Last week, Dr Veronica Hoyt joined the faculty at Moore College, as Lecturer in Ministry and Director of the Priscilla and Aquila Centre. Veronica has kindly spoken to the ACR to tell us about life before this new role, as well as her hopes for the forthcoming P&A conference.
Veronica, thank you so much for speaking with the ACR. For those who don’t know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and what you were doing prior to your new position at Moore College?
The Lord has been very gracious to me over many years. I was raised in a loving and stable Christian home and church (in Western Australia) and came to know rich truths about God from a very early age. One of the earliest songs that I remember singing around the age of five was a metrical version of Psalm 116, “I love the LORD, the fount of life and grace; He heard my voice, my cry and supplication”. I may not have understood all of its theology or some of the words, but its meaning was clear: I love the Lord because he is loving and kind and hears our prayers.
Over time I’ve come to better understand and rejoice in the union I have with the Lord Jesus, and the tender relationship that he has with all who put their trust in him.
As I’ve moved countries several times and adapted to various churches, and as I’ve also been confronted with my own sinfulness and the challenges of living in a fallen world, I’ve had to wrestle at times with these truths. I’m thankful for the many ways that my Lord continues to gently lead me.
I’ve loved walking alongside many women at the churches I’ve been a part of, and to see God grow them in their understanding of biblical truths and their godliness in response to these truths. I have served in a formal paid role as a women’s worker in two churches: Cornerstone Church in Christchurch, NZ, for ten years, and more recently, since our move to Sydney, at St Thomas’ in North Sydney.
I’ve been married to Berwyn for 25 years. For 23 of those years we lived in New Zealand, most of that time in Christchurch. We have one adult son, Emlyn, who recently started MTS at an Anglican church in Sydney. Berwyn is an engineer, and he is also working towards a theological degree.
What aspects of this new role at Moore most drew you to it?
I have long had great respect for the work of Moore College and its impact on the evangelical church scene across Sydney, Australia and the world (including NZ). I have known and worked with a number of Moore College graduates and have appreciated the depth of their training in handling God’s word, their gospel-focused hearts and their ministry abilities. While I’m not a Moore College graduate (I studied at Queensland Theological College), I have personally benefited from its influence and am very thankful for that.
I’m convinced of the goodness of men and women partnering together within a complementarian framework and thus have also long respected Jane Tooher in her role as director of Moore’s Priscilla & Aquila Centre. It’s an honour to now continue Jane’s work and play a part in contributing to the college’s vision to equip men and women for biblically faithful gospel ministry.
In what ways do you think the work of the Priscilla & Aquila Centre has impacted the Sydney Diocese—as well as church contexts further afield—since its inception? And how has it personally encouraged you?
My friend and I travelled from NZ for our first P&A conference in 2013, and we relished every moment of it. We’d never been to a conference of this nature before, and we could appreciate its significance.
While I haven’t lived in the Sydney Diocese for long, I have observed (also from afar) a commitment to men and women serving together in local parishes and also in para-church ministries such as CMS and AFES. I think that the P&A Centre has played a significant role in encouraging women to consider ministry, as well as in influencing the diocese, through various means including the annual P&A Conference, to think theologically about complementarian ministry and how to apply it well.
The presence of the P&A Centre, and Moore’s employment of Jane, has been, I think, a means of keeping the importance of a biblical understanding of complementarian ministry on the table within the Sydney Diocese and beyond. It is easy to slide in our convictions. There is also danger in becoming pragmatic in our application of them.
The P&A Centre plays a role in influencing the male students at Moore College to think about the goodness of having women on a staff team. It’s my prayer that this influence will continue to bear fruit when many of them become, in time, senior church leaders, that they will consider the value of having and maintaining a culture where women on their staff teams are valued, and where spaces are provided for them to flourish as they work alongside their brothers in Christ.
The 2025 Priscilla & Aquila Conference is fast approaching! What are you particularly excited about for this year’s conference?
The conference is wonderful opportunity to gather with many from across Sydney and beyond to rejoice in God’s good gift of gender, and its outworking in the home and the church, as well as to reflect anew its important place within the ministries of the church.
I am very much looking forward to hearing Paul Grimmond’s talks at this year’s conference and am praying that we will all be stretched in considering the interplay between doctrine and godliness as he answers fundamental questions from Titus 2 such as to what our age and sex have to do with living in service of the Lord Jesus.
I’m also excited about the range of topics for the electives, at both academic and popular level. Some are theoretical and culture-developing, and others deeply personal and practical. There is definitely something there for everyone who is coming along to grow from personally. I’d love if those attending would also find a way to share what they have learned with their home churches.
It will also be a delight to launch Claire Smith’s new book. I’ve greatly benefited from Claire’s work over the years, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about her book on the pastoral epistles.
How are you hoping God will use the conference this year, and in the years to come?
It’s my prayer that this conference will strengthen and encourage those who have been coming along for many years.
I’m also praying that it will attract many who have not come before, including current students. I think it’s vital that the next generation of gospel workers (both men and women) is shaped to appreciate and be convicted by the beauty of complementarian ministry and also have a good understanding of how it can be applied well in the local church.
For all those who come, I have no doubt that there will be much to learn and ponder at this year’s P&A Conference.