The Year of the Fires
In Sydney 1994 is remembered as the Year of the Fire. The first day of January, ushered in a heatwave and the worst bushfires in the history of European settlement in Australia. For nearly two weeks a grey pall of smoke studded with flying cinders hung over Sydney and hundreds of people lost their homes and possessions to the devouring flames.
Recuperating at their holiday home in Tumbi Umbi, the Moyes were threatened by fire spreading from the Gosford area. At the height of the danger they sorted out what they would take if they had to flee. First they’d take bankbooks and Gordon’s medication. Next would be the computer and disks—so much valuable information was stored in that mechanical brain. Then Gordon’s well-marked Bible and some other books; and for some unaccountable reason a new drill, chainsaw and electric saw.
“Where will we go?” Beverley asked. “We can’t get back to Sydney. Fires are raging in places along the Highway.”
“It works both ways. People who commute from this district are trapped in the city, `temporary destitutes’ the radio calls them.”
“I wish we knew how the manse at Roseville is faring.”
Gordon did not reply. On the 7th twenty houses had burned to ashes within a mile of Roseville, the heart of suburban Sydney.
A few weeks later all the fires were out and Moyes were back home praising God for their escape and doing what they could to help those who had not been so fortunate.
By this time Gordon had almost forgotten about his heart operation. He continued to lose weight and do his regular morning laps of the swimming pool, but he worked far harder than he should. Beverley despaired of making him slow down as much as the doctor advised.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Gordon said one day in response to her pleas, “if I must take fewer speaking appointments then I’ll have some spare time so I’ll study for my PhD.”
It might not have been the best solution but it kept him from more active and perplexing problems and Beverley was happy for that.
However, Gordon could not keep away from the new Wesley Centre for long. One of the Mission’s main aims in 1994 was to procure the large public hospital in Windsor. This historic hospital, one of the first in Australia, was about to close because modern rapid transport now made more up-to-date medical facilities available.
Wesley Mission saw great possibilities in procuring this building and after making thorough investigations they tendered $60 million, the highest offer they had ever made for any establishment.
Eventually most of the tenders were eliminated and the lengthy negotiations resolved into a contest between the Roman Catholics and the Wesley Mission. The trauma of indecision lasted for months.
Unfortunately during this time the local newspaper published an article giving a distorted view of WM’s stand on abortion and this no doubt helped to sway the vote against them. Gordon felt the loss as keenly as a personal affront.
On another touchy subject he passionately spoke out at the UCA Presbytery when the Gay and Lesbian Lobby tried to get a Gay minister and her partner into an appointment. Gordon, as representative of Wesley Mission, promoted only hetro-sexual marriages that called for faithfulness and chastity as the normal requirement for religious leaders. They won the vote and the disgruntled Gay Lobby blamed his speech for their loss. He gladly accepted the responsibility.
Asked to speak at the opening of a Sculpture Show arranged by Larissa Smagarinsky, Gordon said, “This will be quite a change from opening hospices and children’s homes.”
Perhaps what persuaded him to accept the invitation was the fact that one of the exhibits was a bronze bust of Rev. Dr Moyes, priced at $10,000. No doubt Gordon had many admirers, but none of them had that kind of money to spend, and the bust remained unsold.
As Dick Menteith, one of Wesley Mission’s key personnel, studied for his MBA he discussed with Gordon the recommended principles of re-structuring staff and suggested they try it at the Centre. They proposed to wipe out all directors and delegate the responsibility down to about 80 managers. It meant more work for the managers but this would be compensated for by higher salaries and more freedom. Dick and Gordon also established a network between similar managers in different divisions.
Naturally not everyone took kindly to the new idea, some people reject change on principle, but the re-structuring proved to be a wise and beneficial move.
On August 31, Gordon signed the Auditors’ Report for Wesley Mission Income for the year, $71 million had been raised, an all-time record. Elated by this success they made a target for the year 2000 of $100 million a year revenue.
