Cathedral minister’s shock discovery

Geraldton Anglican Cathedral’s new acting senior minister says he is keen to make a better impression on Geraldton than his grandfather did. It was only recently Reverend Dr David Seccombe discovered his grandfather was jailed in the city in the late 1880s for sly grogging. While the 75-year-old minister never got to meet his paternal grandfather, William Seccombe, who died before he was born, he said he was a “bit of a legend” in the family, with stories of his adventures shared throughout the generations. “One was he’d struck it rich in the Goldfields ... I always assumed he was on the goldfields in New South Wales or Victoria. The family seat, if you like, is Coffs Harbour, but my aunt showed me a letter that just had Murchison on it, no address ... so I thought maybe he was on the Goldfields in WA,” he said. “There was a missing year from his life — he disappeared. I don’t know if he ever told the family where he’s been. But (my wife) Lorraine was doing some trawling on the net and I think in the archive of local newspapers she found it showed he had been put in jail. “He had businesses in Cue and maybe even a pub, I’m not sure, but he was put in jail for selling sly grog. I have no idea (if he was religious); I suspect not!” Dr Seccombe has had many adventures himself, having worked for many years in Africa, where he survived the 1993 St James Church massacre in Cape Town. But the reverend, who plans to spend up to six months in the city until a permanent minister is appointed, says his mission is very different from that of his ancestor. “In our secular culture, people feel free to promote their views about all sorts of things, and I want to fly the flag about what Christians believe and why we believe it,” he said. “Our beliefs are not outdated or unscientific, and during lockdown people turned up in droves all over the world to join churches online via Zoom. “I know of one church conference which generally hosts 1000 participants, but during the pandemic drew a staggering 10,000 people.” Dr Seccombe has invited all locals to visit the Cathedral of the Holy Cross this month and in March when he presents a series of talks about an early Christian faith statement. He has been joined by the church’s new youth and children’s worker, Mike Welham, who last month moved to Geraldton with his wife and three young children to take on the role and was ordained as a deacon on Sunday to allow him to work as an assistant minister. Services are at 8am, 10am and 5pm on Sundays at 101 Cathedral Avenue, Geraldton, as well as at 10am on Wednesdays.