Gallery

A neighbour, fishing near our home at St George’s Basin, New South Wales – 2009-2011

Enjoying a favourite spot for just being in 2023

Evie

Ben

Caleb

Paul (picture by Evie 2021)

Caleb and Ruth, admiring our favourite view of the Bass Strait

Hugo

Skye

Feeding Pepe, one of our friendly peacocks

Boys in the backyard on a Saturday morning, Ben walking a convalescent Hugo on the leash and Caleb practising his soccer skills for the new season

Travelling in 2023

One of my favourite views of planet Earth

Over Dubai en route to meet my collaborator on The 5th Kind TV – Anthony Barrett

This White Rhino, guarding her calf, charged me and my family while exploring the bushland of Zimbabwe. Fortunately she changed her mind before we came to blows!

I love these old DC3s – similar to the plane we emergency-landed in at Lusaka airport when I was 16. Everyone in the terminal building came out to watch us crash. Instead we landed safely and the pilot was carried shoulder high into the airport where we celebrated still being alive and well with a crate of champagne!

Me with Mum and Mark, getting ready to fly over the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe ’81

Flying over Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – December 1981

Paul’s dad, exploring Zambia with the family in 1981

Meeting Bobby Moffat’s protege, Dr Livingstone – Zimbabwe in 1981, I presume!

Filming in the Australian bush in 2022

And in 2021…

And in 2020…

Head down, in the mid-point writing the 4th in the Eden series…

Recording with Erich Von Daniken in 2023

Ramon and Erich, preparing for some deep conversation in 2021

Happy Birthday Ruthie 2023!

Happy Birthday Paul 2023!

The Boys exploring Queensland in 2023

Evie, photographing Queensland in 2023

In conversation with Erich Von Daniken in 2020

In conversation with Billy Carson in 2022

In conversation with George Noory 2023

In conversation with film-maker James Fox in 2020

Talking with Mary Edwards and Barbara Lamb in 2021

In conversation with Lionel Friedberg in 2021

Talking with Steve Boucher in 2022

Paul and Anthony Barrett, first face-to-face meeting 2023

Paul and Anthony Barrett, interviewing each other in 2023

Anthony Barrett with his brother Dave Carroll @Awakening Conscious Life Expo – UK – 2019

Ruthie at South Durras NSW

Evie and Daddy, filming on the NSW South Coast in 2020

Sassolungo and Sassopiatto – enjoying a skiing holiday in Ladin-speaking Ortisei in the Italian Tirol with my great friend Jez. A wonderful refreshing time and an amazing place full of history and beauty. Thank you Jez! Forever thankful 🙂 (2003)

In 2022, holding my my first physical copy of FLUCHT AUS EDEN published in Germany by AMRA Verlag – the esteemed German publisher for Juan Carlos Kreimer, Michael Salla, Gregg Braden, and Zecharia Sitchin. It’s wonderful to be holding my first ever hardback book, and my first book to be published in another language!

(Pictured in front of my photographic memories of Ortisei in the Tirol and San Gimignano in Tuscany.)

Wallis – the beautiful Swiss homeland of my French-Swiss ancestors. It was families from the beautiful district of Valais who in the 1300s made the voyage to England, to make it their new home and become the Wallis family

Horse Trekking in 1976 at Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas with brother Mark and Mum in 1976. Nanga Parbat is home to an infamously deadly mountain and the highest golf course in the world!

Srinagar, Kashmir – including “Our” Houseboat – the Alif Laila – where my parents, brother Mark and I spent some very happy days in 1976. This is the houseboat we shared with Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi – though not simultaneously!

Enjoying the Taj Mahal with Mum and Mark in 1976

Auntie Elizabeth and S.T.Akunor – a revered pastor and the Senior Editor of the Dangbe translation of Bible – and equally importantly, Ruth’s Grandpa!

Paul’s dad and aunt Shirley, feeding the pigeons in London’s
Trafalgar Square a couple of years before the outbreak of WW2

Favourite American Cousins, Dora, Enoch and Hannah

In 1957 Kwame Nkrumah succeeded Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State of Ghana. Both he and my paternal grandfather Joseph Traugott Sackeyfio studied at University College London and Grays Inn. In 1934 my grandfather was called to the bar, serving later as a barrister in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah took his qualitifcations in law and applied them in the direction of Ghanaian independence. In 1947 Nkrumah became General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention – the political movement for a sovereign Ghana, liberated from the rule of the British Royal Family. A decade later Kwame became the final serving Prime Minister of the British Gold Coast and then the first Prime Minister and President of a sovereign Ghana, having successfully led the country to independence.

