Tom Slater
Wills and Bequests
Contact Tom Slater
Phone 9482 5700
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I’m very excited to be back on SU staff after a break of nearly 14 years.
What a privilege to put one’s energy into something one is passionately committed to: in this case, encouraging people to make a bequest to SU that will go on helping to change people’s lives after they are gone!
It’s also a chance to work under the leadership of Dave Tolputt, whose ministry in Bendigo with the Salvation Army I got to know about, and be hugely impressed by, back in 1997. How good is that!
I’m working two days a week, and I look forward to meeting lots of friends, old and new, personal friends and friends of SU, as I share the vision for supporting SU into the future through bequest giving.
Do give me a call if you’d like to know more, or just to catch up!
Tom also explains his
It’s a deeply personal thing for me. I was brought up in a strong Christian home and church environment, but one of its effects on me was to give me a very strong sense of right and wrong, and with that a very acute sense of guilt and moral failure! Countless times, as a young teenager, I tried desperately to ‘turn over a new leaf’, only to find despairingly that in no time flat I couldn’t change by my own efforts.
The expression ‘masculine Christianity’ was sometimes used to describe the strong evangelical culture that I encountered in t
he SU-related Christian group at my (all boys) school. It was just right for me. In May 1958, aged 14, I went with this group to a ‘houseparty’ at an old guesthouse in Ocean Grove, and despite all my Christian nurturing I experienced a dramatic conversion. The idea that my sins and guilt had been dealt with by Christ, and that he could live in me and become the ‘master’ of my life if I handed it over to him, was the best thing I had ever heard. One night I simply thanked Jesus for what he had done for me, and gave my life to him. The effect of this was immediate and lasting.
Why did this only dawn on me then? Humanly speaking, I’m sure it was the essential ingredients of SU’s practical ethos as I have always found them:
– a humble but intelligent belief in the Bible as God’s Word, and the habit of reading it thoughtfully each day;
– a healthy affirmation of the physical dimensions of life (including sport and fun generally!);
– a clear personal faith, which was expressed in the CSSM choruses we sang each night;
That’s the subjective side. Humanly speaking, SU’s healthy approach to evangelism changed the course of my life.
But 50 years of continuous involvement as a volunteer and staff member since then have given me a string of objective reasons. From my observation, including visits to SU in a number of countries, SU Victoria exhibits the best qualities that have characterised this amazing international movement for over 130 years. For example, SU
- empowers and grows countless volunteers – from front line mission right through to its governance
- values children and young people and knows how to help them
- has a wholistic understanding of the gospel
- thinks things through, as well as being healthily activist
- produces top quality resources for daily engagement with scripture
- takes risks and experiments boldly
- has a humble and generous spirit, and actively cooperates with churches and other ministries
I could go on. Just ask me some time!
Do give me a call if you’d like to know more, or just to catch up!
Family
Retirement from full time employment in December 09 was partly about having more time to give to all the family – often relegated to second or third or fourth priority over the years when I’d rather have been with them!
NATSICA.
At EA I got to learn a lot more about the issues faced by Indigenous Australians, and to be involved in the formation of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Alliance. I’m committed to active involvement with NATSICA to bring about change that works for the welfare of Indigenous people and the Indigenous church.
Doing things
I’m hoping (and half expecting, actually) that eternity will include endless time to explore some of the things I love doing, and would get a lot better at with more time – sketching, piano, making things, cycling, eating a leisurely lunch out on the celestial deck with friends!
Some highlights of my working life – every one of them richly rewarding!
1966-68 Teacher at Lavers Hill and Mont Albert. Married June Luscombe; SU schools and camps worker, in 1968
69-73 SU Camps Officer for Victoria Pete and Joss born; Wrote The Camping Book
73-82 Director Camp Coolamatong (SU); Wrote The Temporary Community
82-89 SU Schools Work Coordinator; Christian Option Program; ISCF, teacher support
89- 96 State Director SU Vic; The New Camping Book (since printed in Korean and Indonesian)
96-97 Six months working in Tasmania with the Camping Association. Research for William Buckland Foundation; First fabulous grandson arrives
97-98 Consultancies for Anglicans and Uniting Church; Establishment of the Goulburn Valley Environmental Employment Program (still going and replicated in other regional areas)
98-2008 EA National Director; Four more fabulous grandsons
2009 on… Back at SU!
Team Support Letter March 2010
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