Radical reverend moves on

Mr Queripel has been the minister at the Wauchope and District Uniting Church since 1997.

But, Uniting Church ministers can only spend ten years at any one posting and Mr Queripel has lived here for nine years and nine months.

So, Mr Queripel's time has come to take up a new challenge.

The church has summonsed him to the Chapel by the Sea at Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Where he is going, the congregation needs attention.

The church itself is in a better financial position than Wauchope's parish, but the challenge will be in expanding the church's membership.

"That's why I'm going - a bigger canvas to paint," Mr Queripel told the Port News.

He will miss the Hastings when he goes.

The community has been very supportive, Mr Queripel said, particularly of some radical ideas including new theological concepts and incorporating music into worship.

The challenge for the minister here was to keep pace with changes within the church and community and introducing programs to do so. Those programs included a free meals program for the needy and a youth group for teenagers.

The reverend has also been instrumental in building community awareness of social justice issues.

He has successfully brought representatives from different religions and different parts of the world to the Hastings to nurture understanding and tolerance of other cultures.

Mr Queripel has sought better relationships within the community between white Australians and the Aboriginal people and has been a vocal opponent to the federal government's policies on refugees.

"Fear of criticism and loss of popularity should never hinder us from making a stance for what is right and denouncing the wrong, even if that wrong, appealing to base motives and fears, is popular," he said.

Mr Queripel is a keen songwriter and artist involved in the cultural movements of the Hastings working with the Wauchope COmmunity Arts Council and hosting arts and cultural events while he was proprietor of the Cafe Blue Frog.

The reverend's last official service will be at 6.30pm on Saturday, June 23. He starts in Sydney on July 8.