“That’s a lot of money,” one of Gordon’s friends whistled in surprise when he heard the amount. “That must take a lot of fund- raising.”
“It does,” Gordon agreed. “But it takes a lot of money to run all our charities and community-aid programs. Sometimes we wonder where we’ll get our funds, but the Lord has never let us down.”
A few weeks later the Moyes dined at Government House. If anyone accused Gordon of being a social climber he freely admitted that he believed in meeting the best people—one never knew when knowing them might come in handy. Governor and Mrs Sinclair had been solid supporters of Wesley Mission.
Possibly knowing people in high places helped in December when the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, came to Australia to promote care for those afflicted with Motor Neuron Disease. In this capacity she visited WM’s Lottie Stewart Hospital.
At the luncheon that followed Gordon turned on all his charm and persuaded the Duchess to be the guest speaker at two of his recorded radio programmes. This proved helpful for the ailing radio station 2GB ratings.
The month of June 1995 heralded the 6th anniversary of Chinese services in WM, in both Cantonese and Mandarin.
Not long after this Gordon had to perform one of the unpleasant duties that sometimes fell to him. A certain minister had been repeatedly counselled for `mismanaging funds,’ and when he showed no signs of reform, his ministry was terminated. In good old-fashioned terms it could be said that he was sacked for stealing. On a past occasion a male employee at one of the refuges was accused of misconduct. The very hour the accusation was proved the man was fired. Gordon held no brief for thieves, drunkards or sex-offenders.
The Superintendent did, however, have a soft spot for those who were disabled either mentally or physically. He delightedly reported to Beverley:
“We’ve got it! The Mission’s purchased `Goodwill Industries,’ you know that place in Leichhardt that specializes in employing the disabled. Remember, I told you they take on jobs that can be carried out by people who don’t have a high IQ.”
Beverley nodded. “But you didn’t tell me what kind of jobs.”
“Oh,” her husband waved airily, “simple, repetitive tasks such as stuffing envelopes, packing pharmaceutical products, folding laundry. They also employ some who have physical disabilities.
“I can see great opportunities. We’ll up-grade the facilities, sack all the able-bodied personnel and train disabled to take over their jobs. Oh, the place has limitless possibilities.”
Beverley smiled. Gordon had lost none of his boyish enthusiasm for a new idea.
The end of 1995 brought some large donations: $250,000 for Wesley Home Care in the Southern Suburbs; $280,000 for Wesley Home Care in the Baulkham Hills district; $790,000 in four legacies; $590,000 for Wesley Mission Disabilities Services; $10,000 for the homeless. Gordon happily noted that our “outreach is being supported as never before in our 183 year history.”
Gordon tasted the sweet flavour of success and told everyone he met about it. But not everyone was happy.
“I wish Gordon wouldn’t talk so much about all the money that comes in,” one of his female managers complained. “He forgets that these are one-off donations and we still desperately need money to meet weekly expenses.”
Her companion nodded. “I know what you mean. Last week one of our businessmen donors said to me, `I hear that you are doing very well at Wesley Mission, so this year I’ll give my donation to someone else instead.’”
It was seldom that Gordon’s nature allowed him to admit defeat. The 1995 Darling Harbour Christmas was one of those rare times. Not the show itself, that was as spectacular as usual—a kaleidoscope of glittering colour and costume, glorious music and superb choreography all warranting maximum TV coverage and highlighting the wondrous story of the Babe of Bethlehem. It was the fund-raising part that proved disastrous.“Only twenty-five thousand dollars,” Gordon mourned to the sponsors of the annual pageant. “Our `asks’ were too sophisticated for that TV audience. We’ll have to make them more simple next year. I believe that if you need money to help the poor and homeless, you simply state your need—and ask!”
On the personal side Gordon felt less disappointed. His annual health check revealed that his heart was behaving well and he had lost 16 kg—but needed to lose more.
