Rod Bower leaves Gosford Anglican Church after 22 years

After 22 years at Gosford Anglican Church, Father Rod Bower, widely know for his outspoken views on social justice, is moving on.

The Archdeacon of the Central Coast in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle announced that February 20 was his last Sunday conducting services at the Gosford church as he leaves to take up the position of Director of Mission in the Diocese of Newcastle on February 28.

Bower said the decision to take on the new role was not taken lightly.

“I’ve been rector at Gosford for a third of my life and it is very much a part of my identity,” he said.

“I’m quite well known in the area and it is a struggle to leave.

“When the bishop first asked me to think about this new position I initially said no.

“But the bishop asked me to think about it and after a discernment process the vocational call was so strong I ended up having to say yes.”

Bower’s new role will comprise two elements.

“One is to share with the bishop oversight of the formation of all new priests – training them,” he said.

“Secondly we have 2,500 employees over our schools and agencies – aged care and welfare – and the other part of my job will be to help those agencies connect even more deeply in their communities.

“It’s a big job.”

As he and wife Kerry packed up their things ahead of a move to their new home in Toronto, Bower reflected in the many battles he has fought for social justice, with the church’s signboard often making national and even international headlines for its forthright messages.

“Fairly early in my time here we as a community decided the way we would live out the Christian life would be by being advocates and spiritual guides,” Bower said.

“We decided to focus on support of the LBGTQI community and the refugee issue.

“The scriptures are very clear about refugees and how we need to support them.

“But probably the biggest single issue was climate change.”

Bower has also tackled a host of other social justice and political issues, ranging from taking on the US gun lobby to indigenous issues and challenging the controversial Religious Discrimination Bill, which he hopes will now “die a quite death”.

Always outspoken, Bower has attracted his share of criticism and has even been arrested after chaining himself to the fence of Kirribilli House in 2017 protesting the Government’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

But he has no doubt the fight for social justice will continue at Gosford after he has left.

“The parish community has a very clear passion for social justice issues,” he said.

“It makes sense that the priest who comes here will have that passion as well but he or she will do it in their own way.

“The way this parish has spoken out on social issues has been a guiding part of our life together.”

Bower said he counted the major highlights of his 22 years at Gosford as being the way in which the church’s advocacy has been received by wider community and the growth and development within the people of the parish.

“I love that my life has been intertwined with the lives of families in the area over generations,” he said.

“One of my last acts as rector was to baptise the baby of someone who was in primary school when I first came here – sometimes it’s the little things that are most memorable.”

Terry Collins