Peter Frederick Jensen (born 11 July 1943) is a retired Australian

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 ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and academic. From 1985 to 2001, he was principal of Moore Theological College. From 2001 to 2013, he was the Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of the Province of New South Wales in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

. He retired on his 70th birthday, 11 July 2013. In late 2007, Jensen was one of the founding members of the

Global Anglican Future Conference The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a series of conferences of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders, the first of which was held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the Ang ...

(GAFCON), which he served as General Secretary. He stepped down in early 2019 and was succeeded by Benjamin Kwashi, former archbishop of Jos in Nigeria.

Early life and education

Jensen was born in Sydney and educated at Bellevue Hill Public School and

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

. After completing his Leaving Certificate, Jensen studied law for two years and worked as an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...

before he moved into primary school teaching. Jensen entered Moore Theological College in the late 1960s and won the Hey Sharp prize for coming first in the Licentiate of Theology, the standard course of study at that time. He also has a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(DPhil) degree from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. His 1976 master's dissertation was entitled "Calvinism and the Persecution of the Witches in England (1563–1604)" and his 1979 doctoral dissertation was entitled "The Life of Faith in the Teaching of Elizabethan Protestantism".

Ordained ministry

Jensen was ordained in the

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1969 and as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1970. He was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

at St. Barnabas, Broadway, between 1969 and 1976. From 1976 to 1979, while studying for his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

, he was granted permission to officiate in the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, ...

, England. From 1973 to 1976 and 1980 to 1984, he lectured in

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are introduced by an inaccuracy inherent to the system Economy * Systematic trading, a way of defining trade goals, risk control ...

and

biblical theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. The academic field of biblical theology is sub-divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology. Academic ...

at Moore Theological College. He was appointed Principal in 1985 and held the post until becoming a bishop in 2001. He gained a reputation as a gifted

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

and was often seen at the annual Katoomba Christian Conventions. On 5 June 2001, Jensen became the 11th Archbishop of Sydney. He was consecrated on St Peter's Day, 29 June 2001. He called upon all churches in the Sydney diocese to aim to reach 10% of their communities by 2012. He also encouraged an unprecedented increase in

church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

. Over the course of 2002–2008, 136 new congregations were started within the diocese, particularly within the Northern, Western and Wollongong regions. The number of candidates for ordination within the diocese increased from 20 to 30 per year to 40-50 by 2008. Shortly after his appointment as Archbishop of Sydney, Jensen was accused of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

after nominating his brother, Phillip Jensen, as Dean of Sydney and appointing his own wife, Christine Jensen, to a lay position in a new women's ministry team. However, according to a spokesperson for Jensen, his wife was the only unpaid member of this team, and the new role was "just an extension of what she's been doing for many years, as the wife of the Moore College principal and now as the wife of the archbishop".

Views

Jensen has a reputation with the Australian media for being an outspoken advocate for

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christianity. He has spoken out on issues as diverse as

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

and

embryonic stem cell research Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre- implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist ...

as well as on industrial relations. He has expressed his opposition to the

ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

as priests, saying "the church is more like a family and, within the family, men are the spiritual guides", but believes women can be appointed to the diaconate, and has ordained women as such within the Sydney diocese. He is opposed to the ordination of women as bishops."Anglican Archbishop of Sydney: Peter Jensen"
, ''Sunday Profile'', ABC, 14 October 2014. In 2012 he declined to participate in the consecration of a woman bishop, Genieve Blackwell, within the Canberra-Goulburn diocese of the province of New South Wales "for reasons of conscience" and deputised the Bishop of Newcastle to do so. He has also opposed the ordination of non-celibate gay people as clergy. In late 2007, Jensen was one of the founding members of the

which was held in June 2008, one month prior to the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

. In a June 2012 opinion piece, Jensen argued that the acceptance of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

is not "for the moral good". He also criticised the notion of "marriage equality", noting that society does not allow marriage between siblings or between adults and children. He also wrote a letter to parishioners of Sydney's Anglican churches in which he quoted Bible extracts from Genesis on the nature of marriage and said that "The education of children must not be distorted by the state-imposed idea that a family can be founded on the sexual union of two men or two women as a valid alternative to that of a man and a woman." In September 2012, Jensen was a panellist on the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

's '' Q&A'' program and was questioned about his views on several key issues involving the church and society. On the question of whether women should be submissive to their husbands, Jensen focused on the vows made by the husband at the time of marriage to act towards his wife in a Christ-like manner. On the ''Q&A'' program, when questioned as to whether he supported the attitudes of the

Australian Christian Lobby The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a Christian-conservative advocacy organisation based in Canberra. Structure The ACL is registered as a public company limited by guarantee and files political expenditure returns with the Australian Ele ...

towards homosexuality, including a statement that it was "like smoking", Jensen said, "As far as I can see by trying to get to the facts, the lifespan of practising gays is significantly shorter than the ordinary, so-called, heterosexual man. I think that seems to be the case. Now what we need to do is to look at why this may be the case and we need to do it in a compassionate and objective way." Jensen was questioned by a young homosexual Christian man who had contemplated suicide about what he would say to young people in that position. It was stated by a panel member, journalist Anna Crean, that Jensen's position was one of influence and that people, by the process of being made to feel ostracised, were subject to "self-destruction". Jensen was then offered by a youth worker in the audience the opportunity to discuss the suffering of young homosexual people resulting from comments made by Jensen and the ACL. Jensen responded that the matter was complex and that he would like to hear the facts. He said, "It's all very well to say that what I say causes this. That to my mind is ...already facile." When questioned as to whether God might be responsible for a "gay gene", Jensen responded that God created and loves all people. He stated that same-sex attraction was not the important issue and that what he was talking about was the acting out of same-sex attraction. Jensen was asked whether he thought that his attitudes towards gay marriage and the submission of women were contributing factors in the rise of

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

. He responded that he did not believe that there had been a rise in atheism. He concluded by saying that God had revealed himself through Jesus and that through him, all people have equality. Jensen has advocated "lay administration" in which lay people could be licensed to preside at

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

services. This reflects his view that the ministry of word and sacrament belong together and, as lay people have long been permitted to preach in the Sydney diocese, it is thought they ought to be permitted to lead communion services.

Publications

Jensen has written a number of books on Christian

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

, including ''At the Heart of the Universe'' (1991) and ''The Revelation of God'' (2002). In November and December 2005 he also delivered the

's Boyer Lectures on the topic "The Future of Jesus". These lectures have subsequently been published as a book. Jensen, as of 2014, is a co-editor of the ''

Reformed Theological Review The ''Reformed Theological Review'' is Australia's longest-running Protestant theological Academic journal, journal. It was founded in 1942, with Arthur Allen, a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, as its first editor. It st ...

''. He also authored the Lenten study ''Power and Promise'' released by Anglican Press Australia in late 2014.

References

External links