Warrnambool's Uniting Church Reverend Geoff Barker will retire this month

There is no doubt that as a man of the cloth, the Uniting Church's Reverend Geoff Barker practises what he preaches.

Banners on the facade of his Warrnambool Koroit Street church champion social and environmental justice, proclaiming "Science is Real", "Women are Owed Equality", "Love is Love", "No Human is Illegal" and perhaps most controversially, "Black Lives Matter".

They are designed, he explains, to convey "who we are as a church and the things that are important."

Similarly thought-provoking have been his public messages, like the one challenging worshippers to "Live in such a way that you could look your great-grandchildren in the eye."

Now, the minister who has never been afraid to walk the talk is calling time on his career of 33 years. When his congregation comes together for a farewell service and luncheon on Sunday, it will mark the end of what he describes as "a very special" 15 years of ministering to the Warrnambool and surrounding communities.

"I will miss the people and being part of people's lives," says the 65-year-old reverend who will retire to Bendigo with his wife Colleen in the new year.

"My ministry here has been working together with people, not me standing out the front dragging people along. It's been a journey, an adventure that we've been on together. It's been an adventure in spiritual growth and growing in love and connection with the community."

It's a connection the reverend has worked hard to establish and one that is clearly reciprocated by those whose lives he has touched.

Describing his style as "blending a wonderful sense of mischief with a deep love and care for people, their faith struggles and issues of social and environmental justice", Warrnambool Uniting Church Council chairperson Martin Dunstan says Reverend Barker will be a loss to the region.

"He is an innovative and engaging minister and a dedicated community worker. He has placed himself where the hurt was. We are going to miss him a lot."

With typical humility, Reverend Barker deflects the praise.

"If people think I am a good guy, it's because the church has given me that freedom and support to do so," he maintains, paying tribute to the support of his colleagues Reverend Malcom Frazer and Pastor Marjorie Crothers along with wife Colleen.

"One of the things that appealed to me about the Uniting Church is its stand on social justice," says the reverend who stepped away from a career as a secondary school business teacher at the age of 28 to study theology. His first ministry was in Hopetoun, followed by 15 years in Bendigo.

"That attracted me to the Uniting Church and I have probably become more confident to speak out about issues since then. Particularly here in Warrnambool, the church has been on side. It's about changing and helping society be better and fairer."

And as far as Reverend Barker is concerned, that also means endorsing same-sex marriage, a stand that has gained wide support among his own congregation.

"It's the primacy of love," he reasons, although he was never asked to marry a same-sex couple.

After the Barkers arrived in Warrnambool from Bendigo in early 2008, it wasn't long before the reverend began to make his mark on the community.

One of his first initiatives, a new take on the traditional soup kitchen, will continue as one of his enduring and proudest legacies.

The weekly Wednesday community lunch was introduced later that year, to provide not only a nutritious meal for those in need, but a safe and welcoming place where Reverend Barker regularly pitched in with the cooking.

"It's just so rewarding seeing how people support each other. For a lot of these people, this is church for them," he says. "Some of them are homeless, others are lonely and some are struggling with various issues."

Pre-Covid-19, the lunches regularly attracted up to 60 people with the Christmas lunch at one time drawing more than 100. Numbers currently average about 30.

While he cites climate change, the plight of refugees, Indigenous issues and poverty as society's biggest challenges, on the local front it is Warrnambool's lack of affordable housing that causes Reverend Barker greatest concern.

"Housing is a huge problem and we do some emergency relief where we can," he says, pointing to the upcoming expansion of the church's Heatherlie Homes facility as reason for optimism. The Princess Street proposal will create 13 new homes primarily for pensioners.

It was the same issue that confronted Reverend Barker back in his first week in the job in Warrnambool when three homeless men knocked on his door seeking help to find accommodation.

He hit on the innovative idea of setting up an emergency accommodation caravan at the Koroit Tower Hill Caravan Park where it operated for several years.

Always willing to experiment in the name of halting declining congregations, Reverend Barker has driven a range of initiatives aimed at engaging the next generation of worshippers.

There have been mentoring and meditation programs for children, discussion sessions at local cafes, a multi-faith picnic, a Port Fairy parenting festival and an initiative which brought visiting Indonesian Muslims and Christians together.

A monthly Korean language service is held at the Warrnambool church and during lockdowns, services were delivered via Zoom and YouTube.

But it was the heartwarming experience of a young Nigerian asylum-seeker's bid to begin a new life in Australia that Reverend Barker holds close to his heart as one of the highlights of his time here.

A story that still brings him to tears, the reverend tells how the young man, who had fled to Australia after his life was threatened by Muslim extremists, was rejected for asylum on his initial application.

Reverend Baker stepped in, successfully pleading his young friend's case at the Refugee Review Tribunal. It was his commitment to social justice that very nearly landed Reverend Baker in hot water.

He and five others from the Love Makes a Way movement were arrested for trespassing during a sit-in in 2015 at the Warrnambool office of Wannon MP Dan Tehan while campaigning for the release of children in Australian detention centres.

The incident led to Reverend Barker being stood down from his position as the local regional police chaplain. The charges were later dropped and he was reinstated as chaplain.

As an accomplished musician on keyboard, guitar and saxophone, the reverend is a firm believer in the power of music in spirituality.

It not only forms an integral part of his ministry but also led to his co-founding with Philip Shaw of the One Earth, Many Voices choir of Warrnambool and Port Fairy congregation members performing songs advocating love of the earth and climate change.

"It was particularly about environment and climate change. The science is clear and out there, but how do you get to people's hearts?" He decided music could just hold the key.

Among the lighter moments of his placement, he recounts his role playing Santa at Port Fairy where he helped organise Christmas carols on the village green.

"A little boy came up to me and said, 'If I don't get an X-Box for Christmas I will be really cross'."

Reverend Barker will lead his final services on December 23 at Mortlake, Christmas Eve in Warrnambool and Christmas Day in Port Fairy.