma and the Resurrection, Death and Immortality, and Reading Paul Then and Now.

Dr Hatsaw’s seminar on ‘Ethnic Minority Christians and Belonging’ helped us to think about the way that faith and the church help people to navigate the need for ‘flexible belonging’ in multicultural societies.
Research@Whitley: Faithful, Contextual, Global

21/05/2026

We are delighted to let you know about a new publication from Whitley’s Associate Professor, Rev Jason Goroncy:

‘Capitalist Virtue Ethics Unmasked: A Case Study of “Success” and Harm in Australia’s Finance Sector.’ Zadok Papers 297 (2026): 1–16. (With John Bottomley and Brendan Byrne)

This paper draws on Australian corporate misconduct cases, exploring how ethical concerns are frequently dismissed when weighed against business interests. Harm to stakeholders is rationalised as an acceptable cost of achieving business success and maximising profits.

This essay reanalyses survey data from the Finance Sector Union, collected from bank employees, through a theoretical framework of capitalist virtue ethics - a system that legitimises profit maximisation via three interconnected virtues: the autonomous, sovereign self; the moral valorisation of hard work; and the principle of tempered justice. These virtues form a closed system that subordinates employee welfare to financial objectives.

Through insights from Christian theology, the essay highlights the sector's closed circle of capitalist virtuosity, its culture of death, the undignified treatment of work, and the falsification of the self, raising questions about the mechanisms needed to align truth and justice within the finance sector's practices.

A second recent publication of Jason's is, 'Redeeming History: A Response to Murray Rae's Resurrection and Renewal.' You can find a link to this and other works via Jason's bio on our website:

https://www.whitley.edu.au/people/rev-assoc-professor-jason-goroncy/

Next semester, Jason will be teaching the Thursday morning unit, “Who Is Jesus?” For more information on this class and other course information, contact us!
https://www.whitley.edu.au/contact/

20/05/2026

On Wednesday mornings, students in the classroom are joined by those online for “Exodus and its Afterlives,” taught by Dr Megan Turton. Together, they journey through one of Scripture’s most powerful stories, exploring how its themes of liberation, faith, and community continue to shape our understanding of justice, identity, and belonging today. Along the way, students engage deeply with themes of oppression, exile, migration, wilderness, liberation, conquest, nationhood, holiness, and law.

As a lecturer in Hebrew Bible, Megan has taught Biblical Hebrew and Hebrew Bible subjects at Whitley and various colleges of the University of Divinity since 2016. Her academic journey began in Law and Arts before studies in the Bible and its historical contexts redirected her plans of becoming a lawyer toward biblical scholarship. Retaining her interest in the interrelationship between law, morality, and justice, she completed her PhD through the University of Sydney in 2021, focusing on the character of biblical law. Megan is a passionate advocate for the discipline of biblical studies and its continuing relevance within both religious and non-religious contexts.

20/05/2026

Sharing the stories of our past students and alumni matters deeply at Whitley because these stories speak to the real journey of theological formation - the questions, growth, challenges, calling, and transformation that happen along the way.

Dr Albert Peck’s story is one of perseverance, grassroots ministry, community, and discovering a faith lived out in the realities of everyday life.

“When I began my studies at Whitley College, what I discovered was a faith deeply entrenched in the fray of community life, where evangelism was inseparable from social justice and a sometimes radical call to mission,” Albert reflects.

“At Whitley, I encountered a vision of discipleship shaped by the model of Jesus in the Gospels, where following him became the lens through which decisions, relationships, ministry, and community engagement were filtered.”

From walking into his first Thursday night Church History class carrying uncertainty and self doubt, to completing a PhD and now leading restorative ministry initiatives in the community, Albert’s story is a powerful reminder that theological education is never simply academic - it shapes lives, communities, and ministry.

“If I can do it, anyone can do it. Don’t listen to the mind chatter or to the voices that overshadow you with doubt. Just take the step and begin.”

Read Albert's story here:
https://www.whitley.edu.au/alumni/alumni-stories/dr-albert-peck/