Nationals MP George Christensen set to be ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church

Nationals MP George Christensen reveals his intention to be ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church. But he’s not giving up his day job.

George Christensen in the House of Representatives Chamber Picture: Kym Smith

Outspoken Nationals MP George Christensen is set to be ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church.

However, Mr Christensen has renominated to run for his Queensland seat of Dawson at the next federal election and won’t be throwing the Turnbull government’s numbers into a spin.

If he was to quit early, it could put the government’s one-seat majority in jeopardy.

When he was 21, the conservative MP was accepted into a Catholic seminary in Melbourne, but left after a few weeks.

In 2014, he joined the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

More recently he became an Anglican, but retained his conservative Christian position by attaching himself to one of the few Anglican dioceses in Australia that does not ordain women priests, The Murray, in South Australia. In July he will be ordained a deacon by Bishop John Ford.

Mr Christensen said he intended to stay on in parliament, as his unpaid deacon role would allow him to carry on with his day job. He won’t be moving to South Australia, but rather is expected to be attached to a parish in Mackay, in his home diocese of north Queensland, where he will assist with services and other activities.

“I am humbled to have my vocation to ordination in the church discerned,” he said.

Mr Christensen said he had explored a number of Christian traditions over his life, but slipped out of churchgoing in his 20s.

George Christensen (left) sits with former prime minister Tony Abbott, who toyed with becoming a Catholic priest as a young man.

However since then he had been “outed as a strong Christian”. “It’s no real surprise, but it’s another step on my faith journey that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.” Mr Christensen has been studying theology through the Sydney College of Divinity and says he could be ordained a priest in the future, but only once he leaves parliament.

Asked whether he planned to be a chaplain to fellow MPs, he said, “We have a chaplain in Parliament House. I don’t intend to usurp his role.” “The role of a deacon and a member of parliament - there is some synergy element to it,” he said.

Mr Christensen has had a controversial career in parliament, calling for a burqa ban and cuts to immigration, and speaking out against action on climate change and same-sex marriage.

AAP