RELIGION

Ground Control to Major Tom

Padre Tom Williams from the Chuch of the Holy Name tells Gemma Buxton about life in Tennant Creek and the Anglican Church.

When did you turn to the church?
Not until my 20s, which is probably a bit unusual for a lot of people these days. I started getting interested in Christianity because I was brought up Church of England, though I was never confirmed. Dad had a lot to do with the Salvation Army because of the Second World War so he sent us of to the Salvation Army. So I was in the Salvation Army until I was about 11 but drifted away really. When I was 19 a death of a family member really rocked our family, so I started getting books from the library on the life of Christ and began to wonder whether it was fair dinkum or not. Later I began to go to church, much to the surprise of the local clergyman.
I started to take confirmation classes, to get me up to speed. I learnt the life of Christ, Birth, Death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. So I really thought this bloke was fair dinkum then. If I was good enough to die for, then this guy is the goods!!

How far does your parish extend?
Since the Bush Brothers stopped going out to the stations I have recommenced it; there was a period of 10 or 12 years when the stations were never visited.
My circuit at the moment is from here to Threeways, from there to the Barkly Homestead, along the Tablelands Highway to Heartbreak Hotel, out to Borroloola, where I take a service at Borroloola once a month and then come back along the Carpenteria Highway to Daly Waters and then turn left and come back down again to Elliott; the work there has sort of declined a bit. I do Religious education at some of the Bush Schools.

What about in town?
I don't like to ask people which church they choose to stay away from, I just talk to them as individuals and see where they are at.
I teach Religous education at the Primary School here as well. We don't do much in the High School and that has been a concern of mine and I'd like to do more there but it's all about hitting the right medium for them because they're a different generation from me; I haven't found the bridge yet that builds to that generation. So I'm concerned really from the cradle to the grave! Hatch, match and dispatch!! We have Bible studies here on a Thursday night for people who are interested.

Do you perform many marriages?
There aren't alot of marriages in the church now, that's pretty much the trend nowadays. It's always been a concern of mine; I would like to develop the church here so we have a more beautiful outside aspect as well as an inside, because most people want to get married in gardens or places of significance. That's a future development of mine. The Anglican church recently met to try and decide because we are restricted by our church rules which say that any Anglican marriages must happen in an Anglican Church or a church. So we can't marry people in the open air, we are not permitted to do it - we may want to do it - but we are not permitted by our church laws to do it. So sadly I've lost alot of people locally because they want to get married in gardens or beautiful settings and I'm just not permited to do it. If they're out on a cattle station, hundreds of kilometres from the church, then we do regard that as being their community centre so if there is no church, then we can marry people in the open air in extreme cases.
There was a gun amnesty in W.A. in 1979. So I said to the local Roman Catholic priest, "Why don't we have a relationship amnesty! Look, everybody in this area that we know, they all live together, they're not married to each other and they all have different reasons as to why they're not married to each other, so let's have a relationship amnesty."
I said, "Let's go up in an aeroplane; we'll get everybody to stand in their backyards, you marry all the Roman Catholics, I'll marry everyone else, we'll just do it, all at once! Get 'em all legitimised all at once!" and he says, "Great idea Tom! But I don't think my Bishop will like it."
You know, I'm up with the ideas and sentiments as to why people do it. In W.A. people would tell me how their parents were divorced and they didn't want to make the same mistake, they thought if they lived together for a couple of years and were still happy with each other then they'd go ahead and get married. And I did alot marriages like that, I don't agree with it but I can see the sentiment behind it. The church has lost it's appeal to the general public, I feel, and so you've got to go after them, we've got to go out there and be where the people are.

What about previous experience?
When I came here I thought: well, if I'm going to work on cattle stations, I'd better understand what goes on on cattle stations. So I went up and did the Rural College course, up in Katherine, the Jackaroos course for 3 months. Well, strike it was hard work! So I was probably the oldest member doing the course, the average age of most of the kids who were doing it was about 18 or 19. My policy there was, how can you talk to people unless you've sort of lived in their shoes for awhile. I learnt the Jackaroo skills and I know what to do but I know it's not what I'm meant to do.
I've pretty well done most things in life. I became a postman, then I was labouring, worked on a pig farm and worked on a sheep station. I've done fencing, I worked on a sewerage farm at one stage, worked in warehouses, I've been a warden in Sydney, worked on The Adelaide River War Memorial Cemetary as a labourer, I've done painting, boiler making, engineering in Cornwall, I've had quite a wide experience with occupations.

Who's your Employer?
The Parish is who pays my Stipend, but it is also seconded by a grant from the Bush Church Aids Society who exist to provide diocese in Outback Austalia with clergy and medical and hostel personel. Hostels are supported for bush kids to stay in when they come in for school. So they really provide the bulk of the money for my vechicle, for moving around and most of my Stipend, because the parish really isn't big enough to support full time clergymen with all the expenses. So although the parish employs me, they couldn't do it without the assistance of the Bush Church Aids Society. But I am licensed in the diocese to perform as a priest by the Bishop of the Northern Territory, Anglican Church. So he's my boss as well, and because I'm an Army Reserve chaplin too, I have a principal chaplin for the Anglicans in Canberra also in charge of me. Then above him I have the Anglican Bishop for the Defence force who's also in charge of me and I also have a senior chaplin in Darwin who's also in charge of me. So there's a lot of areas where I have to keep everyone happy.

Church Service Times

Sunday - 9:00 am Family Holy Communion Service
1st Sunday every month - 7:00 pm Holy Communiion Service
Thursdays - 7:30 pm Bible study at different homes, check with Tom Williams on 8962 1101.

