Jensen was born in Sydney and educated at Bellevue Hill Public School and The Scots College.[4] After completing his Leaving Certificate, Jensen studied law for two years and worked as an articled clerk before he moved into primary school teaching.[citation needed]
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.[7] Over the course of 2002–2008, 136 new congregations were started within the diocese, particularly within the Northern, Western and Wollongong regions.[8] The number of candidates for ordination within the diocese increased from 20 to 30 per year to 40-50 by 2008.[8]
Shortly after his appointment as Archbishop of Sydney, Jensen was accused of nepotism 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.[9] 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".[10]
Views
Jensen has a reputation with the Australian media for being an outspoken advocate for evangelical Christianity.[1] He has spoken out on issues as diverse as abortion,[11]euthanasia[12] and embryonic stem cell research[13] as well as on industrial relations.[14] He has expressed his opposition to the ordination of women as priests, saying "the church is more like a family and, within the family, men are the spiritual guides",[15] but believes women can be appointed to the diaconate, and has ordained women as such within the Sydney diocese.[16] He is opposed to the ordination of women as bishops.[17] 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.[18][19] He has also opposed the ordination of non-celibate gay people as clergy.[20]
In a June 2012 opinion piece, Jensen argued that the acceptance of same-sex marriage 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.[22] 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."[23]
In September 2012, Jensen was a panellist on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Q&A program and was questioned about his views on several key issues involving the church and society.[24] 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.[24]
On the Q&A program, when questioned as to whether he supported the attitudes of the Australian Christian Lobby 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."[24] 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."[24] 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.[24] 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. He responded that he did not believe that there had been a rise in atheism.[24] He concluded by saying that God had revealed himself through Jesus and that through him, all people have equality.[24]
Jensen has advocated "lay administration" in which lay people could be licensed to preside at Holy Communion services.[25][26] 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.[27]
Publications
Jensen has written a number of books on Christian doctrine, including At the Heart of the Universe (1991)[28] and The Revelation of God (2002). In November and December 2005 he also delivered the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Boyer Lectures on the topic "The Future of Jesus".[28] These lectures have subsequently been published as a book.
^"Contributors: Peter Jensen". ABC The Drum Unleashed. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^Peter Jensen (14 October 2002). The Gospel of God's Grace (Speech). Presidential Address - 1st Session of the 46th Synod. Sydney. Archived from the original on 2 November 2002. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^ abPeter Tasker. "Mission mid-point review". Sydney Anglicans. Anglican Media Sydney. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^Powell, Russell (11 October 2010). "Sydney Synod Address 2010". Sydney Anglicans. Anglican Media Sydney. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^West, Andrew (December 2005). "Enough Already! Peter Jensen". The Monthly. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
