Bishop of Goulburn and Canberra, Stuart Robinson, welcomed those who he called “civic luminaries” to breakfast at the Best Western function room on September 13, entertained by award-winning singer-guitarist Colin Buchanan.
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The bishop said the city’s “healthy civic pride” was due in large measure to their “often unsung contributions” to employment, health care, teaching, policing, social services and the like.
“I speak not simply as the bishop, but as a person engaged in business management and pastoral care for more than 30 years,” he said.
“My business career started at the very bottom. At 15, I began selling televisions for grace Bros. It was 1975 and colour television had just been introduced. We couldn’t shift stock quick enough.
“I then became a company cadet with that same firm, and it was there in about 1978, when I was working on the loading dock, that I first met Peter Mylonas. Peter was a milko at the time.
“I’d like to take a moment to recognise Peter Mylonas, Carol James and Julie Downs, who organised this morning.
“Like many of you, I worked full time and went to tech, as it was called back then, last century, four nights a week: four nights a week for four long years.”
Armed with a management certificate, he was recruited by the Nock and Kirby outfit. “Does anybody remember Joe the Gadget Man? ‘Bring your money with you!’ Some think that’s the mission statement for the church, but that’s not the truth,” he said with a laugh.
“I became a store manager with Nick and Kirby; and then without really knowing where it might lead, I joined Golden West Tourist Services in Katoomba and ended up piloting tourist coaches around Australia.
“Indeed, I have the dishonour of having left a passenger in the Nullaboir. It was after a comfort stop. If you’ve ever been on one of those tours, you’ll know that in the middle of the desert, particularly in South Australia, there are no trees, so when you say ‘we’re stopping for a few moments’, people go off as far as they can because they’re modest.
“I got everybody back on board – or, at least, I thought I had – and roared off to Port Augusta, which was four hours away, and there was nothing between that stop and Port Augusta apart from gravel and bull dust, and I’d left a lady behind.
“Thankfully, she was rescued by another coach that came roaring in behind me on its way to Port Augusta. You can imagine that driver’s shock. it was a dirt road back then, from Coober Pedy down to Port Augusta, and as he was driving along, there was a poor woman doing up her trousers on the side of the road.”
The business of ministry then took centrestage. “Another four years’ study, and with a wife and small child in tow, I began at the bottom again, starting churches from scratch in western Sydney, Brussels, Sydney’s CBD, and eventually to Canberra and Goulburn.
“I’m privileged to have been married to Jane for 32 years. We have four adult children and three beautiful grand daughters.
“My business, like yours, is invariably about people. Isn’t that true? Valuing people people is central and essential in all we do. You grasp that, I’m sure.
“That said, when you lead, or run a business, or a large department, you yourself receive little or no accolade. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Hence – this morning. This is an episcopal thank you. It’s a celebration of your contribution to justice, welfare, primary health care, manufacturing, tourism, building and construction, the promulgation of fair trade, local government, renewable energies, sustainable agriculture, and so it goes.
“It’s not just what you do that is of such value. As a preacher, I want to add that you yourselves are of infinite worth to God, as evidenced by his investment in you … you are loved and you are precious. And to that end, if I can serve you, or those with whom you work, just say the word, for it is my privilege to get to know you and to encourage you in your life and vocation.”
Guests enjoyed a hot and cold buffet breakfast and agreeable company, as Colin Buchanan stood to sing and strum a few of his original compositions, including the ‘Trader Bob’ song.
