FACULTY
Dr. Richard Shumack
Director of The Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam
Richard lives in Sydney with his wife Judy and their four adult boys.
He lived and worked for many years among Muslim communities where he developed his passion for helping Christians and Muslims speak constructively about faith and who Jesus is.
His research specialty is philosophy of religion – with a sideline interest in the ethics of sport. This is because he also loves football, cycling and loves and hates golf.
DEGREES & AFFILIATIONS
- PhD, University of Melbourne
- BTh (Hons), Moore Theological College
- BSurv (Hons), University of New South Wales
- Member, Evangelical Philosophical Society
- Academic Director, RZIM Understanding and Answering Islam Program
- Fellow, The Centre for Public Christianity
Dr. Denis Savelyev
Lecturer in Islam & Arthur Jeffery Centre Administrator
Denis is originally from Russia. He worked as a lecturer and alternate director at Eurasian Missionary College in Kazan. Denis was also involved in church-planting before coming to Australia.
He finished his MA and PhD at Melbourne School of Theology and then did his PostDoc on internal history of the Qur’an.
DEGREES
- PhD, Melbourne School of Theology
- MA (Ministry), Melbourne School of Theology
- Specialist’s Degree in Education, Dagestan State Pedagogical University
- BMiss, Krasnodar Institute of Biblical Leadership
Dr. Mark Durie
Senior Research Fellow
Born in Papua to missionary parents, Mark grew up in Canberra, and completed a BA Hons degree in Linguistics and Germanic languages at the ANU. A fieldwork PhD in linguistics followed, with the thesis ‘A Grammar of Acehnese’. After postdoctoral fellowships at Leiden University, MIT, UCLA and Stanford, Mark spent ten years on the Linguistics faculty at the University of Melbourne. Responding to a call to pastoral ministry, he studied theology at Ridley and was ordained in 1999, serving in three Melbourne Anglican parishes over the next two decades. In 2016 he completed a ThD at MST on the genesis of the Qur’an. At MST Mark teaches in Islamic studies and pastoral theology. The author of many article and books, which have been translated into numerous languages, Mark’s research interests include missions to Muslims, discipleship, Islamic origins, human rights, religious freedom, and deliverance ministry. Mark was elected to the Australian Academy of Humanities in 1992.
DEGREES & AFFILIATIONS
- ThD, Melbourne School of Theology
- BA (Hons) PhD, Australian National University
- DipTh BTh (Hons), Ridley College
- Director, Institute for Spiritual Awareness
- Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum
- Melbourne Anglican Diocese
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Dr. Bernie Power
Adjunct Lecturer
Bernie’s area of expertise is in the comparative study of Islam and Christianity. He lectures on the life of Muhammad, the Qur’an, the Hadith, Apologetics, and Christian Ministry in Islamic contexts.
Bernie grew up in Sydney. He has lived and taught in Australia and the UK and various countries in Asia and the Middle East. In his spare time Bernie enjoys reading, bike riding and bushwalking.
DEGREES
- Doctor of Theology (Early Islamic texts), Melbourne School of Theology
- Master of Arts in Theology (Hons), Ridley College, University of Melbourne
- Bachelor of Theology (Hons), Bible College of Victoria
- Certificate in TEFL, Trinity College, Retford, UK
- Diploma of Education, Sydney Teachers College
- Bachelor of Science, University of Sydney
RESEARCH FELLOWS
Dr. Ruth Nicholls
Dr. Andy Bannister
