Jenan Taylor
14 December 2023
A former senior chaplain at Melbourne Grammar School could be the first chaplain in the Australian Church to move straight to the episcopate when he becomes an Assistant Bishop in the Perth diocese.
The Reverend Hans Christiansen will become a bishop for schools and education in Perth, a role focused on elevating and strengthening the relationship between the diocese and education.
Mr Christiansen finished at Melbourne Grammar in December after 11 years as the school’s senior chaplain to accept the appointment.
Mr Christiansen said a number of bishops were chaplains at one time, but he believed he currently could be the first to be taken straight out of chaplaincy and into the episcopate.
That could give many chaplains some hope that their ministry was supported and valued, and give school chaplaincy a higher profile, he said.
Mr Christiansen said overseeing schools and education was a new position in the Perth diocese and that schools played a key part there.
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A number of them were under the Anglican Schools Commission so they worked very closely with the diocese, but the schools that weren’t Anglican also enjoyed a close connection there, he said.
Mr Christiansen said that created closer relationships between parishes, local communities and schools, and was therefore vital for the church’s growth and its future.
Originally from Denmark, Mr Christiansen said he was discerning a call to return to Copenhagen to work as a priest there when Perth Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy asked him to consider the Assistant Bishop role.
He said it was a big decision and that it had been a joy being at Melbourne Grammar, but he believed the Holy Spirit worked through bishops, and when any Archbishop came calling, people should never refuse.
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“Being offered the position by an Archbishop of Bishop Goldsworthy’s stature, as the world’s first female Archbishop, and a champion of the Anglican faith throughout the world, is such a big honour that I just could not say ‘no’,” Mr Christensen said.
Archbishop Goldsworthy said the diocese was very blessed with the people who already worked with children and young people in the schools, and as well as strengthening that, the new appointment was a way for bishops to learn new things about what else they could do in terms of mission and ministry.
She said Mr Christiansen’s background with the Anglican Schools Australia board, and deep understanding of the Anglican schooling and Anglican school culture meant he would bring particular insights and gifts.
He would walk into a community of staff and students with a sense of how it was that young people and their families today were seeking to, and were engaging with the Christian story, the archbishop said.
In September, Archbishop Goldsworthy said in a Perth diocese communique that often there was mention of the lack of young people in parishes, but there were close to 20,000 children and young people in the schools who welcomed prayerful and practical support of their lives.
Mr Christiansen will also be looking after deaneries and the professional development of clergy.
He will be consecrated in February, along with former Melbourne priest the Venerable David Bassett, currently Archdeacon of Adelaide and the Port, and who also worked as a school chaplain years ago.
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