In 1948 there was a student demonstration in Cape Coast. It was a demonstration of solidarity with six executives of the United Gold Coast Convention, who had just been arrested for the crime of campaigning for national sovreignty to Ghana. The authorities of St Augustine’s College and Mfantsipim School responded by immediately expelling a hundred and fifty students. A number of teachers were also summarily fired for this act of “sedition” against His Majesty George VI.

Kwame Nkrumah responded to the expulsions from St Augustine’s College and Mfantsipim School by founding a new school with his own money, the Ghana National College. To create the new faculty, Nkrumah gathered his four most valued political comrades in the world of education – three from St. Augustine’s College and one from Mfantsipim School. The comrade from Mfantsipim was my Great Uncle, of blessed memory, Henry “Kofi” Sackeyfio.

My paternal grandfather Joseph Traugott Sackeyfio. He was called to the bar in London in 1934 and was later known for his pro bono work for the poor in Ghana. While in London he was a member of the Royal African Society, where in 1931 he gave a speech which remained noted by the society for nearly a century thereafter.

In his speech my grand-father challenged the social role of academia in framing race relations. Naming the academic discipline of anthropology for its study of Africa, my grandfather argued that it might better inform our understanding of human life on Earth if the academic dsicipline of anthropology would turn its sharply analytical eye to the dynamics of European behaviour on the African continent. For the discipline to comprise instead only European analyses of the culture of indigenous Africans was in effect no more than an academically framed assertion of white supremacy. While couched in measured and and tactful language, for a speech given in 1930’s Britain to the Royal African Society, this was a particularly courageous point to make. Credit where it’s due, I am thankful to the Royal African Society for having minuted in such detail such an assertive speech nearly two decades ahead of Ghanaian independence.

A selection of homes in England and Australia from my twenty-four year period of living in varying degrees of intentional community

Six of my forty group-house graduates, sending me off to Australia in 2000

Canberra, Australia, 2015. Archdeaconing and pastoring a creative and diverse community of faith in the Australian Capital Territory. Seeing this picture makes me thankful for every part of my own journey to date, and the many collaborators I have enjoyed partnering with along the way – including the four great comrades in this picture, from left to right, Rt Revd Ian Lambert, Revd Michael Dasey, Rt Revd Stuart Robinson, and the Ven. Anne Ranse.

Happy 16th Wedding Anniversary

When the kids were little – 2015

On Holiday at my mate Tim Turner’s beautiful hotel in West Coker, Somerset – 2016

Skydiving in 2000, 14,000 above Picton NSW

Recording my first Audible in 2022 – the audio edition of Escaping from Eden. Grateful for the help of Nick, my sound engineer and all the team at Lonsdale Street, Studio, Canberra, Australia

Back in the gym in 2023 getting ready for a round table with Jay Campbell and friends

Celebrating Paul’s Mum and Dad’s respective 90th Birthdays – 2023

The Wallis Family wishing You a very Happy 2023

Father and Sons, wishing everyone a Happy 2023!

Mother and Daughter in 2022

The actual occasion of my original, now world-famous, Ultimate Frisbee Injury! Yes, that’s why in this shot I am standing a bit funny!

Pelourinho, Salvador da Bahia in Brazil – where, at the Ecumenical Seminary, I delivered a lecture in Brasileiro-Portuguese on the topic “The Theological Climate in Britain.” 3 months prior my only sentence in Brasileiro was “Hello, No, Yes, Goodbye, Thankyou!” So I was happy to be able to lecture, take Q&A – and have the students laugh at my jokes! A very happy memory from 1989.

In 1987 and 1989 I spent a very happy 4 months in Amazonia as part of my theological formation. There I was privileged to learn from the monastic catalysts of Brazil’s “ecclesiogenesis” (a word that connotes grassroots organic forms of church, active political engagement, & holistic community transformation!) Enjoyed a significant time at IPAR in Belem, Brazil in 1989 – Among other things, IPAR trains and supports catalysts of Brazilian Base Ecclesial Communities. Read more in my book “The New Monastic.”

