HUNGER TO HELP

There’s a warmth to Reverend John Stanley that is not unlike the welcoming interior colours of St James Anglican Church at New Town.

“The church has lots of warm red colours – and it’s warm as long as you’re wearing warm clothes,” jokes Rev Stanley, adding he’s brought a bucket to capture the leaks, as it’s raining when we speak. “The church is a really warm community, people are very generous. Almost everything we do includes some hospitality of some sort.”

Pictured at the church before the start of last weekend’s World Vision 40-hour Famine, in which he’s participated since his school days, Rev Stanley is dedicated to helping refugees and others in need.

“We’ve been ringing the bells at 3.30pm on Mondays to make a noise for refugees, so it makes the 40-hour Famine especially valuable for us this year because its focus is on refugees,” he says. “It was really good to do something practical like the 40-hour Famine, which will have a tangible effect on their lives.”

The guitar-playing, Harley Davids on-riding reverend joined St James three years ago after working for 13 years in the US, and before that in Sydney and Melbourne.

His hat has sentimental value and a practical use. The coloured band above the rim was given to him by a Lakota Sioux man as a gesture of friendship in the US.

“Keeping the sun off my head is important as well as keeping it warm,” he says.