Meet a Minister – Sandy Grant

A joy for me this year has been working with great people who know what they’re doing, unlike me. Sandy Grant is the Senior Minister at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong.

MW – Hi Sandy, thanks for letting me ask you a few questions. I’ll start by asking about a few favourites of yours. Favourite people?

SG – My wife, Karyn, and my three daughters, Laura, Hannah and Rachel.

.

MW – Favourite food?

SG – Spag bol! I also have a soft spot for gnocchi. You can see the theme.

.

MW – Favourite book? You can’t say the Bible.

SG – ‘Unbroken’ by Lauren Hillenbrand. It is not a Christian book, but it does faithfully record the conversion of an aviator Prisoner of War, Louis Zamperini. Hillenbrand tracks down the Billy Graham Association transcripts from the meetings when Zamperini was converted. It is an astonishing story, and just when you think things can’t get worse for him, it does. Somehow, he endures, or is ‘endured’ by something. An incredible story.

Honourable mention to ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall. It’s about long-distance running. It is a kind of ‘gonzo journalism’ and a curious blend of tourism, science, and evolutionary biology. It’s a close study of why we like to run.

.

MW – Favourite film?

SG – It used to be ‘The Castle’ (or ‘The Blues Brothers’). Now I’d probably go for ‘Red Dog’. In different ways, and of course through stereotype, these films actually help you understand what makes Australians tick. They show truth through humour.

.

MW – What inspires you outside of the Bible?

SG – Certainly as a young adult it was the grit and determination of certain Australian cricket players. Allan Border most of all, but later on Steve Waugh. These players didn’t have it all their own way. They began on the back foot and played against an experienced and rampart West Indies bowling attack. They showed a great mental fortitude, concentration and determination.

.

MW – You have been known to commonly use crime fiction illustrations in sermons. What is it that attracts you to the crime fiction genre? Does it remind you of parish ministry in some way?

SG – No to the second one, thankfully. I enjoyed reading as a child. I loved Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Now, however, the isolated manor house, locked room ‘whodunnit’ style has lost its appeal to me. Now I love police procedurals, but not the serial killer subgenre. The appeal of the crime fiction genre is that they portray the specific vibe of the area in which they are based. They capture the essence of places. For example, Peter Corris’ Cliff Hardy series portray a quintessential Sydney. Ian Rankin’s Rebus series gets to the heart of the city, Edinburgh. Grahame Hurley set a series in Portsmouth, and so these books feel very different to the others.

These days I love finding crime fiction from different countries and districts. I enjoy seeing how they create a sense of place. A good plot helps as well.

.

MW – You have been working here at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral for over 15 years. How do you stay motivated?

SG – It has been a privilege to serve alongside the people here, a true pleasure because of the people. It’s definitely been hard work, but most of the time it has not been hard. Hopefully you can see the distinction.

Fundamentally, the motivation is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This sentence sums it up for me: ‘If Christ be God and he died for me, no sacrifice I could ever make could be too great.’ That’s the logic of C.T. Studd. Studd was a highly accomplished, upper-class Englishman. He gave up a large inheritance and the captaincy of the England cricket team to go and serve God in China, India and Africa! The basic logic he expressed was that, given what God has done for us, we should we willing to do anything for him. Not that everyone should or can be a vocational gospel minister, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

.

MW – I am trying to get a glimpse of what may lie ahead, working in churches. What has been the hardest part of full-time vocational ministry?

SG – In the end, the hardest part is yourself. You are constantly grappling with your own sins and pride. You can easily become too stubborn to listen, or so insecure that you listen to everyone and are easily rocked. The internal challenges are harder than the external ones.

It is different for different people. Some thirst after the latest thing and get distracted from ministry basics. Others take the hits hard and find enduring for the long haul tough. Some struggle long term with mental health challenges that are sometimes underlying, but sometimes new.

It is also always distressing when dealing with people’s marital breakups, or the death of a child.

.

MW – The cathedral here is a beautiful building. It must be a nice place to be in and around.

SG – Aesthetically, it’s a great size. Like Goldilocks and the three bears, the cathedral is not too large or too small. Although a few extra seats would obviously be good. I am interested in the history of it. The honour boards and windows. Some are obvious gospel scenes, others more mysterious.

We need to remember the church is the people, not the building, not the bricks and mortar. But, the building not just a rain shelter. That can send a message that what happens in a building is merely peripheral. It also assumes that aesthetics has no value. God has made us embodied people, not souls on sticks. We were created to live in a garden originally, and end in a city! Christ came in the flesh. We are given bodies and environments to live and move in. They’re the matrixe’s in which we live and move. Buildings become repositories of memories, and that can be a great and important thing. However, it can also become a distraction.

.

MW – Besides Jesus, who is your favourite character in the Bible and why?

SG – Timothy. I’ve especially loved reading 2 Timothy throughout my time as a minister. I’ve read it many times myself, and with trainees. Timothy wasn’t timid, as many think. He was normal and living in a time and place when people were being locked up for preaching Christ. He was Paul’s right-hand man, who was tasked with sorting out many issues in the church.

From the Old Testament, I’d say Elijah from 1 Kings. They are some wonderful chapters.

.

MW – What is your favourite hymn?

SG – To God be the Glory. The gospel is at the heart of it. Just read the first verse:

To God be the glory! Great things He has done!

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son;

Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,

And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

The hymn writer also has a great story. I have had it at our wedding, and at parish inductions. It is already booked in for the funeral.

.

MW – Finally, do you have a short comical story of something you have seen or experienced in ministry?

SG – I wouldn’t rate myself in the top half for intuitively reading people well and picking up non-verbal cues. This caused an embarrassing moment as an assistant minister. I was preaching one Sunday when the student minister and his wife, who were sitting in the front row, started pointing at my midriff. One started, then they both started quite persistently. It went for a while getting more and more dramatic. In the end, rather than working it out in my mind, I blurted out, mid sermon, ‘What are you guys pointing at?’.

They were left with nowhere to go except to say in front of everyone, ‘Your fly is undone’!