Gordon Bradbery

Gordon Bradbery
Gordon Bradbery
Personal details
Born	8th May, 1951 Tamworth, New South Wales
Political party	Independent
Residence	Wollongong
Occupation	Lord Mayor of Wollongong
Website	http://www.gordonbradbery.com.au

Gordon Bradbery (born 8 May 1951) is the current Lord Mayor for Wollongong & former minister for the Church on the Mall Wollongong.

Early life

Born and initially raised in Tamworth, Gordon moved to Sydney and was schooled at Dr Barnardos Children's Home in Darlinghurst between the ages of 10 and 16, an experience Gordon refers to "being raised at the school of hard knocks".^[1]

Education & Career

After leaving school at 16, Gordon trained as a Laboratory Technician, and joined the Church as a Youth and Children's Welfare worker in 1971. After 14 years as a layman, Gordon was ordained in 1985 into the Uniting Church ministry.^[2]

The majority of Gordon's 25 years as an ordained minister was spent at the Wollongong Mission of the Uniting Church, known as the "Church on the Mall" in Crown St, Wollongong. In addition to his ministerial duties, Gordon was also responsible for the Wollongong Community Care Centre, situated behind the Church, which runs regular welfare programs for the disadvantaged, including the popular "soup kitchen". Gordon also worked actively with various elements of the community, adopting specialist areas in Community Development and Social Justice Programmes, as well as Trauma and Bereavement Counselling.^[2] Gordon has been recognised through numerous awards for his work with the disadvantage, the traumatised and the vulnerable (see Awards below).

In addition to his work as a minister and in the community, Gordon also undertook continued education, earning Bachelor degrees in Psychology, Sociology and Divinity at the University of Sydney.^[2]

Following a meeting of the Presbytery of Illawarra of the Uniting Church, the decision was made not to extend Gordon's term as the head of the Wollongong Mission beyond 2011,^[3] with the Chairman, David Jones citing "need to undertake succession planning for Ministry Leadership given the length of time Gordon has been in this placement". There was significant uproar among parts of the Wollongong community^[4] as a result of this decision, largely due to Gordon's extensive community service work.^[4]

Community Service

Gordon has held numerous positions outside his church ministry role, including:^[2]

• Chairperson of Lifeline South Coast for the past 15 years^[4]
• Police Chaplain – Wollongong Region for 14 years^[4]
• Rural Fire Service Chaplain and awarded 10 years service medal
• Police Commissioners Citation – Waterfall Train Disaster – for outstanding welfare assistance
• Interfaith Dialogue with the Muslim and Buddhist Communities
• Mental Health Advocate

Awards

In 1996, Gordon was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), "in recognition of service to the community, particularly for his role during the 1994 Sydney bushfires and the subsequent relief efforts for those affected".^[5]

Additionally, in 1996 and again in 2009, Gordon was awarded Rotary International's Paul Harris Fellowship Medal for outstanding community service.^[2]

References

1. ^ Gordon Bradbery Background (GordonBradbery.com.au)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} About Gordon Bradbery (GordonBradbery.com.au)
3. ^ [1] Gordon Bradbery Fallout
4. ^ ^{a b c d} [2] Church sacks minister Gordon Bradbery, Illawarra Mercury, 10th September 2009
5. ^ http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=875532&search_type=simple&showInd=true BRADBERY, Gordon Alfred (OAM) - www.itsanhonour.gov.au

Persondata
Name	Bradbery, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	8 May 1951
Place of birth	Tamworth, New South Wales
Date of death
Place of death