Wilson Leigh
| Type of person | Individual |
|---|
I once read the following words “circumstances are God's sealed orders”. The circumstances of my life, which included many setbacks, have certainly shaped my life.
Early Life I grew up in suburban Melbourne, with my parents and older and younger brothers. I went to primary school during the years of the 2nd World War, and in that time my parents adopted a sister for us. My father migrated to Australia from Northern Ireland as a 20-year-old, and made a life for himself, as a commercial traveller, selling farm machinery and milking machines. My mother was born in Australia and her ancestry here goes back to Bishop Perry, the first Anglican Bishop of Melbourne. Both had a pioneering streak which rubbed off on me.
I remember the huge celebrations for school children when the 2nd World War ended. Soon after, as a family, we welcomed home a relative who had been in the Japanese concentration camp. Weeks later I was diagnosed with infantile paralysis, or polio, and spent 6 weeks in Infectious Diseases Hospital at Fairfield in Melbourne.[My parents thought I had caught the infection from the returned prisoner of war.] When I was discharged from hospital, I spent the next 2 years at home on my back. During the day I would lie in a full-length stretcher bed. I marvelled at the dedication of my parents ― every Sunday afternoon, my father would wheel me around the neighbourhood to give me an outing. When I needed to go to the Children's Hospital in Carlton, my mother would wheel me to the station, and take me on the train to the city, then wheel me about 2 km through busy city streets to the hospital and then return. I had regular visits and treatment from an excellent physio, who massaged the wasted muscles in my right leg. I missed 2 years of attending school, and did my studies through the Correspondence School, completing grade six over two years. After 2 years on my back, I was allowed up to walk around with a full-length calliper on my right leg. I then went to boarding school at Carey Baptist Grammar, and came home at weekends. In my final year my parents moved to a farm in Gippsland, so at weekends I stayed with my grandparents. Then when I left school I continued to board with them until I got married.
Working life I won a cadetship to work with the Department of Works and Housing, where I began a traineeship in Quantity Surveying. This involved several nights of night school each week, as well as full-time employment. After 2 years my circumstances changed, (which I'll explain later), and I moved into the Audit Department, where I worked for another 2 years.
Faith journey . I grew up in a God-fearing home, with my mother a regular church attender, involved in many aspects of church life. My father was sympathetic, but did not attend church. He grew up in Northern Ireland, and the bitterness between the Protestants and the Catholics deeply affected him. I began attending Sunday school as a 2 1/2-year-old, and attended regularly, later being involved in junior Christian Endeavour, where I learned to give talks in front of others. When I was mobile again after 2 years on my back with polio, I began attending church and youth Bible study. The minister asked if I was ready to be baptised, as some of the others my age would be. ( Baptists baptise believers rather than children.) I was taken aback by his request, because I knew that it was an expression of personal faith and I didn't consider myself ready. Then at boarding school the Chaplain constantly spoke of personal belief, and I considered that my upbringing in a Christian home was sufficient. In my last year at secondary school, I remember quite clearly the time when I realised that I was now a Christian, because of my personal belief.
When my parents moved to the country, I began attending another church and became involved in the youth activities to the extent that they were affecting my studies. I failed a number of subjects at the end of my 2nd year, and as a result I discontinued my study course. Sometime later, a young chap already in training for the ministry spoke at our church, and I distinctly heard God's voice calling me to enter the ministry. At 21 years of age, I entered the Baptist College in Melbourne for a four-year residential full-time course of study which led to my ordination into the Baptist ministry in 1960. I continued in active full-time ministry until I retired, age 65, in June 2000. Since that time, I have maintained my Christian life by regular attendance at worship and daily reading of the Scriptures and prayer. I have been involved in ministry of various kinds, using the skills that I have developed over many years.
Church appointments- My first church appointment was at Wonthaggi in South Gippsland with a small congregation. Along with the other ministers in the town I became involved in Religious Instruction in schools. I took several primary classes, including some one-teacher schools dotted through the countryside. I also offered to take on the difficult year 9 students in the High School and enjoyed the challenge. After 3 years there, I accepted a call to a circuit of churches in northern Victoria. There were 3 small congregations, and after a couple of years I took on the Sunday school in one of the churches, experimenting with a new approach to teaching children. I also ran a fortnightly youth group for teenagers from the town, most of whom had attended Sunday school in their early days.
Chaplaincy- Not surprisingly, after some years, and with the encouragement of my wife and my mother, I entered school chaplaincy. We moved to Shepparton, and I became chaplain at the High School and continued there for 12 years. The interaction with young people, especially their questions about faith and life, sharpened my understanding of my faith. I can still vividly remember the moment when some 12-year-olds realised for the first time that there was more to life than they could see, touch and handle. It was quite an electric moment. When I took my first long service leave, we spent 6 weeks traveling in the Northern Territory, and developed an appreciation of a different lifestyle, which led to me accepting an appointment as minister to the Protestant Church in Woomera - a community consisting of about 2000 Australian and American people, mostly belonging to the armed services. A large amount of my time was spent helping new families to settle into the very different culture and locale. I became chairman of the School Council, which in itself was a very interesting position as the school enrolment included a large number of American students whose fees were paid by their government, which meant that they could attend all the excursions, which many of the Australian families couldn't afford. I also began visiting the Defence Department work establishments which prepared me for my subsequent employment as a Chaplain with Inter-church Trade and Industry Mission, when I moved to Port Augusta. I worked with Australian National Railways,(visiting the railway workshops, and travelling to the railway settlements across the Nullarbor) , ETSA (visiting the Power Stations) and several other organisations there. After 3 years there, when my youngest son was ready to attend University, we moved to Adelaide where I became Chaplain to the ABC, Telecom, Tea Tree Gully Council and other organisations. After some years in Adelaide, I was offered the opportunity of moving to Mount Gambier for 12 months to consolidate the chaplaincy there. We had just renovated our home in Adelaide and Margaret's comment was “if that's what God wants for us, we will move" so we re-located and stayed there until I retired 7 years later. I became Chaplain to TAFE, some dairy factories and the timber industry, visiting forests to meet employees involved with the planting and harvesting, and also the timber and paper mills. We realised that the country offered a different perspective on community which city living didn't provide. I became involved in the Ministers Fellowship, adding something from my experience in chaplaincy.
