There are milestones that call for applause and then there are those that invite reflection. This one is certainly the latter! For Mr Colin Noble, William Clarke’s Chaplain, 2025 marks 20 years since he first began serving at the College. While he’d be the last to seek recognition, this moment deserves to be noticed – not for the spotlight it casts on him, but for the light it reflects from the God he has served so faithfully.

Mr Noble didn’t set out to be a Chaplain. Before stepping into this role, he spent some 14 years in teaching, though he once planned to pursue actuarial studies. In fact, he loves Maths and is up for anybody to challenge him in a mental Maths game any day of the week if you’re willing. Saying that, here are some fun facts about Mr Noble that you might not know. He lives on the edge of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area; he’s spent nearly 10 years living outside Australia; he speaks and reads Japanese; he has climbed Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, not once but twice; he was an Australian martial arts champion in his younger years; and yes, he can tie a jelly snake into a knot in his mouth!

As for that career change, it came through the guidance of a mentor, a few unexpected open doors and what he describes as nothing short of God’s providence. “God opened the way to William Clarke College, and the then-Headmaster went out on a limb to employ this first-time Chaplain,” he recalled.

That leap of faith marked the beginning of a ministry that would quietly and consistently impact hundreds of lives. Over two decades, Mr Noble has prayed with and for students and staff. He has spoken, listened, counselled, laughed, shared in sorrow, and walked alongside young people and colleagues as they wrestled with faith, life and identity. And at the heart of it all has been Christ.

“Nothing beats seeing eyes light up as an individual comes to understand some of the difference made by the good news of the caring, omnipotent God,” he stated. “Take the individual conversations in which I sense God has used me to bless others, like the day when I had seven significant one-on-one conversations in a single day and drove home feeling like I was flying because I had seen God work for good.”

The stories from his years at the College are many. Some are uplifting, like the student who contacted him 13 years after graduating to apologise for his behaviour and share that he had become an Anglican clergyman. “That story reminds me to praise the God who sees a longer and bigger picture than I do, and to remember that my personal frustration with students or colleagues is not the end of the road with God for them,” said Mr Noble with a smile.

Others carry more weight such as the student who had been a Christian Life Leader, only to walk away from faith months after graduation. “That story humbles me, forcing me to recognise the limited capacity I have to know people’s hearts, and to praise the God who does know each one of us, and is able to see our hearts and minister to them.”

Mr Noble wouldn’t point to achievements or milestones as the highlight of his ministry. Instead, he speaks of the privilege of simply being present, of watching God at work in the lives of others. In the daily rhythms of College life, he’s had a front-row seat to the way God moves, often through others. He’s seen teachers spark life-changing conversations, students share their faith with friends, and peers invite each other to youth group or church camp. He’s had students return from the holidays with stories of how God met them powerfully at a camp or conference. He’s watched young people who once said they didn’t believe start to ask questions, drawn in by the authentic faith of those around them.

While the outcomes have varied, the constant has been Mr Noble’s quiet presence. He’s sown seeds without needing to see immediate fruit, trusting God with the growth. In doing so, he’s become witness to the way God works through community, friendship and a thousand seemingly small moments.

At the same time, that same God has been quietly growing and shaping Mr Noble too. He’s clearer now on the nature of grace, how undeserved it is and how deeply it transforms. He’s more patient, more gentle and deeply grateful that God has continued to grow him in faith. In his words, “there would be a problem of stagnation if my faith had not grown. But God has been gracious.”

For Mr Noble, he expresses the Christian faith and life through two simple phrases that, when truly considered, provide guidance at many of life’s crossroads. “Ask me how to live and I will say two things,” he said. “‘Put your life in Jesus’ hands’, and ‘make God known’, as did Jesus. He is the Son who came from the Father for the very purpose of making the Father known, as the first 18 verses of John’s gospel, most explicitly in verse 18, tells us so clearly.” It’s these phrases, and the Scripture behind them, that have steadied his steps, fuelled his endurance and kept his eyes fixed on Christ.

When asked about his hopes for the next generation of students and staff, he simply said: “My hope is twofold. I pray that each one of them will experience the wonderful comfort and release from pressure that comes when you put your life in Jesus’ hands. I pray then that doing so will shape their life choices into ones that make God known to those around them and in all the heavenly realms, so that the unquenchable, unconquerable light of Christ overcomes the darkness.”

After 20 years, Mr Noble remains steady and grounded in faith. While we honour him, we give even greater honour to the God who called him, who has worked in him and through him, and who has made Christ known to all at William Clarke College.

By Catherine Sanchez, Publications Officer