Worldview began in 1956 as Tasmania's first residential Bible training college to prepare women and men for mission. To this day it continues as one of the last remaining residential programs in Australia, maintaining a missionary training heartbeat through the discipline of academic study integrated with community living.
Worldview's campus sits on 40 acres of farmland on the outskirts of Launceston. Over the years the original homestead made way for purpose-built buildings, including a dining hall, staff housing, family accommodation block, and two unit blocks.
What does community living look like?
Living on campus means more than simply having a convenient place to sleep and eat. A residential community is about intentionally spending time with others in a timetabled context where many of the practical aspects of the college are done together.
A discipleship community is a place where you come to terms with your own expectations and what it means to live with others who see the world differently than you do.
We recognise that as individuals we are comfortable in our own space and the way we do things, but community living provides the kind of personal growth you can't obtain by any other means, especially when dealing with people from other cultures.
In practical terms living at Worldview not only involves time for you to engage in classes and study, but also contributing to the running of the college. This is about doing duties every day and doing practical work around the property every Wednesday afternoon.
Duties mostly involve working in the kitchen mornings and evenings, cleaning various public spaces regularly or working on the farm. Duties take about 90 minutes each day and are done in small teams.
A place for learning
Our campus offers you the opportunity to learn in a quiet location with a great education facility, home to our classroom spaces, library and auditorium.
As a Worldview trainee you'll experience a learning timetable where the day begins with short community worship, lectures in the morning and time to study in the afternoons and evenings.
Every Wednesday we gather for chapel and discipleship small groups. In the afternoon it's time for practical work around the property.
Students in the past will remember a time when learning took place either in makeshift classrooms in the original homestead building or in the dining hall, where it would be transformed to accommodate for larger events like Singspiration every month, or for Commencement and Graduation services.
Today staff and trainees make good use of our education block where the main library lives, alongside a number of classrooms. Adjacent to the hallway is the auditorium, a generous space that's used every day for worship and prayer.
If you'd like to know more about our library, click here.
As a learning community we choose to eat together five days a week, from Monday to Friday. This takes place in our Dining Hall, a large room where trainees, staff, volunteers and families sit together and enjoy a great meal freshly prepared in our commercial kitchen. We love the fact that we get to eat meat and produce that has come form our own farm.
You'll also enjoy morning tea in this space, a 30-minute break each weekday to relax, sit by the fire, catch up with others or play table tennis.
Previously the location of the property's stables, these old structures would make way for a dining hall that could accommodate the growing number of students in the 1960s.
Affectionally called the "dining room", this communal space has been the college hub where relationships have deepened, God's will been sought and great food experiences been appreciated by some or endured by others.
We often get asked, why eat together? It would be simpler and move convenient for all staff, trainees and volunteers to prepare their own meals at whatever time suited them. However, our value for community and discipleship is such that we choose to sit around tables daily, because we appreciate the deep qualities of sharing a meal with others who are different to us.
Staff, trainees and volunteers live on campus in a range of different houses and units.
Trainees with young children make use of units in our family accommodation block, while couples and single enjoy two-bedroom units in our accommodation blocks on the top side of our property.
Units are simple but comfortable, with a small kitchen (including a fridge, microwave and stove), two bedrooms, single toilet and shower.
Washing machines can be accessed in communal laundries.
Our Play Centre has been an integral part of our community for decades, allowing mums and dads to engage in full-time study. It's timetable aligns with parents' study schedules, and assists families in maintaining their children's rhythms of sleep, eating and play time.
The centre caters for children from 9 months through to 5-years-old in a safe space. Thanks to a committed team, parents can focus on their training, knowing that their children are enjoying fun, laughter and exploration every day.
About 20 acres is used for farming, supplementing our kitchen needs and providing quality meat, veggies and fruit all year round.
As a trainee you'll have a chance to do some work on the farm as part of our scheduled duties. You'll rub shoulders with our farm manager as you take care of cattle, pull out weeds in the veggie plots, harvest produce and bail hay.
You can easily access the property for walks morning or evening, and even go for swims in the river in the warmer months.