Jack hit the Adelaide scene in 2013 as an Aeronautical Engineering Officer in the RAAF at Edinburgh where his role included leading the AP-3C Orion aircraft technician team and designing components for Air Force aircraft. Surprisingly, Jack’s scariest experience in life was not in a plane, but in the water—ask him about swimming with a shark!
So what does an Air Force officer do in his spare time? Jack loves learning to play musical instruments—especially folk instruments like the tin whistle, octave mandolin, hammered dulcimer, lyres, jaw harps, and bagpipes. He’s even taken up woodworking to make instruments he wants to play but are too expensive to buy.
Jack also enjoys brewing beer with friends from church, and sampling cuisines of the world. (He’s actually visited Antarctica but we haven’t asked him about its cuisine!) One day he’d love to visit Svalbard, an archipelago north of Norway that has more polar bears than people.
Jack completed his officer training and his Aeronautical Engineering studies at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He wasn’t a Christian, but he started attending the FOCUS Bible study group which met on base, where he explored all the hard questions and began to realise how internally consistent and plausible Christianity was. It wasn’t until his third year at university when Jack understood that trusting God would bring ultimate meaning and joy, and so he became a Christian.
Jack is married to Esther, and they have a young daughter. He has loved serving in various church ministries over the years, and he’s excited to be a Minister in Training at Trinity Church Campbelltown as he continues studying a Masters of Divinity at the Bible College of South Australia.