Click here for the Facebook page for IPAR

Visiting Dom Helder Camara in Recife, Brazil in 1989

Priesting in Portsmouth 1994

Picture by Ruth at Booroomba Rocks in 2005 in the month we got engaged

A Jesus Generation River Baptism – at Point Hut Crossing ACT in 2007

And then we were 4! Christmas 2010

Evie and Daddy, walking in Huskisson in 2010

Paul and Ben at Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary – 2017

Spending time in Egypt with my dad in 1988, visiting Giza with its Pyramids and the Sphinx – trekking in the Valley of the Kings and Luxor – and, above, Crossing the Red Sea

Conferencing with Steve and Evan Strong, Bob Newton, Lea Kapiteli and Solreta Antaria in 2020

Visiting with David Adam on Lindisfarne in 1992

Visiting Mont St Michel with Ruth in 2006

Paul & Ruth, on the ramparts of Saint Malo – France – 2006

Ruth at Saint Malo in 2006

The River Rance, Dinan, on holiday in France – 2006

At the 16 Foot Sailing Club, Belmont NSW – The Wallises and the Narteys -2019

Young Wallises with Uncle Mark, Grandma and Grandpa Wallis in the UK in 2016

With Nene, Maa and Auntie Grace Nartey in 2011

The Family in 2021

Ruth, Paul and my Aunt Mary on the Gold Coast in 2005

Evening strolling with the Kids on the Nature Coast, seeing in 2022

Ruthie, exploring the Molongolo Valley

Paul and Caleb – Celebrating New Year 2018

Coming back from golf with Caleb – 2021

Brothers, Mark and Paul in 2023

Sitting at the feet of an inspirational futurist – Graham Cooke 2017

Home 2003-2009 -The Lanyon Valley – Australian Capital Territory…

…Corin Forest and the Corin Dam, just nearby, were my thinking places at that time.

Evie and Ben, exploring a park in Canberra in 2012

In Arizona with my lifelong friend Tim Turner, trekking in the Grand Canyon – 1974

Enjoying the Sierra Nevada in 1980

Dad, Mum and Mark and me, touring Yosemite & Yellowstone Park in 1980

Cartoon of Paul in 1982 by Simon Larkin in the DCGS magazine WOT?

Go-karting in the Laurentiens, Canada in 1982

Between the ages of 17-19 Wynton Marsalis and I bore a very close resemblance. So close that I was twice stopped in the street and asked for my autograph. I tried to convince the girls asking me that I wasn’t Wynton. But we did look the same. We dressed the same, had the same range of facial hair configurations, same-looking suits, even the same specs – most of the time – same flat cap – all by coincidence! I told “my” fans that I would be signing as Paul. The girls just laughed and said, “We understand. That’s fine!!” It was hilarious!! Sadly Wynton has aged in the years since…better than me!! Good on him!!

Speaking at the Australian Anabaptist Conference
on the subject of the “New Monasticism” – 2009

Paul and Ruth enjoying a favourite beach on the Bass Coast 2018

Holidaying on Victoria’s Bass Coast in 2018

Enjoying our favourite bit of New South Wales’ Nature Coast in 2019…

…and in 2020…

…and in 2021!

Enjoying life in Canberra – 2019, 2020, 2021…

Rodney, Paul’s dad, in 1953

Brenda, Paul’s mum, in 1954

Enjoying life in our Beautiful Corner of New South Wales – ’21-’23

Evie, acing the flying fox at school camp – November 2016

New Year 2019, blessing and farewelling our beautiful part of Victoria, Australia

Surveying Canberra – 2019

Ben preaching to the crowds in 2014

Arriving on the New South Wales South Coast with my Baby Girl – April 2009

Ruthie with Evie at Moona Moona Creek – April 2009

Enjoying my favourite thoughtful spot in 2010

Rodney and Brenda, Paul’s mum and dad, at the Huntsman, Bath 1987

Ruth and Maa in 2009

Teaching Evie keys in 2010

Piano Lessons in 2015 with Ben and Caleb

A note to my Dad (yes, that’s not Caleb above!) from Louis Armstrong. Nice!!

Louis Armstrong, passing on his skills

I have spent two very happy months of my life to date, touring Italy. It deserves a far longer stay! In 1971 Rome, Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii blew my young mind. In 1984 I spent a very happy month experiencing the life and cuisine of of Firenze and the surrounding region. In 2003 Ortisei, Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano were great revelations for me and, above, enjoying a moment back in romantic Roma. Just in case you didn’t know (take a look at the picture above) this is how police stop traffic in Rome. Check those shoes! Works though!

