The Intruding Gospel

The Gospel and (Aboriginal) Culture

Personal Introduction

My experience with the Aboriginal Church began when I moved with my family to Gerard Reserve in the Riverland of South Australia. This was to provide a holiday for the resident missionary, the Rev. Laurie Reece A.M. The initial four week period was greatly extended when Rev. Reece suffered a heart attack. After two years it was evident that philosophical differences with the mission would soon make it necessary for us to leave. However I was able to continue working with the same people as the District Welfare Officer for the Aboriginal Services section of Offenders' Aid and Rehabilitation Services in the Riverland of South Australia. After three years in this position I became Pastor of the Baptist Fellowship in Berri, South Australia. I was privileged to minister among Aboriginal people in the Riverland, in various capacities, over an eight year period.

More recently, through working with Max Hart to publish the second edition of his book entitled, A Story of Fire, Continued, my involvement has been rekindled and extended to include Aboriginal people from many parts of Australia. In this capacity I had an opportunity to contact and interview leaders of the Church among Aboriginal people, with particular focus on those already referred to in the book. While fulfilling this responsibility I began to interview other Aboriginal leaders who were not related to the book but whose story needed to be told. These interviews have contributed to my own appreciation of the Aboriginal Church and to the development of an oral history library for future research.