St Peter’s Anglican Church reverend Brendan Gibbs says goodbye to Katikati in May.
St Peter’s Anglican Church reverend Brendan Gibbs says goodbye to Katikati in May.
Once upon a time in the 1980s, Brendan and Sally Gibbs were asked by the priest who was to marry them, and what role God would play in their marriage.
Extrovert Brendan replied: “I’m not marrying God.”
Little did he know.
“That’s pretty much what these are,” says the long-standing St Peter’s Anglican Church reverend, motioning to his “dog collar”, implying he’s married to the church.
But the much-revered reverend, affectionately known as Father Ted, is upping sticks and leaving his beloved Katikati.
He leaves behind an extensive resume of community service roles, work in local government, a history of serving God and lives saved as a local firefighter.
He’s joining wife Sally in Whanganui in May. He’s taking on the role of missioner to rebuild the St Mary’s Anglican Church in Hāwera. Brendan will continue to be a reverend and firefighter there as well.
“I had some time off in January, and while it was nice to have some time to myself, I got a little bored. I have to get out and meet people. I get my energy from other people.”
A relationship with God
Brendan, born Anglican, was born in Nelson and is one of seven children.
He has a twin sister.
Brendan left school to work in the engineers office of the New Zealand Post Office around 1976 and moved to New Plymouth, then went on to Whanganui, where he met his future wife Sally.
Six months later, they were engaged and were married a year later (they have four children). Sally is a Masters world champion runner.
It was Whanganui where the couple became Christians. But it was a near-accident on a motorcycle which cemented his decision to have more of a relationship with God.
The motorcycle fan was tearing along a highway when he heard a voice telling him to ‘slow down’ before coming to a bend. It was at an area where he’d normally be cranking the bike up to high speeds.
“So I slowed right down, and by the time I got to the corner I was doing 15-20km/h and there were sheep packed from one side of the road to the other. It freaked me out.
“The voice I heard, I guess was my own voice, but I just obeyed it.”
His priest said, ‘Maybe God is trying to talk to you’, and advised him to start reading the gospels in order to hear God more.
Brendan was accepted for ordination and moved to Auckland to attend St John’s Theological College in 1986.
Not a quick or simple process, he attained his degree and was posted to St Matthew’s Church in Masterton. Two years later the couple moved to Hataitai, Wellington, working at All Saints Church, where Brendan was part of a team to build a new congregation. Then there was a long stint at St Chad’s Anglican Church in New Plymouth before the pair came to Katikati in 1999.
Brendon says he fell in love with the town and its people.
He became the Anglican reverend at St Peter’s Church.
Brendan Gibbs helping with last year's emergency services foodbank drive, one of the many community initiatives he's been involved in.
Brendan joined the fire brigade a few years after moving to Katikati.
He was called "Father Ted" during his inception and the name stuck.
Brendan says the fire brigade is a family in its own right. The appeal of joining was partly for comradeship, “but I also have this deep down desire to serve the community ... and [the] fire brigade did that for me”.
The nature of the role has incurred many memories, some good, some bad and some quite traumatic.
The difficult call-outs are the reason why critical incident stress management for Fire and Emergency New Zealand is so important for firefighters, he says, and he assists with stress management around the Bay of Plenty.
“Over the years a lot of firefighters suffer from post-traumatic stress. You may have had a serious incident 20 years ago, then something will happen that will trigger it [and set you] off.”
Brendan is also on the Katikati Health Trust, is a member of Katch Katikati, was an elected member of Katikati Community Board and served for four terms (12 years), and has been chaplain at various rest homes and with Hato Hone St John Ambulance.
He’s also involved with Katikati Community Breakfast.
"My position being that of finding people to come to the breakfasts – mostly those living rough. I also assisted with others in doing a homelessness survey as part of the latest census."
For Brendan, one of the most rewarding things about working as a priest and serving the community “is engaging with people to get them interested in things and participating, rather than sitting back and grizzling. I like to get people motivated”.
■ There will be a farewell service for Brendan at the church on May 7 at 9.30am. Everyone is welcome.