Forest pathway, cloister, refectory entrance and sanctuary of the Community of the Servants of the Will of God – an Anglican community in East Sussex, England, following the Rule of Benedict, steeped in the theological and spiritual heritage of the undivided Church. From 1987-2004 CSWG was for me a place of rich hospitality, renewal and mentoring from Fr Superior Gregory Dudding – a great supporter of JGen. (You can read an homage to CSWG in my book “The New Monastic”.)

Druid’s Garth – my home in Bathampton, Bath UK from 1984 to 1990

A rare public performance in Bramcote, Nottingham 1989,
dueting with guitarist and theologian, Tim Hull

A rare public performance to an appreciative audience in Canberra in 2011

Ruth – the genius behind AfroShe

Archdeaconing for the Anglican Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn 2013-2016

Ruth, speaking to the youth at Yarra Valley Vineyard – August 2016

Teaching at Yarra Valley Vineyard – April 2018

Teaching the Youth at Yarra Valley Vineyard – June 2016

A privilege to honour two wonderful mentors – David Pytches and Barry Kissell at the Ichthyans Reunion at Andrew’s Chorleywood (UK) – 2016

With Phil Steer and Richard Hayes at St Andrew’s Chorleywood
fpr the September 2016 Ichthyans reunion

Ruth in 2019

Evie – model

My home in London in 1985 when I began in ministry – Fann Street YMCA – such a wonderful and fascinating place to live!

The snowy view from my underground flat on a cold winter’s day in London – 1991

Mount Evelyn, Victoria 2009 – speaking on intentional community at the bi-annual Convention of the Anabaptist Association for Australia and New Zealand

In 2019 with four of our most favourite Victorians – the awesome Benner Family

Evie’s first encounter with trees at Mount Evelyn, Victoria in 2009

Our Place in the Yarra Valley 2016-2019

Running around the Yarra Ranges, Victoria in 2018

A favourite prayer spot in Victoria: 2016-2019

More Filming in the Australian Capital Territory in 2020

My Dad in action – helping Athens International Airport (a vital key to the Greek economy) get back on its feet after a major security incident in 1985 (sound comes in @ 3:57)

My Gran and Gramp, celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary

My brother Mark and me with my Gran & Gramp, Rita and Fred, in 1978. In 1926 at the time of the General Strike, my Gramp left the pit at Brynmawr and walked the 250km from his homeland in Wales to West Wycombe in England, looking for work. My political convictions are rooted in my grandparents’ story – a belief in social costs, a concern for regions, for those forced to leave their homelands, and for the interests of ordinary working citizens to be democratically represented.

From 1994 to 2004 I was privileged to meet and correspond with British MP Tony Benn. Tony Benn was a “conviction politician” whose steadfast principle was the representation of the ordinary working people of his constituency and of the country. I was very blessed by his warm and generous personal interest and his encouragement of me personally through that period. Tony told me that while he eschewed what he called “the mysteries of religion,” he was open in his pursuit to apply the teachings of Jesus in his politics. The older I get the more I understand what he meant. Tony has influenced my preaching, my politics and my parenting. Vale Tony! RIP!

Favourite Local Sunning and Earthing Spots – Victoria, Australia – 2016-2019

Early morning – August 2017

Evie, surveying the Bass strait and taking some Morning Tea

Ruth at breakfast – 2016

The Kids – Christmas 2017

Happy Birthday Lunch @ Rochford VIC – 2018

Local scenes – Victoria, Australia – 2016-2019

Sunning and earthing in a favourite bit of Victorian bush, 2018 (ask me about my animal companions on this particular walk – the echidna, the mountain pygmy possum, the monitor lizard and the two swamp wallabies…)

Evie, protecting Ben from a local Quenda at “our” Alpaca Farm in Gruyere, Victoria, Australia. Here we lived in a farm-shed for two months when we made the move. Happy memories!

Farewelling the Yarra Valley in 2019

portrait by Saskia White

The Family Wallis – July 2017

Church-based ministry often requires the pastor to take second jobs to self-fund and subsidize the work of a church in need. Among my favourite ancilliary gigs have been those as a music-tutor. Here I am in Canberra, Australia, subjecting two of my favourite students to jazz piano lessons in 2005 – my young friends, Brendan and Christopher Van Der Spek

Among my very favourite and most stellar music tuition graduates were these two talented gentlemen, Kane & Mark Fulwood, pictured here in Western Australia, accompanied by three of their female fan-club, and looking like they’ve just played a very successful gig.

