Norfolk Island has a new minister who's looking forward to dusting off his scuba diving gear after nearly four years in an outback parish the size of Victoria.
The Rev Rod Oldfield, currently the Anglican minister with the Bush Church Aid Society (BCA) in Coober Pedy will become the island's chaplain in September.
BCA, which specialises in supplying and maintaining ministry in isolated settings, was called upon to work in partnership with Sydney Diocese to find the right person for the role.
The new chaplain, together with his wife Christene, plans to get out in the community by knocking on doors and listening to the residents.
"One of the things that my wife and I enjoy is getting to know people and talking to people," Mr Oldfield says.
"I'm looking forward to helping people find the ministries that God has given them."
Despite appearances, Mr Oldfield says Coober Pedy and Norfolk Island are similar mission fields as both are remote and isolated with a "small community feel'.
Like many of Coober Pedy's 3500 residents, the Oldfields live underground to escape from the scorching heat.
Coober Pedy is the largest opal mining area in the world and the sheer size of the parish means that Rod Oldfield is on the road for one week a month visiting people in far flung properties.
In his new role, he will continue pastoral visiting, swapping the desert landscape for the green rolling hills and milder temperatures.
He also plans to get in a spot of scuba diving, a sport that the husband and wife team have missed over the past few years.
Norfolk Island - a change in ministry direction
The parish's two churches " All Saints', Kingston and St Barnabas' Chapel " have been without a permanent minister since the Rev John Reed finished his ministry there in December 2004.
While locums have shared the role of leading the church over the past 18 months, the Bishop of South Sydney Robert Forsyth enlisted BCA to find a man who can be chaplain, rather than a rector, to the parish.
"It's a ministry where what you do outside the church is probably as important as what you do inside," Bishop Forsyth says.
"It's about getting around, getting to know people and connecting with the community.
"We enlisted the help of BCA because we realise that it's a specialist area and our Diocese doesn't have a lot of expertise in remote area ministries."
Bishop Forsyth says Rod Oldfield's community focus and people skills mean he is the right man for the task.
"It's a great thing for the island, they need this kind of person," he says.
"This is the first step in a fruitful partnership with BCA."
According to the National Director of BCA, the Rev Canon Brian Roberts, the two major aspects to the chaplaincy are the care and the nurture of the existing and growing church congregations and outreach and service to the community.
"They have an equal weigh as a ministry focus on Norfolk, this is often different from being an urban parish minister where the community his harder to define and hence the responsibilities are different," Canon Roberts says.
"It will be a challenge to balance a ministry so that all sections of the community are served and ministered."
Canon Roberts says Rod and Christene Oldfield are "a very resourceful and thoughtful couple and good listeners and careful observers of life'.
"Rod is particularly well skilled in handling the Bible and relating it everyday current issues,” he says.
“He has led worship in a variety of contexts over the many years of ministry."
Norfolk has been rocked in recent years by the first murder in the island's history of settlement, the 2002 murder of 29-year old Janelle Patton.
It is also currently grappling with self-governance issues.
The island is celebrating its 150th anniversary of settlement by Pitcairn Islanders next month, with Bishop Forsyth preaching at a special service.
"Norfolk Island really is very different place," Canon Roberts says.
"It is currently moving through some difficult times" they have had a very unsettling effect on the people of Norfolk."
"[But] they are a resilient people. They care for their island and their people. The role of chaplain is not to make them into something else but to bring the light of our Lord's good news within reach."
