Gordon Cheng is an Australian Christian author and writer. He is a Bible teacher at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

, employed by the

Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an Evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian Parachurch organization, parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. ...

. Prior to this he was Campus Director (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students) with the Cumberland Campus of Sydney University. For several years he was the Resources Editor of

Matthias Media Matthias Media is an Australian evangelicalism, evangelical Christian publisher. The business was founded in 1988, and grew out of the ministry of Phillip Jensen and editor Tony Payne at St Matthias, Centennial Park, Sydney under the name St Matth ...

(a non-denominational Christian publisher based in Sydney).

"Our people"
. Accessed 7 April 2007. He is also an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

presbyter (or priest) in the Diocese of Sydney.

Early life

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and Chinese descent, Cheng was ordained in the

Anglican Diocese of Melbourne The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students The Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) is an Evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian Parachurch organization, parachurch organisation that aims to encourage university students to believe in and follow Jesus Christ. ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and then ministered at a number of churches in Sydney. He was employed by

from February 2004 to January 2009 to work on their resources other than its flagship magazine, ''

The Briefing ''The Briefing'' was an evangelical Christian magazine published by Matthias Media in partnership with The Good Book Company (UK). It was printed monthly, and was circulated in Australia, North America and the United Kingdom. Although it was con ...

''. Cheng is also an active member of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. He ministers at St Paul's Church, Carlingford, and from 2004 to 2006 he was involved in the "Cumberland University Church", ministering to the Cumberland Campus of Sydney University.

Writings

Cheng is the author of several books and other resources published by Matthias Media, including the ''Pathway Bible Guides'' Bible study series, and his first book/multimedia publication with Matthias, the ''Six Steps to Encouragement'' course. He is an associate of the Anglican Dean of Sydney,

Phillip Jensen Phillip David Jensen (born 1945) is an Australian cleric of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the former Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral. He is the brother of Peter Jensen, the former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney. Early life and conversion J ...

, and has edited several of his books. Since the mid-1990s, Cheng has also written numerous articles for ''The Briefing'', a popular evangelical journal distributed in Australia, England and the United States. He is a critic of the ordination of women to the priesthood and homosexuality and has written on the priority of Christian ministry over secular work. Cheng sends numerous letter to online and print media, some of which were published in the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' and other newspapers, and he posts regularly on many websites and forums, including the Sydney diocese's "Sydney Anglican"s website where several of his articles have also been published. He has also posted on the

Ship of Fools The ship of fools is an allegory, originating from Book VI of Plato's ''Republic'', about a ship with a dysfunctional crew. The allegory is intended to represent the problems of governance prevailing in a political system not based on expert kn ...

website. His posts defended the actions of a church which was the subject of a defamation lawsuit, involving the sacking of a female lay worker. More recently, Cheng has been a guest opinion writer for Sydney's ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' and ''Sunday Telegraph'' newspapers, writing opinion pieces on religious and ethical issues, including

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

, and racism, In late 2006 he was also enlisted by ''Daily Telegraph'' columnist

Piers Akerman Piers Akerman (born 12 June 1950) is an Australian columnist and conservative commentator for the Sydney newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph''. Biography Akerman was born in Wewak, Papua New Guinea, the third son in a family of four children of J ...

to be a guest writer for a Muslim-Christian debate run by the paper on

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

; others participating included Lebanese

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

representative

Keysar Trad Keysar Trad is the founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia and is the former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. Background Trad was born in Lebanon and came to Australia at the age of thirteen under ...

,
"Why I must commit to multiculturalism"
', 28 September 2006. Accessed 8 April 2007.

Personal life

Cheng is married and has three children, Matilda, Ruby and Lily.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Gordon Year of birth missing (living people) Australian journalists Living people 20th-century Australian Anglican priests Clergy from Sydney 21st-century Australian Anglican priests Moore Theological College alumni Australian people of Chinese descent Australian people of Swedish descent