Six Victorian residents with strong connections to the Uniting Church have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours List.
Among them were Rev Dr Robert Bennett Johnson and Rev Dr Randall Gregory Prior, honoured for their long-standing and influential work across the life of the Uniting Church.
Robert was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to education and the Uniting Church.
He was a Minister from 1969-2016, and General Secretary of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania from 1994-2005.
He was also Cornish College Chairman from 2012-2020, and has been Ormond College Deputy Chair since 2006, as well as a Council Member and Uniting Church representative there since 1999.
Randall was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to theology and education.
Within the University of Divinity, Randall has been an Academic Teacher and Researcher in Missiology and Pastoral Theology, and an Associate Teacher in Pastoral Theology, at Pilgrim Theological College since 2015.
Randall was Uniting Church Theological College Principal from 2005-2013, Head of Department, Moral and Practical Theology, from 2006-2014, Professor of Ministry Studies and Missiology from 2003-2015, and a Teacher in Ministry Studies from 2003-2014.
He was also Minister at North Balwyn Uniting Church from 1997-2002, Chair of the Yarra Yarra Presbytery from 1993-1995, and has been Chair of the Seasonal Worker Program Support Group, The Vanuatu Fellowship, since 2017.
Anna Clarabel Creighton was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the Cobram community.
Anna is a current member and volunteer with the Cobram Uniting Church, and a former President and Treasurer of the Ladies Guild.
Maureen Doonan was also awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, for her contribution to the Ballarat community.
The Ballarat Central Uniting Church member is on the church’s Social Justice Committee, is a Sunday School teacher and involved in pastoral care, was a member of the Ballarat Council of Churches from 1989 to the mid-1990s, and is a fundraiser for Uniting Vic.Tas.
Maureen has also been a member of the Ballarat Interfaith Network since 2007, and was Ballarat’s Senior of the Year in 2023.
Elva Daphne Raggatt was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the Stawell community, where she has been a volunteer with the Stawell Uniting Church, and involved in Meals on Wheels since 1982.
Peter William Sutton from Murrumbeena was also awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for community service, including for his role as a volunteer with Uniting Vic.Tas.
