Hi, I'm Robert Stanley and with my wife Philippa and our two adorable girls we have arrived in Tasmania and started in our new Parish of Sandford.

I grew up in Sydney and my earliest memories are of attending St John's Anglican Church in Parramatta with my family. By my later teenage years I was leading fellowship groups, bible studies and youth groups, as well as on Scripture Union Missions to the South Coast of NSW (Burrill Lake and Ulladulla). Later, I was Chaplain at a Sydney Christian nightclub. I really enjoyed serving God's people in these exciting ways.

My coming to Christ wasn't of the Damascus Road variety, but gradual, where God nurtured me during my childhood, drawing me closer and closer to Him; leaving me with memories of life-changing moments rather than a singular experience. It has been a great blessing to have always known the name of Jesus and that I was truly loved by God.

In 1996 I married Philippa, and soon after we moved to St. Paul's Anglican Church in Chatswood, again in Sydney, where we prepared for full-time ministry. This sounds very matter of course, and in many ways it was. My career was always second to my church ministry; nothing gave me more joy. So, to give up my other career of 12 years in I.T. seemed quite logical. Praise God I had that right!

Philippa and I entered Moore Theological College in 2000 to study and prepare for a life of ministry. We had a great time at Moore, and had the privilege of sharing our lives with the wonderful people at St Mark's Anglican Church in Sadleir (Green Valley) in Sydney's South-WeSt Also at Moore College I met people like Stephen Carnaby who loved Tasmania and encouraged us to think about ministry 'down there'. Philippa and I had a passion to serve God outside of Sydney, and this was heightened after our involvement in a mission at the University of Queensland in 2002. After this, our passion became more specific: Ministry in Tasmania. (Although, I should add, we had never actually set foot in Tasmania at this stage!) After college I was deaconed and served as Assistant Minister at Pymble Anglican Church on Sydney's North Shore where we spent our last four years serving God and working with His people.

And now, here we are! Where we believe God will continue to use us as He always has! We thank God for the many church families we now feel part of and praise Him for their friendship in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our prayer now, as always, is that we will glorify our Father in Heaven in all that we do.