The congregation of the Geelong RPCA gathered together recently to celebrate Rev. Dr. Andrew Stewart’s 26 years of faithful ministry in Australia. Andrew has relinquished his role as minister of the Geelong church to take up a teaching position at the Reformed Theological College in Melbourne. We are grateful for his years of service and for the loving care he has shown to us as minister and friend.
To celebrate Andrew’s service, the congregation met at the church hall for afternoon tea. Winnifred Nelson expressed the congregation’s indebtedness to Andrew and his family, wife Katie, and children, Adam and Mei, and Rev Graeme Hart from McKinnon RPCA gave thanks for Andrew’s input into his life. The afternoon
concluded with a celebratory cake cutting.
That evening a formal dinner was held at a local function centre where Andrew was again celebrated and thanked for his loving leadership and friendship. Speeches of appreciation were received from members of the congregation including Margaret Grant, David Feldman, Jeanne & Stephen Webb and Mary Davies (at 93 years, the oldest & longest serving member of the Geelong church). George Terhorst presented the gift.
We were delighted to hear video greetings from Andrew’s mother and brothers, Peter and Jonathan, in the UK, as well as former friends and colleagues from the RP fraternity there. These included Rev. Joel Loughridge, Minister at Cloughmills RPCI and former seminary intern in Australia, Rev. Paul Wright, Minister at Cookstown RPCI, Prof. Robert McCollum, Principal of the RTC Belfast, and Rev. Harry Coulter, Minister at Enniskillen RPCI.
Andrew will be missed for his thorough expository preaching, his passion for the worldwide RP church and the Reformation Translation Fellowship, and his knowledge of Reformed history. He was a part of the committee running the much- loved biannual Geelong Bible Conference and bringing high calibre speakers to us in
the Antipodes.
We are grateful that Andrew, Katie, Adam and Mei remain active members of the congregation. Andrew’s other loves of fine chocolate, baklava, chickens, hiking, and Middle Eastern food appear unaffected by the transition!
Thanks to Margaret Grant and Jeanne Webb, members of the Geelong RPC for writing this report, and to Caleb and Maria Hart, members of McKinnon RPC for the photos.