In Adelaide I had been involved with the training and staff development of Industrial Chaplaincy, and in Mount Gambier I had the opportunity to introduce chaplaincy to a number of new organisations, the most interesting of which was the Safries Potato Chip factory, where the earthy employees and I got on very well. They even invited me to be an angel on their float in the Mount Gambier Christmas Street parade!
Family life My first wife Margaret, and I were married for over 40 years, and have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. Margaret died of a stroke less than a year after I retired from active ministry. We had enrolled with a program which places experienced people in remote locations to provide tutoring for children who cannot attend school. We began a placement on a property beyond Leigh Creek, and within a few days Margaret had a stroke and had to be airlifted to Adelaide for hospitalisation. For the next 6 months she was in and out of hospital, with her condition deteriorating until she died.
Six months after Margaret died, I received a message to say that a close friend Craig had died and he had asked that I should take his funeral, which I was pleased to. I had met Craig through chaplaincy and when he had a heart attack I regularly visited he and his wife at his home. In discussion, they told me they had been active Christians but when they got married they drifted away. Sometime later they returned to the Christian faith and became close friends with my wife and I. After the funeral I offered support to Reta and she would phone me in Mount Gambier from time to time. Some months later I came to Adelaide for a few days and visited her. We went to church together, (something she hadn't done since her husband died) then had lunch and went for a walk in the Barossa. We realise there was something between us and we continued our friendship by phone, letter and occasional visits to each other until we married 12 months later. Reta had lived most of her life in Adelaide, close to her daughters, and I had lived away from my family for many years. As a compromise, we settled in Willaston, and Reta was able to visit her family regularly. After we had been married two and a half years, Reta was diagnosed with cancer and died 12 months later. So I was left on my own again. I managed quite well, having learned to cook by watching my first wife for many years, who was an excellent cook. A couple of years later while visiting friends who had known my second wife, they asked me how I was managing on my own. I said “I told the Lord that this is year that I would like to meet somebody” .They laughed, and when I asked “ why?” They said they knew a lady who could be interested to meet me. They had met her in Kununurra in northern Western Australia sometime before. They contacted Fay and gave her my details, and we began a friendship, doing our courting by e-mail and telephone. Some months later, Fay moved to Willaston and we married in September 2009. Fay is originally a New Zealander, with some family still there, and we have had two visits there. Between us,we have family in 3 states of Australia, and in New Zealand, 9 children and their partners, 18 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
My Interests People mean a great deal to me, so it is not surprising that my life's work has been taken up with them, especially young people, which led me into a School Chaplaincy and continuing support for Ministry in Schools. And in my retirement I have been able to offer a mentoring role to a number of folk, using my experience in ministry to encourage them in their ministry roles. Community means a great deal to me, so , I have found ways of being involved in whichever community I have lived in. Since moving to this area, I have been involved in the Gawler Ministers' Fellowship, the Inter-Church Council and the Home Assist Consumer Reference Group. Over the years,I have also dabbled in writing and editing, self-publishing a few “how-to” manuals, and putting together newsletters for various organisations. Currently I help to put together the newsletter for Home Assist consumers. My mindset has largely been shaped in part by the willingness of my family to take on new experiences ― (my father's migration to Australia and my mother 's befriending of many migrant European people after the 2nd.World War). And my professional training as an auditor,(comparing what is, with what is meant to be) prior to training for the Christian ministry, also shaped my thinking. So I have an interest, for example, in considering new possibilities in Christian worship and of the place of the Christian Church in the community. Because of this, I constantly ask a lot of questions, which can be a threat to people that I know. I also write letters to newspapers, and to Members of Parliament, Government Departments and other organisations regarding incorrect signage, and inadequate services, etc. I also enjoy photography, and had one of my photos shown on ABC TV news some years ago. And with family scattered across two countries, we also enjoy travel.
My life in Gawler- Since moving to Gawler in 2003, I have enjoyed reading the history of Gawler. I note with interest that Governor. Gawler, after whom the town is named, was quite outspoken against the authorities in favour of the new colony. I also note that the Bunyip newspaper was a vehicle of the Humbug Society and was heavy with satire and humour. How things have changed! My experience of Gawler, and of its newspaper, is of a very conservative community, with little evidence of those who wish to challenge the system In one way or another. What a pity, after such an auspicious beginning!
I anticipate spending the rest of my days in Gawler, making use of the excellent facilities for older people, and continuing to challenge what is, with what could be. I may not endear myself to many people, but I can live with myself, having said what I believe needs to be said at the appropriate time and in a responsible manner.
End of my story - pro tem!
To view more photos of Leigh Wilson please click here
Memories of Wilson Leigh
Do you remember Wilson Leigh ? Then Join up and add your memory here.
Support our sponsors!
