Ministry in Australia

Jeff Robinson, my friend from Sydney Uni, with whom I did Indonesian together, married in December 1979. His bride was Andrea Marshman and they married in West Wylong. They asked me to officiate. I felt very honoured, and Alison and I both enjoyed their lovely country wedding.

Duncan Speirs had been a member of our Dapto Congregation. His father had been a minister in the Presbyterian church, and since the baptism of his children I had quite a lot to do with him and Gai. He came often for a chat, with some theological questions, and he found our talks useful. After we had left Albion Park, he candidated for the ministry, which pleased me very much.

Eric Knight and I had agreed to give the parish about 18 months notice, that we both would be leaving at the end of 1980. Settlements procedures in those days were fairly new and we had our name put on the Synod list. I was looking for another parish in a country town with a good high school, as Margaret would still be with us.

In April 1980 I received enquiries, which eventually led to a call from a Canberra Parish, North Belconnen & Wattle Park. It wasn't quite 'country' as I had indicated, but we were very happy to go there, particularly with regards to James and Margaret, as there were excellent schools in Melba, the centre of the parish, and James had his eye on the Australian National University, where he wanted to study science.

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The work at Albion Park, Dapto and Oak Flats had been very rewarding. The three centres had integrated well with the Methodists, and Eric and I had a vision for the church to eventually split into two separate parishes. Dapto was strong enough to stand on its own feet, and the southern end would grow and could also become an independent parish. To break the link of 'former' Presbyterians and 'former' Methodists, we had to go at the same time, otherwise the incoming minister might just continue to work with the people from the former denominations, as we continued to do.

Eric and I had worked well together. We were among the few where team ministry worked. None of us acted or was assigned as 'senior' minister, and we discussed and planned frequently together. We had good support from Glennys Irons, our secretary, and many other faithful members. The Methodist circuit and the Presbyterian Parish had the same boundaries.

Leadership within the parish was not easy to come by, and when we asked for volunteers, people would usually say: "I can't do that!" There were some who did not co-operate with the ministers, but I guess that is typical for all parishes. We tried to bring people's own agendas in line with those of the parish as a whole. Only in some cases this was not possible,

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