Ministry Team

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The Revd Dr Timothy Smith, affectionately simply called Tim, is the Vicar of St Stephens Anglican Church.

He began his journey with the congregation as Priest in Charge under the Direction of the Regional Bishop in December 2001.  Coming from the Diocese of Grafton, NSW, it was 2005 when he was provided with a licence as Vicar of St Stephens.  The licence as Vicar was renewed  in 2015.

Revd Tim was raised in the northern beaches of Sydney where he went to Sunday School and was a member of CEBS (then Church of England Boys Society).  His family moved to Tamworth NSW and he attended Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School for his last two years of high school.  He then studied and worked as a Diagnostic Radiographer in Lismore, NSW, where he made a real decision to be a disciple of Jesus and experienced filling with the Holy Spirit.

Despite resisting, Revd Tim was called to ordained ministry and moved to Brisbane to study Theology at St Francis Theological College, of Brisbane College of Theology.  He was then  for the Diocese of Grafton, NSW, made Deacon  at St John the Evangelist, Coffs Harbour, February 1992, and then ordained Priest in December 1992, atThe Cathedral of Christ the King, Grafton NSW, by the late Rt Revd Bruce Schultz. 

Following a two year Assistant Curacy at Coffs Harbour, Revd Tim  undertook a second two year Assistant Curacy at St Catherines, Heald Green, Diocese of Cheshire, UK, before returning to Australia and Grafton Diocese to be Rector of the Parish of Mid Richmond on the far north coast of NSW.  The Parish of Mid Richmond had six churches in six different towns and rural areas.  

It was in Mid Richmond that Revd Tim commenced writing his thesis for a Doctor of Ministry.  The question was, how a lone priest can minister effectively in a parish of six worship centres.  The answer was simple: each of the church congregations needed to become mature in Christ and be ministering communities not communities around a minister.  Rethinking what we mean by incarnational theology and applying the definition of an adult from human psychological development he identified what a mature congregation would look like so that it could function as a ministering community being resourced by the lone priest with sacramental ministry.

This principle Revd Tim has applied to his present ministry position as Vicar of St Stephens.

Rev'd Tim is also involved in ministry in the Diocese and for the Diocese.  He is presently in is second stint from 2015 as Area Dean of the Bellarine Deanery.  This is a role as pastoral assistant to the Bishop of the Episcopal Area and in this role he is a member of the Episcopal Area Bishop's Staff Team.  He is a member of the Prevention of Violence Against Women Taskforce, implementing a plan to change the culture of violence perpetrated against women.  In the community he is a member of the Ethics Committee for Deakin University, Geelong Campus, overseeing the application of the National Standards for Research involving Humans in the university's research proposals.  Internationally he is the Founder and Chair of Foundation South Sudan, a registered charity providing university scholarships for South Sudanese still resident in East Africa.