New face joins St Paul's Anglican Church parish

A new leader has joined the ranks of Stanthorpe's St Paul's Anglican Church

NEW ADDITION: Reverend Daniel Sitaram has joined St Paul's Anglican Church in Stanthorpe. Picture: Liana Turner

A NEW leader has joined the ranks of Stanthorpe's St Paul's Anglican Church.

Reverend Daniel Sitaram, originally from Fiji, said he'd come to be fond of the Stanthorpe community since moving here from New Zealand two weeks ago.

He's now held two weekends of services and has been settling into the church community well.

"I enjoyed the service and the company of the people,” Rev Sitaram said.

"They're very, very good so I look forward to working with them.”

Rev Sitaram, who has a background in teaching and pathology as well as theology, said he already felt at home on the Granite Belt.

"I thought God was calling me to come here and when I came for my interview on March 1, after meeting the people here I... felt so welcome,” he said.

"When I came and met the people I knew that I had belonged to this family, the family that welcomed me and the family that sort of embraced me and our family here with God-given grace.

"They were full of grace. When they spoke to me their eyes proved that they had lots of grace and welcome.”

With no family in the region other than his wife, Saleshni, and children, 4 and 11, Rev Sitaram said they had wanted to settle into a community-minded parish.

"For me there is no immediate family here,” he said.

"But this is the family of God, which God has given me, and they're very good people.”

He said the church had grown to be increasingly inclusive of different background and views over the years.

"I think the Anglican Church has now opened its doors to embrace different cultures, different religions,” he said.

"Everybody is different and we have our own unique gifts and talents to provide.

"I've found the people to be so good and so welcoming at heart.”

He said Stanthorpe had seemed to be a highly religious community, and one which he hopes to connect with on many levels.

"I felt the real presence of God moving in this place, when they displayed their arms of welcome to me,” he said.

Rev Sitaram was born in Fiji, where he completed his schooling and undertook a university degree in teaching.

He later moved to New Zealand, where he studies a Bachelor of Theology at the University of Auckland from 2005 to 2007.

"After that I went and joined nursing school and did my pathology qualification,” he said.

He worked in pathology for about seven years, and enjoyed this. But his calling was always to the world of religion.

"So I joined as a chaplain for Mission to Seafarers,” he said.

"I was there for two years and then I was sent to be the chaplain at White Hamilton hospital which is in Waikato, New Zealand, for three years.”

After a while, Rev Sitaram wanted to move forward in his religious life and began searching for opportunities.

One arose in the UK, but his family wasn't all that keen to live there, so he kept searching.

"We decided to pray about it and then Stanthorpe came,” he said.

"When Stanthorpe came we were looking to live in a Parish which has a focus on community.

"So we thought Stanthorpe, which is a vibrant community here, would be good for us.”

He said this had proved to be a great choice for his family.

"I can see the true sense of community here,” he said.

"We're very happy.

"We grew up on a farm, in Fiji, and so a farming community is what I was looking for.

"It's good to grow children in a community with that spirit and welcome.”

Rev Sitaram said he hoped to connect with as much of the community as possible and urged anyone who has lapsed from church life to return to the flock.

He said the church was now facing an exciting time.

"The church door will be open more now for people to come,” he said.

He said there would be some developments in services in the future, but times would remain the same for the remainder of the year.

"The services will be at the same time, at the other small centres as well,” he said.

"The plan is now to go slow, but bring in some new developments.”