Return to rural

Arthur Payne was a newly ordained minister with no rural experience when he came to Geraldton in 1970.

Forty-five years later, he and wife Jane are back temporarily tending the flock at Geraldton Baptist Church while applications are still being processed for a new pastor.

“We’re very impressed with the friendliness in the town, ” he said.

“We sense the churches are all warm and welcoming and willing to meet a human need in the community.

“We’re reminded of the benefit of getting involved in a church when you first get to town. That’s where you meet people.”

Reflecting on his first tenure in Geraldton, Pastor Payne said it wasn’t an onerous responsibility being pastor of a rural church.

“It was an exciting opportunity to participate in a Mid West way of life. There was no mining back then, ” he said.

“We just enjoyed the experience of relating to indigenous and farming people. We’d not had those experiences until we came to Geraldton.

“At the time, a lot of Aboriginal people used to come to the church. It was an exciting time.”

The cheerful grandfather recalls some of the key people in the congregation at the time were the Gregory, James, du Boulay, Ronan and Faulkner families.

The church’s main ministry in the early 70s was a vibrant youth group which attracted at least 50 children each week. “That was the high point of the period. That group did all kinds of fascinating things, ” Pastor Payne said.

In 1972 he and the older youth shared the gospel message by spelling out “Jesus loves you” using hundreds of 44 gallon drums at the Southgate sand dunes, a stunt some long-time residents may still remember.

Pastor Payne said to raise money for church expenses, the youth and other congregation members sowed a wheat crop on land owned by Jim du Boulay at Narngulu. Despite the lack of farming experience, everyone had a lot fun.