Cite
The annual theology and missions conference for university staff and postgraduate students.
God’s inspired word:
timely and timeless
Cite is the annual theology and missions conference for the Simeon Network, the AFES network of uni staff and postgrad students. Spend the week with people like you who love Jesus and just can’t quite get enough of uni. We will start with our conference dinner and keynote address on Friday evening, 5 December. Don’t miss out!
Theology
We are embarking on a nine-year tour through the statements of our AFES Doctrinal Basis, starting with:
Statement 1
The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
The particular focus will be the inspiration of Scripture, and our speaker is Peter Adam (BD, MTh, PhD, ThD, OAM), whose next book is on the very topic! How can fallible human beings be used to write the Word of God? How can finite human language properly convey an infinite creator? How does inspiration interact with our translation of the Bible?
Andy Judd (Ridley College Melbourne) and Stephen Driscoll (AFES, author of Made In Our Image) will carry on the theme as we explore the relationship between inspiration and genre, as well as how artificial intelligence may impact the way we interact with the inspired word.
Mission
We are excited to welcome Tim Silberman (B.AppSc., M.Div., M.Th., PhD) from Sydney Missionary & Bible College to headline our mission component this year. Tim will lead us in thinking about growing healthy mission ecosystems on campus and beyond, as well as some of the most persistent defeater beliefs that hinder our engagement in mission. We will also have missionaries-in-residence who can share personal stories of staff and postgraduate students who have used their degrees to open doors for gospel ministry in other parts of the world. Because universities are everywhere, our people can go anywhere, and, hence, we will have a particular focus on reaching regions of the world where it is hardest to be a Christian.
Peter Adam
(BD, MTh, PhD, ThD, OAM)
Peter’s major ministries have included lecturing at St John’s College, Durham, UK, serving in Melbourne as Vicar of St Jude’s Carlton from 1982-2002, and as Principal of Ridley Melbourne from 2002-2012.
He continues his ministry of preaching, writing, and mentoring and training ministers.
His most recent publication is Prayerfulness: Cultivating a Bible-enriched prayer life, Matthias Media, 2025, and he is currently writing a book on the Inspiration of Scripture.
More about Peter
Tim Silberman
B.AppSc. (University of Sydney), M.Div. (SMBC/ACT), M.Th. (SMBC/ACT), PhD (University of Sydney)
SMBC:
In 2007, Tim joined the faculty of SMBC in the Centre for Cross-cultural Mission and has responsibility for international student care. Since that time Tim has completed his M.Th in the field of intercultural leadership development and his doctoral studies exploring the involvement of Australian local churches in mission, from which came his recent book Engaging Neighbours and Nations: Factors Shaping Local Church Patterns of Involvement in Mission. Tim helped to design and launch The Bridge Program and served as its director from 2015-2017.
Academic Interests:
Missional ecclesiology, Intercultural leadership development, Theology of mission, Missionary mobilisation.
Personal:
Tim is married to Peggy and they have two daughters and a son. He attends St Paul’s Anglican Church in Canterbury and he enjoys running, cycling, reading and spending time with his family.
Peter Adam
(BD, MTh, PhD, ThD, OAM)
Peter’s major ministries have included lecturing at St John’s College, Durham, UK, serving in Melbourne as Vicar of St Jude’s Carlton from 1982-2002, and as Principal of Ridley Melbourne from 2002-2012.
He continues his ministry of preaching, writing, and mentoring and training ministers.
His most recent publication is Prayerfulness: Cultivating a Bible-enriched prayer life, Matthias Media, 2025, and he is currently writing a book on the Inspiration of Scripture.
More about Peter
Tim Silberman
B.AppSc. (University of Sydney), M.Div. (SMBC/ACT), M.Th. (SMBC/ACT), PhD (University of Sydney)
SMBC:
In 2007, Tim joined the faculty of SMBC in the Centre for Cross-cultural Mission and has responsibility for international student care. Since that time Tim has completed his M.Th in the field of intercultural leadership development and his doctoral studies exploring the involvement of Australian local churches in mission, from which came his recent book Engaging Neighbours and Nations: Factors Shaping Local Church Patterns of Involvement in Mission. Tim helped to design and launch The Bridge Program and served as its director from 2015-2017.
Academic Interests:
Missional ecclesiology, Intercultural leadership development, Theology of mission, Missionary mobilisation.
Personal:
Tim is married to Peggy and they have two daughters and a son. He attends St Paul’s Anglican Church in Canterbury and he enjoys running, cycling, reading and spending time with his family.