Rowland Croucher

Rowland Croucher (born 1937) is an Australian pastor, counsellor and author.

Early life and education[]

He was brought up in the Open Brethren in Sydney.^[1]

Croucher graduated as a teacher from Bathurst Teachers' College; BA University of New England; LTh., Dip.RE, Melbourne College of Divinity; ordained as a Baptist pastor, NSW Baptist Theological College; Master of Education University of Sydney; (post graduate) Bachelor of Divinity MCD., Doctor of Ministry Fuller Theological Seminary.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[]

Croucher and his wife Jan were one of the earliest couples in Australia to be ordained to ministry in Baptist churches.^{[citation needed]} She had several ministries - mostly part-time or voluntary - at Heathmont, Syndal, Boronia, and Doncaster East Baptist Churches, and was for several years also involved in Prison ministry to women. She iedy in 2017 after 57 1/2 years of marriage. They had four children.^[2]

Career[]

After a five-year career as a high-school teacher, Croucher began training in 1964 for the Baptist ministry in New South Wales. He worked for the InterVarsity Fellowship (1968–1970) (now the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES)); then pastored churches in Australia: Narwee and Central Baptist Church - both in Sydney - and Blackburn Baptist Church in Melbourne, which became a "megachurch" in the late 1970s, with seven pastors, a salaried staff of 25 and 1,000 attending; plus several interim ministries. He was then, briefly, pastor at First Baptist Church, Vancouver, Canada. From 1983 to 1991 he worked for World Vision Australia.^[3]

Since 1991, Croucher has been founding director of John Mark Ministries, serving pastors, ex-pastors, church leaders and their spouses throughout Australia and elsewhere.Les Scarborough (NSW, now retired) and Psychologist/Trainer Tim Dyer (Tasmania and elsewhere) are colleagues.^{[citation needed]} The John Mark Ministries website, with 20,000+ articles, claims to be one of the most accessed non-denominational religious websites in Australia.^[4]

In 2011, Croucher added his voice to those of other Christian leaders calling for the introduction of same-sex marriage in Australia.^[5][6]

Books[]

• Questions and Responses, Vol 1, (Bayswater, VIC: Coventry Books, 2018; ISBN 9 780648 323310)
• Recent Trends Among Evangelicals, (Sydney: Albatross Books and Kent: MARC Europe, 1986; ISBNs 0 86760 025 X and 0 947697 45 4)
• Still Waters Deep Waters: Meditations and Prayers for Busy People (Sydney: Albatross Books and Herts: Lion Publishing, 1987; ISBNs 0 86760 031 4 and 0 7459 1187 0)
• High Mountains Deep Valleys: Meditations and Prayers for the Down Times (Sydney: Albatross Books and Herts: Lion Publishing, 1991; ISBNs 0 86760 090 X and 0 7459 1299 0)
• Rivers in the Desert: Meditations and Prayers for Refreshment (Sydney: Albatross Books and Herts: Lion Publishing, 1991; ISBNs 0 86760 137 X and 0 7459 1709 7)
• Gentle Darkness: Meditations and Prayers for Illumination (Sydney: Albatross Books and Herts: Lion Publishing, 1994; ISBNs 0 7324 1007 X and 0 7459 2431 X)
• A Garden of Solitude: Meditations and Prayers for Encouragement (Sydney: Albatross Books and Herts: Lion Publishing, 1998; with bibliography and index to all five volumes in this series: ISBN 0-7324-1074-6)
• Grow! Meditations and Prayers for New Christians (Melbourne: JBCE, 1992; ISBN 0-85819-822-3)
• Live! More Meditations and Prayers for New Christians (Melbourne: JBCE, 1993; ISBN 0-85819-881-9)
• The Best of GRID (with Grace Thomlinson): Leadership, Ministry and Mission in a Changing World (Melbourne: World Vicion of Australia, 1993; ISBN 1-875140-11-5)
• Your Church Can Come Alive (Melbourne: JBCE, 1991; ISBN 0-85819-809-6)
• Sunrise Sunset: Prayers and Meditations for Every Day of the Year (HarperCollins, 1995; ISBN 1-86371-402-2)
• The Family: At Home in a Heartless World (HarperCollins 1995; ISBN 1-86371-389-1)

References[]

External links[]

• Croucher's blog