Bentleigh FARM
ST JOHN'S DEACON, the Rev'd Cinti Joule Robison, spends three days a week doing community service and pastoral care at Bentleigh Secondary College, one of our local high schools.
This position is made possible by tax-deductible donations to the FARM project (Families and Relationships Ministry) of the Melbourne Anglican Benevolent Society. We aim to raise $16,000 in 2009.
To donate, contact the Benevolent Society at 9653 4220 or foundation@melbourne.anglican.com.au
Cinti writes about her community caring work:
I like everything about my job! I get to hang out with young people. They’re looking for someone to stick up for them, someone to listen to them, adult encouragement and support and pats on the back, tissues when they’re upset.
They can pop their heads into my office, or I bump into them in the corridor or the yard. I help run “Peer Support” where older students connect with the younger ones.
I offer a safe space for kids to come at lunchtime who might not feel OK out in the yard. Teachers talk to me, too, when the work gets on top of them or they have life questions they want to look into.
It’s pastoral care and community service, and it fits really well with what I’m ordained to do as a Deacon in the Anglican Church.