“I lived in the Sutherland Shire for the first 32 years of my life. I got married there. When I first left school I began a Mechanic apprenticeship so I worked in the automotive industry for 10 years after school. There was a point where I was working 4 days a week in the trade and volunteering one day a week at the church I was a part of in Gymea. My family started going to Gymea Baptist when I started primary school but I certainly made it my own home as well later on in life.
It got to the point where I needed to make a decision one way or the other as things were developing in both of those areas. I was married at that point so Sarah and I talked a lot about it and I decided I would prepare for some sort of ministry by going to Bible college full time. I downed the tools and went from working full-time with my hands to full time study. I did 4 years which consists of a 3 year Bachelor degree and a year post-grad with some practical training. They are the requirements to be an accredited Baptist Minister. You then kind of go on this list of available people so Baptist churches around NSW and ACT contact the association if they are looking for someone. They send your details out and then its up to that church to make contact.
The move to Lismore happened a couple of years ago. I received a phone call out of the blue from John who is the Minister here looking for someone to join the Lismore Baptist church. We didn’t even know where Lismore was. The name was familiar but we had no idea. The key for me was John and I really connected over the phone in that initial conversation. I’ve been here about 18 months so I still feel pretty new.
The other connection is coffee which happened when I started at Bible College. I started hanging around this coffee shop called White Horse Coffee and got to know the owners and the staff well. One day they asked if I’d be interested in doing one or two days a week. That experience sparked a new interest and passion in coffee.
Before moving here Sarah and I plus our 2 year old and 6 month old boys came up for a day to visit with the church. I looked up the Bean Hunter app about coffee shops. I always thought I only wanted a part time role in the church and I really enjoyed the combination in Sydney of coffee and church so I thought I would try and do a similar thing here. Republic of Coffee has one of the best bean hunt ratings on the app so I came here, introduced myself, had a chat to Nick. They were looking for a part timer and Nick had heard of White Horse as well and it went from there. Once I knew I was being appointed at the church I contacted Nick and told him we were moving up.
I found this in Sydney as well, it’s incredible the relationship you can build over a couple of minutes everyday. It’s been one of the great experiences I think that has helped us as a family feel embraced by Lismore since being here by getting to know people through small interactions each day.
We had wanted to move out of Sydney for quite a while. We had good friends but we wanted a slower pace of life, a deeper connection with people and the place and 18 months on it’s been all that. It’s nice when you hope that something will eventuate in a certain way and then it does. We can really see Lismore being our home. Sarah’s from the country and her family are spread over NSW so we have travelled a bit but there is something really special about Lismore and I haven’t put my finger on it yet. Sometimes people say, Oh you have two vocations! I kind of see the combination of my role at the church and my role here as one. There’s so much integration with not only who I am and what I do but also what you contribute to the community. I have my calling to Lismore and I express it with what I do here and at church and with my neighbours. It’s all one.
Being fairly new to the region there is obviously a lot we don’t know but from what we have experienced it’s not only just a special place but there is really a high level of hope and optimism for the future. Its like the best is yet to come for Lismore.”