Reflections & Features
“God called Ross from a well-paid role in agriculture to a poorly-paid role in the Church…and he accepted the challenge. In comparison, ordained ministers are paid well these days, but there is still something deeply vocational about our role. It demands much of us and will take us to places that are physically, psychologically and emotionally challenging,” says Bishop Cam Venables
The Baru Beat
In his latest ‘Baru Beat’ update, The Rev’d Rick Gummow shares another story with us that warms the cockles, drawing upon a modern-day example of The Beatitudes
“Outback ministry is more than services, Bible studies and prayers…As well as assisting graziers with feral pest control, I also help food producers with mustering…I mow the lawns of elderly home owners; help school children with their reading; engage in maintenance, repair and painting of parish buildings; and, aid very elderly parishioners by cleaning churches,” says intrepid Western Region missioner, The Rev’d Geoff Reeder
“ ‘If you build it, they will come,’ as the oft quoted movie line goes, and lo, almost to the day of the new Mitchell art gallery’s opening, caravans started lumbering back into town like migrating herds. What a sight it was – you could almost hear the town exhale with relief,” says The Rev’d Rick Gummow
“In contrast to the BCA, which does not support rural ministry in the Anglican Church Southern Queensland, the BMF only supports rural ministry in parishes of our Diocese and gives at least 98 per cent of all money donated to support rural ministry,” says Bishop Cam Venables, as he updates us on the BMF’s vital work
Find out the latest ‘Baru Beat’ news from The Rev’d Rick Gummow, including the characters he has met, the sights he has seen and the moments that have transformed his idea of solitude
“One of the things I love most about my ministry in rural and remote Western Queensland is the delightfully eccentric people I get to meet. I hope to introduce you to many more of these wonderful folk,” says The Rev’d Rick Gummow, as he welcomes us to his new anglican focus column, ‘The Baru Beat’
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