Ground Control to Major Tom Padre Tom Williams from the Chuch of the Holy Name tells Gemma Buxton about life in Tennant Creek and the Anglican Church. When did you turn to the church? Not until my 20s, which is probably a bit unusual for a lot of people these days. I started getting interested in Christianity because I was brought up Church of England, though I was never confirmed. Dad had a lot to do with the Salvation Army because of the Second World War so he sent us of to the Salvation Army. So I was in the Salvation Army until I was about 11 but drifted away really. When I was 19 a death of a family member really rocked our family, so I started getting books from the library on the life of Christ and began to wonder whether it was fair dinkum or not. Later I began to go to church, much to the surprise of the local clergyman. I started to take confirmation classes, to get me up to speed. I learnt the life of Christ, Birth, Death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. So I really thought this bloke was fair dinkum then. If I was good enough to die for, then this guy is the goods!! How far does your parish extend? Since the Bush Brothers stopped going out to the stations I have recommenced it; there was a period of 10 or 12 years when the stations were never visited. My circuit at the moment is from here to Threeways, from there to the Barkly Homestead, along the Tablelands Highway to Heartbreak Hotel, out to Borroloola, where I take a service at Borroloola once a month and then come back along the Carpenteria Highway to Daly Waters and then turn left and come back down again to Elliott; the work there has sort of declined a bit. I do Religious education at some of the Bush Schools. What about in town? I don't like to ask people which church they choose to stay away from, I just talk to them as individuals and see where they are at. I teach Religous education at the Primary School here as well. We don't do much in the High School and that has been a concern of mine and I'd like to do more there but it's all about hitting the right medium for them because they're a different generation from me; I haven't found the bridge yet that builds to that generation. So I'm concerned really from the cradle to the grave! Hatch, match and dispatch!! We have Bible studies here on a Thursday night for people who are interested. Do you perform many marriages? There aren't alot of marriages in the church now, that's pretty much the trend nowadays. It's always been a concern of mine; I would like to develop the church here so we have a more beautiful outside aspect as well as an inside, because most people want to get married in gardens or places of significance. That's a future development of mine. The Anglican church recently met to try and decide because we are restricted by our church rules which say that any Anglican marriages must happen in an Anglican Church or a church. So we can't marry people in the open air, we are not permitted to do it - we may want to do it - but we are not permitted by our church laws to do it. So sadly I've lost alot of people locally because they want to get married in gardens or beautiful settings and I'm just not permited to do it. If they're out on a cattle station, hundreds of kilometres from the church, then we do regard that as being their community centre so if there is no church, then we can marry people in the open air in extreme cases. There was a gun amnesty in W.A. in 1979. So I said to the local Roman Catholic priest, "Why don't we have a relationship amnesty! Look, everybody in this area that we know, they all live together, they're not married to each other and they all have different reasons as to why they're not married to each other, so let's have a relationship amnesty." I said, "Let's go up in an aeroplane; we'll get everybody to stand in their backyards, you marry all the Roman Catholics, I'll marry everyone else, we'll just do it, all at once! Get 'em all legitimised all at once!" and he says, "Great idea Tom! But I don't think my Bishop will like it." You know, I'm up with the ideas and sentiments as to why people do it. In W.A. people would tell me how their parents were divorced and they didn't want to make the same mistake, they thought if they lived together for a couple of years and were still happy with each other then they'd go ahead and get married. And I did alot marriages like that, I don't agree with it but I can see the sentiment behind it. The church has lost it's appeal to the general public, I feel, and so you've got to go after them, we've got to go out there and be where the people are. What about previous experience? When I came here I thought: well, if I'm going to work on cattle stations, I'd better understand what goes on on cattle stations. So I went up and did the Rural College course, up in Katherine, the Jackaroos course for 3 months. Well, strike it was hard work! So I was probably the oldest member doing the course, the average age of most of the kids who were doing it was about 18 or 19. My policy there was, how can you talk to people unless you've sort of lived in their shoes for awhile. I learnt the Jackaroo skills and I know what to do but I know it's not what I'm meant to do. I've pretty well done most things in life. I became a postman, then I was labouring, worked on a pig farm and worked on a sheep station. I've done fencing, I worked on a sewerage farm at one stage, worked in warehouses, I've been a warden in Sydney, worked on The Adelaide River War Memorial Cemetary as a labourer, I've done painting, boiler making, engineering in Cornwall, I've had quite a wide experience with occupations. Who's your Employer? The Parish is who pays my Stipend, but it is also seconded by a grant from the Bush Church Aids Society who exist to provide diocese in Outback Austalia with clergy and medical and hostel personel. Hostels are supported for bush kids to stay in when they come in for school. So they really provide the bulk of the money for my vechicle, for moving around and most of my Stipend, because the parish really isn't big enough to support full time clergymen with all the expenses. So although the parish employs me, they couldn't do it without the assistance of the Bush Church Aids Society. But I am licensed in the diocese to perform as a priest by the Bishop of the Northern Territory, Anglican Church. So he's my boss as well, and because I'm an Army Reserve chaplin too, I have a principal chaplin for the Anglicans in Canberra also in charge of me. Then above him I have the Anglican Bishop for the Defence force who's also in charge of me and I also have a senior chaplin in Darwin who's also in charge of me. So there's a lot of areas where I have to keep everyone happy. Church Service Times Sunday - 9:00 am Family Holy Communion Service 1st Sunday every month - 7:00 pm Holy Communiion Service Thursdays - 7:30 pm Bible study at different homes, check with Tom Williams on 8962 1101.