Geoff Stevenson

Rev Geoff Stevenson

Geoff Stevenson
Presbytery Chairperson-Mission Strategist

Geoff provides missional leadership to congregations across the Presbytery. He is also the Chairperson of the Presbytery and provides institutional leadership, both in line with the Presbytery Vision 2055. He has significant pastoral ministry experience, community organising and a strong interest in spirituality and public theology. 

Geoff is a keen musician, photographer, enjoys walking through the local bush and following the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Geoff's Reflections

Jesus' Way: The Subversion of Empire

The Pearl, the Treasure, and the Deep Human Yearning A Bedouin sat by the fire of a caravanserai – a desert waystation where travellers pause to rest—preparing a simple meal. As he worked, two pearl merchants arrived at the same moment and began unloading their camels for the night. One merchant, with a subtle flourish, allowed a large pearl to drop from his hand so that it rolled toward the other. The second man picked it up, brushed the dust away, examined it closely, and admired its beauty. “That is a fine pearl,” he said, “as large and lustrous as any I have seen.”

Weeds, Wheat, Forgiveness and Second Chances...

Many of us grew up with stories of superheroes—Batman and Robin, Superman, and the colourful cast of cartoon heroes who filled our childhood imaginations. In those worlds, everything was simple. Good and evil were clearly defined. Heroes were purely good, villains purely evil, and the line between them was bright and unmistakable. The heroes defended goodness through strength and violence, overcoming evil with decisive force. It was a comforting worldview: neat, tidy, and morally uncomplicated.

Extravagant, Reckless, Lavish Love - God's Reign!

The band arrived at the concert hall in the late afternoon, a curious and delightful mix of musicians drawn from different corners of the musical world. They were not celebrities, nor household names, but each was respected in their own field. What brought them together was not fame or ambition but a shared desire to raise funds for a charitable cause close to each of their hearts. Their unity was not in style but in purpose, and that purpose gave the gathering a quiet sense of anticipation.

Jesus: Rest for the Weary, Easing Life's Burdens...

A theologian walked into a coffee shop at the end of COVID lockdown, frustrated by being locked away whilst visiting his wife’s elderly grandmother. He’s bored and starts playing a game trying to work out what the women a few tables over, does for a living.

Christ is Present - In Humble, Vulnerable Love

This week I invite you into a story – actually, into two stories – and through them, into a deeper understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. The first story is one I've told before, about Tony Campolo, sociologist, teacher, and evangelical preacher. One day, he was walking down the main street of his town, dressed in what he called his “establishment gear”—a suit and tie, looking every bit the professional. As he walked along, he noticed, a little way ahead of him, a man who was clearly homeless. The man was wandering along the footpath, holding a cup of coffee, reaching out to people as they passed by and offering them a sip.

The Courageous Way of Love and Justice…

I am in the midst of hanging a painting of Gandhi on my wall – along with one of St Francis of Assisi. I looked at these two small figures but giants of history. They walked to the beat of a different drum, and both were heavily influenced by the life and teaching of Jess of Nazareth

Let Go! Trust, and God be with you!

There are so many ways that I want, even need, to feel in control. Like most of us, I struggle to gain some form of hold on life, to make it somehow predictable, controllable and ordered – at least according to how I think I want or need to experience it. When things happen and I lose this sense of being in control, I feel lost, helpless, impotent and at the whim of other people, or other forces within the universe.

Faith: A Journey into the Unknown

Forty years ago, I was in the last six months of a three-year research project at St the Sunday of Epiphany – Geoff Stevenson Vincent’s Hospital in the Department of Immunology. The research area was atopic disease – allergies, eczema etc. Although we were building on work my boss did overseas, it didn’t progress far due to a variety of factors, not least the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sydney.

God – A Relational Community of Creative Love and Grace.

We were recently captivated by the mission of Artemis 2 and the exploration of space and the dark side of the moon. Even though this was very near to Earth, it reveals that vast distance beyond our imagining, along with the vastness of space that is beyond our comprehension. Images of space from Artemis 2 and many other sources, including the James Webb telescope provide images of the universe that are staggering. I look with fascination but cannot comprehend the immensity of everything I am viewing.

Love: A Force More Powerful

I’ve been reading a crime fiction novel by Michael Connolly. It is the latest in the ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ series, so named because as a criminal defence lawyer Mickey Haller rode in Lincoln Town cars and used them as his mobile office. Mickey is now in civil law, prosecuting cases for those treated unfairly. He is looking to make the world a better place and finds himself in a David and Goliath battle with a large IT company that is the subject of a $1 billion takeover. The company has AI apps that are aimed at young people, teenagers.

Become the Change you Hope and Pray for...

Kon Karapanagiotidis grew up in a small town in rural Victoria, the son of an immigrant family – refugee grandparents who had escaped war and struggle in their homeland. He was different in a school where everyone else looked, sounded and acted the same. His name was long and difficult to say – too many letters and syllables.

Perhaps we are Religious People?

As I wandered the city streets, I pondered. I pondered the decline of the engagement in religious life in our fair land. I explored, in my mind, the ways in which our world has shifted these last several decades.