When the teacher gets taught by the student … Bob Thomas, who is so good at being a Presbyterian that he’s been Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, had a lot to learn about being a reformed minister.
Rev Dr Greg Goswell retires as Lecturer in Old Testament at Christ College, Sydney, at the end of 2024. The college held a farewell dinner on 24 October, marking his significant contribution to the Presbyterian Church as a missionary, parish minister, and lecturer for over 43 years. It was a lovely, laugh-filled, leisurely occasion, which also sparked some of my own memories of Greg.
As a prelude to all his other ministries, Greg studied at Moore College, where he was a head student in 1980. In 1978-79 Greg served as my assistant at Bexley-Rockdale when he undertook Field Education Service.
When we first met I saw at once that here was a keen, eager, earnest and willing young man who one day soon would start to fulfil the ordination vow: ‘Are zeal for the glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ and the desire to save souls your great motives and chief inducements to the work of the holy ministry?’ From that first day until now, Greg has not only fulfilled that vow, but has set an example for me – and others – to try to follow.
During the two years of our ‘striving together for the sake of the Gospel,’ Greg spent the Lord’s Day and every Tuesday afternoon with us in Bexley-Rockdale, taking part in all the services, pastoral visiting and door knocking, doing all with ease and humble Calvinistic flair. He could quickly establish rapport with people and deftly lead on from pleasantries to the serious business of talking about the Lord. Mostly, I would hold back, thinking, ‘if he’s this good now, what will he be like in a few years’ time?’
On one celebrated occasion, I’d been preaching a series of sermons on ‘Attributes of God in the Prophecy of Isaiah’. The series finished, I handed over to Greg, who opened his first sermon with the announcement that he had enjoyed the series, but ‘Mr Thomas might have also preached on the attribute, ‘The Missionary God.’ Fortunately for me, it was only Mrs Rhoda, one of our more acute members, who picked up on it.
But there was one particular way in which Greg taught me, the teacher. Once the work of the day was done, we’d adjourn to the study to go over it and pray. And Greg would tell me about what he had learned at Moore College the previous week. I had been a victim of the liberalism peddled at the so-called ‘United’ so-called ‘Faculty’ of so-called ‘Theology’. Although I was well and truly cleansed of that by the time Greg came along, I still needed a more nuanced understanding and application of the Reformed Faith, now so precious to me. Greg gave me that.
So when Principal Ian Smith turned to me at the dinner and asked when Greg had done FES with me, I said, ‘I was Greg’s assistant in 1979,80’, causing a ripple of laughter. But I was serious about that. I’m glad to say that I learned more from Greg than he learned from me.
We students at Wagga Teachers’ College were told by one of our lecturers that we needed a certain humility in our dealings with some of our students because some of them would be brighter than us – and Greg demonstrated that that was true, too.
Image: Greg Goswell and Bob Thomas. Image Credit: Bob Thomas