Gordon Bradbery is the current Lord Mayor for Wollongong & former minister for the Church on the Mall Wollongong.

Early life

Born and initially raised in Tamworth

Tamworth, New South Wales

Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...

, 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".

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

Uniting Church in Australia

The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....

 ministry.

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"

Soup kitchen

A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...

. 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. 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

Sydney School of Psychology

The School of Psychology is a constituent body of the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, Australia. It is the first established School of Psychology in Australia, and currently one of the largest and most prestigious.-External links:*...

, Sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 and Divinity

Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...

 at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

.

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, 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 as a result of this decision, largely due to Gordon's extensive community service work.

Community Service

Gordon has held numerous positions outside his church ministry role, including:

• Chairperson of Lifeline South Coast
  Lifeline (Counselling service)
  Lifeline is a free, 24 hour telephone counselling service in Australia. Volunteer counsellors provide suicide prevention, crisis support and mental health services via telephone. This service can be accessed by calling 13 11 14 within Australia....
  
   for the past 15 years
• Police Chaplain – Wollongong Region for 14 years
• Rural Fire Service Chaplain and awarded 10 years service medal
• Police Commissioners Citation – Waterfall Train Disaster
  Waterfall train disaster
  The Waterfall rail accident was a train accident that occurred on 31 January 2003 near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. The train derailed, killing seven people aboard, including the train driver.-Incident:...
  
   – 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)

Order of Australia

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

, "in recognition of service to the community, particularly for his role during the 1994 Sydney bushfires and the subsequent relief efforts for those affected".

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