Rev. Simon Hansford served as Moderator of the Synod of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory of the Uniting Church in Australia from 2017 to 2023. He now serves as Minister of the Word at Armidale Uniting Church.
Simon said of his vision for the Uniting Church:
“Our Church has a vital place in our community, and we have a long experience of seeking to engage our community with the gospel, through advocacy, service, and the ministry of individuals and congregations.
Our lives – and our words – proclaim the hope we have found in Jesus, and this echoes in our worship together, in our challenges for our community and in our service for all those around us.”
Simon has served in ordained ministry for more than thirty-five years, serving in rural and regional communities across New South Wales.
Before entering ordained ministry, Simon worked in youth ministry with the Gymea-Miranda Congregation of the Uniting Church.
Simon was ordained as a Minister in 1990 and moved with his wife, Fiona, to Dubbo in 1991, where their two daughters were born. It was here that he developed his deep love for regional, rural and remote Australia.
In 2003, Simon and his family were called to the Queanbeyan Congregation, where he served until 2006. From 2006 to 2012, he served as Presbytery Minister for the New England North West Presbytery, before serving at Tamworth Southside Congregation until August 2017.
The rural church has a significant place in Simon’s heart, informing much of his understanding of service, theology and community, and thus how the gospel is articulated with integrity.
Simon sees this time as an opportunity for us to articulate our experience of God, who is deeply committed to our entire creation. It is not simply about serving those in need, but about sharing the hope which places us alongside them, living the story of Jesus Christ, in whom we find ourselves made whole.
Read Simon’s blog, Through a Strained Fence, where he regularly shares reflections on faith, life, theology and culture in rural Australia.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. … The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt
…one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And
[Jesus said] “Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought Jesus a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Then [the king] said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was…
“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he