Meet the Minister - Rev'd Bruce Waldron

Bruce Waldron and his wife Sharn arrived in England from Ballarat, Australia on August 15th 2002 to take up the position of Superintendent Minister of the United Bungay Circuit. The decision to come to England was initially taken to enable Sharn to do postgraduate studies in psychoanalysis that were not available in Australia.

Bruce was serving as a minister with the Uniting Church in Australia and, through that organisation's connections with the Methodist and United Reformed Churches, was invited to come and share in the work of the United Bungay Circuit.

Bruce is of English heritage - his great, great grandfather left Birmingham for Australia in the 1850's and the family settled in the state of Victoria, around 150 miles west of Melbourne. Bruce grew up in rural Victoria on the flood plains near the Goulburn River and so feels very much at home in Bungay and the surrounding rural countryside.

Sharn was raised in Scotland and emigrated with her family when she was 11. Bruce and Sharn have a daughter Allison and a son David with daughter in law Jasmine and grand-daughter Talia, all living in Ballarat.

Bruce was ordained in November 1979 with Churches of Christ and served in parish ministry for some years before moving to State Secondary School Chaplaincy for 14 years. In 1996 he believed God was calling him to move into working as a Church Minister again and so accepted a call to serve as the Minister to Wendouree Uniting Church where he remained for nearly six years.

Some of Bruce's interests are cycling (he and Rotarian Chris Staines recently rode from Land's End to Lowestoft and raised more than £2000 for the Bungay Skatepark), Australian Aboriginal culture and history, music, Rotary and bushwalking. Bruce has brought to Emmanuel Church and the Circuit a fresh emphasis in contemporary Christian music and has helped create The Elastic Band. Bruce has also enjoyed entertaining local community organizations with his Australian folk music and stories.

Sharn is a qualified psychotherapist and whilst pursuing her specialist studies is conducting a practise in Bungay. Sharn has had many years of experience, working for more than twenty years as counsellor for industry, public service and welfare agencies.

She has an MA in Psychotherapy and has specialised in cardiac rehabilitation, sexual assault, family and couples counselling and is the author of two books and numerous professional papers. Sharn and Bruce both enjoy exploring their new environment and delight in the richness of Britain's history, community and environment.

"We love Bungay and we love the countryside. It has also been an absolute delight to come and share in the life of this community. We have been made so very welcome by both the congregations in the circuit and by the folk of Bungay. It has become very much our home."

Bruce and Sharn - September 2004