Lorne Victoria Australia

The Rev’d Lynton Wade trained for ministry at Ridley College. He worked as a curate in Box Hill, in a team in Adelaide Diocese and Associate at Christ Church Dingley before planting a church in Caroline Springs as part of Archbishop Watson’s 20/20 Vision. Caroline Springs was a growth area and the new church met in the Vicarage lounge, a Pre-school, and the Catholic Primary School before moving to the parish centre. The congregation grew to 120 in seven years supporting 5 playgroups, 2 Mainly Music groups, a pre-toddlers playgroup held in a nursing home and a monthly families’ program with puppets, songs, Bible story, games and craft in the shopping centre. It was time to move. Bishop Huggins felt the four centres of Surfcoast would benefit from these community and growth skills, and Lynton had worked in a multi-centre parish before.

Lynton was aware of the strain felt by each centre in Surfcoast when ministry was haphazard, so he aimed to provide a Eucharist at each location on Sunday: 8am at Airey’s, 9.30am at Anglesea and 11:30am at Torquay, with Lorne at 5pm. In addition each had a midweek service where it was possible to stay and chat.

He introduced Messy Church in Torquay, and a more contemporary music style with his guitar accompanying the piano or organ. Knowing some folk preferred grape juice to fortified wine he introduced the use of individual cups as an option at communion, a practice common in Evangelical churches and those who provide alternatives for anyone who does not take alcohol [Editor: the use individual cups became an option in many parishes with the arrival of COVID-19]. These introductions provided some discomfort as they were not familiar in Surcoast traditions, though they have been commonplace in many Anglican churches across Australia.

When the Lorne Uniting and Anglican congregations imagined meeting together the Bishop arranged the separation of Lorne from the Surfcoast Parish, and Lynton was inducted to Lorne Parish in August 2012 as an Anglican and Uniting minister, which meant a change of clergy again for the remaining Surfcoast parish.

Lynton juggled responsibilities to both organisations, and worked to blend liturgies in the APBA and the Uniting tradition. Lynton and Jeanette lived in the Lorne Manse as a gesture of ecumenicity while the Anglican Vicarage was rented, and the long-felt need of both congregations to have their priest living among them was met. Again, community networking was a feature of his ministry, and he brought services and singing to Lorne hospital and nursing home. Introducing a TV screen and laptop for projecting services at Lorne was an innovation to make it easier for visitors to the holiday town and increase the range of songs. Sharing resources, rather than having 12-20 people in two churches each Sunday, there were 40-60 in one church. However, while gains were made, the blending was ultimately not successful with each community valuing their own traditions and historical buildings.

In 2016 Rev’d Lynton retired from Lorne and the two churches have more recently reverted to their own arrangements. Lynton has been serving as Minister of Buninyong Baptist since 2019 (Rev’d L Wade, and input from parishioners and records).

Source: “A History of the Surf Coast Anglican Churches” written and researched by Norma Morrison, 2021