Previous Event: 8th March 2012

Meeting nieuwe leden By Voka - Kamer van Koophandel Limburg, licensed creative commons

Stronger than Steel: Australian men surviving job loss and moving on

Rev. Dr. Brian Brown
Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW/ACT

About the Speaker:

Rev Dr Brian Brown, the current Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW/ACT commenced working at the Newcastle BHP Steel-works in May 1995 as an Industrial Chaplain with the Interchurch Trade and Industry Mission (ITIM).  Two years later BHP announced that the plant would close in September 1999, with the loss of about 3,000 jobs

Brian’s work (and study) then became focused on helping the mainly male workforce to come to terms with the loss of what for many had been the only job they had ever had.  Many were semi-skilled workers with mainly non-transferable skills in a shrinking heavy manufacturing industry.

Brian describes this five years as the most challenging of his ministry so far.