Another personal satisfaction came from the progress toward his PhD. Several times he had met with his professors and advisers, and in February 1996 he handed major assignments to Professor Gary Tromph, Professor James Tulip and Professor Michael Horsborough.
How Gordon found time for this extra curriculum activity, mystified even him, but every week he disciplined himself to do further research or writing in preparation for his thesis.
In March Gordon addressed a Rotary District Conference, filling in as a minute-man speaker when the Premier Bob Carr could not keep his appointment. His few wisecracks about “cars” not being dependable earned him thunderous applause.
After that came the opening of the new Administrative Block of the Lottie Stewart Hospital, and dedication of the Chapel. Gordon pointed out that during the last fifteen years the WM had built, purchased or leased an additional building every month. Except for the huge new Wesley Mission Centre in Pitt Street, these had all been exclusively charitable institutions. “Probably no other church in the world has increased its properties to that extent and with no debts remaining,” he said.
Gordon was always justifiably proud of keeping out of debt.
The remaining three years of the century saw little change in Rev Moyes habits. Each working year began with an all-night prayer vigil and a meticulous plan for the future of Wesley Mission.
Setting up an Aged Persons’ Welfare Trust was one of many new enterprises undertaken, and as chairman Gordon derived great pleasure from presenting 15 wheelchairs to a Jewish Nursing Home.
In 1998 he smiled about the popular outcry against gambling, and remarked to a friend: “When we came to Sydney nearly twenty years ago I realised that gambling was becoming a problem to society and one of the first things we did was establish a Gambling Counselling Service. At that time we had only one counsellor and very limited funds. Today Wesley’s Counselling Service is the largest in the nation.
“There’s a similar situation regarding unemployment. In my first parish in the slums of Melbourne I saw firsthand the results of unemployment—poverty, idleness, hopelessness, anger, crime. It shocked me then and it shocks me now how quickly a person loses their self-esteem when they are out of a job.
“As far back as the middle ‘80’s Wesley Mission became involved in helping people get back into the work force. In fifteen years we had 70 job-training programmes going. In the last ten years this has grown into a $30 million programme.
“That’s why secular employment agencies envy our success and are trying to hamper our efforts by accusing us of sectarianism.”
In 1999 Gordon celebrated two personal achievements. The first was the completion of forty years of dedicated ministry and the second was his and Beverley’s fortieth wedding anniversary. On this accomplishment he proffers free advice, as he does to all the couples whose weddings he performs:
“Remember that `the couple (family) who prays together, stays together.’
“Beverley and I pray together every night, even when apart on Mission business I always telephone her before I go to bed. We read a short passage of Scripture and then we pray for each other, our family and loved ones, our church, persons we know who are going through difficult times and the world in general.”
No one who knows the Moyes and their extended family, now numbering 20 persons and growing, could entertain any doubts as to the efficacy of Gordon’s advice. They are an example of a family closely knit by love to God, their fellow men and each other.
As is the case for most other church pastors Sunday is Gordon’s busiest day—filled with meetings, Bible classes, off-the cuff counselling, and the evening service in Wesley Centre. As soon as that ends around 9 p.m he literally runs to his car and races off to radio station 2GB for his Sunday Night Live radio broadcast.
Until midnight he keeps up a bright programme of interviews and homilies and when that concludes he drives to their country retreat for a few hours sleep before beginning the next week’s work.One recent Monday morning Gordon yawned as he poured milk onto his weet bix. “I can’t keep this up, Bev. Last year was the most exhausting programme I’ve ever undertaken. Yes, I know by all the calls and comments, that people appreciate what we do.” He yawned again and shook his head wearily. “But this year 2000 I must get more people to help me.”
Beverley nodded. “A good idea. Don’t kill yourself with overwork. I want you around for a long time yet.”
Gordon reached for her hand and they smiled into each other’s eyes.
