Campus Bible Study (or CBS) was established in 1975 at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

by the then

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

chaplain

Phillip Jensen Phillip David Jensen (born 1945) is an Australian cleric of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the former Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral. He is the brother of Peter Jensen, the former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney. Early life and conversion ...

. CBS celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, and continues to officially operate out of UNSW's Anglican Chaplaincy. The current Anglican Chaplain is Carl Matthei.

Overview

During a typical week, CBS runs large public Bible-teaching meetings, many small-group Bible studies according to faculties, for example Christians in Medicine. Further training sessions in theology and ministry are also offered to students. CBS also runs three conferences per year, the largest one being Mid-Year Conference (MYC), which typically attracts 500-750 students. While officially linked to the movement of

Sydney Anglicans The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese in Sydney, within the Province of New South Wales of the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is evangelical and low church in tradition. The diocese goes as far as Lithgow in the west ...

, Campus Bible Study is

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

and welcomes everyone to their public meetings. CBS focuses on the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

rather than particular denominations beliefs, and seeks to challenge individuals to consider the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

University Churches

CBS also runs five different university churches for various groups of students living in the residential colleges at UNSW
Unichurch UNSW
is an English speaking congregation. Th
Fellowship of Overseas University Students
(FOCUS) at UNSW runs four congregations for international students — Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian, and International (English).

Affiliations

CBS should not be confused with the Christian Union (CU), which (as of 2006) was a student-run, Student-Guild-affiliated organisation. CBS and the CU work in concert to conduct ministry on campus. Most members of CU are also members of CBS. CBS is also affiliated with the

Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in Australia. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evan ...

(AFES) but is not a member — the AFES group at UNSW is the Christian Union (CU). Some members of Campus Bible Study have gone on to formal theological education.

History

In 1975, Phillip Jensen was appointed to be the new Chaplain at the University of NSW, serving until 2005. From there the leadership was passed to Paul Grimmond and, after seven and a half years to Carl Matthei.

References

External links

CBS website

Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Christian organisations based in Australia Student societies in Australia Evangelical parachurch organizations University of New South Wales student organisations Christian organizations established in 1975 Student religious organisations in Australia Biblical exegesis {{biblical-studies-stub