Our place on a summer’s day (top) and my Mum (mid) negotiating a mid-winter’s morning at our family home (bottom) in Pointe Claire, on Montreal’s West Island, Quebec – 1981-1990

First steps cross country skiing in our backyard, Pointe Claire, Quebec – 1982

Pointe Claire, Quebec, 1985 (photo by my Dad)

View from our apartment – downtown Montreal 1981

A winter’s walk on Mount Royal, Montreal 1981

My Mum looking serene in 1984

Mum, Me, Gran, Mark and Nan at the Huntsman in Bath 1984

With Mum and brother Mark, relaxing in Constantinople – 1985

Visiting Turkey in 1985. This is the amphitheatre in Ephesus where the Apostle Paul’s preaching provoked a riot. And given the high-tech design of Roman amphitheatres it must have been loud! Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology demonstrated that limestone seats in Roman amphitheatres created a sophisticated acoustic filter which carried the sounds of instruments and voices all the way to the back row. Clever engineering eh!

The Two of Us, enjoying the happiest of days…

Crystal Creek Rainforest Retreat where we spent the first half of our honeymoon. Gorgeous! Beautiful! A high recommend!

The Wallis family at my great friend Tim Turner’s hotel in West Coker, Somerset – 2016

Currumbin Animal Sanctuary on my very first Australian tour – January 1999

Picture by Caleb – 2023

Creator of the Chronicles of Avonlea, and Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery would be proud of the influence she has had on Ruth. In spite of all the setbacks that Ms Montgomery suffered in life, her literary work is steeped in a warm and profound love for people, for redemption, for creativity and education. Through her writing, all of those values (driven by her deep Christian faith) have powerfully inspired and shaped Ruth’s life and work.

Ruthie, speaking in 2010 to the congregation at Basin View Baptist Church,
presenting on the wonderful ministry of MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers)

Evie on our favourite beach on the Nature Coast – New South Wales , Australia – 2010

And with Daddy and Ben in 2013

Enjoying our bit of the Bass Coast – Victoria, Australia – 2018

Caleb & Evie, enjoying the pool at Mount Buller, Victoria’s high country, Australia 2018

Tennis at Mount Buller, Victoria, Australia – 2018

Blacksmith’s Beach – Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia – 2019

On the beach at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia – 2020

On a JGen Retreat in Braidwood, New South Wales – 2005 – picture by Daniel Ford

Little Evie with David Ford – 2009

Grandpa (Paul’s dad) with little Evie in 2010

Grandma &Grandpa celebrating Christmas 2010 with us on the NSW South Coast

Ruth and Maa (Ruth’s mum) – Christmas 2010 at our home on the coast

Ruth, Evie & Paul – Christmas 2009

Paul, Ruth & Ben with Anthony & Kay Brown
(Ant is one of Paul’s 40 group house graduates – class of ’93!)

My best mates and soul-brothers, Ant and Phil. Ant is one of my group-house grads. He boarded with me in London when he was nineteen. I have known Phil since we were schoolmates from the age of seven. And we’ve shared the journey ever since!

Celebrating Christmas with new baby, Ben at St George’s Basin – Dec 2010

Joint Birthday Party for Evie and Ben, Canberra 2011

One of my favourite 12th century pubs – this one in Chalton, Hampshire, UK

The frescoes on the interior walls of Idsworth Parish Church, near my Portsmouth home. It’s typical of ancient English churches prior to the Republic. Cromwell’s servants whitewashed over the kind of art which had attempted to anchor English feudal order with the authority of Jesus and the Apostles. I get why Cromwell did it, but it’s still nice to catch a glimpse of some of the artwork!

In the UK with fellow Bath University Students and assorted mammals in 1984

Street-Preacher Paul in 1987

Me and my Groomsmen at the Australian National Gallery

With Ruth’s Mum and Dad, celebrating Ruth’s graduation as a Bachelor of Education in 2004

Paul and Ant around 2009

Our smooth and accomplised 😉 Bridal Dance in 2005

My great friend and JGen alumnus Nick Tipple at Portchester Castle, Hampshire – 2002

Paul & Pastor Ben Rodgers, one of the first JGenners in Australia in 2003

Showing my sporting prowess at cricket at Angle Crossing, New South Wales, Australia in 2003 (Just don’t worry about the location of the ball in this shot!)

Paul and Nick Jensen (the very first 2 JGenners in Australia) enjoying the beach at South Durras, New South Wales, Australia – 2003

Daddy and Daughter sharing a moment in 2008

Evie @ 1

Evie and Daddy at Callala Bay, New South Wales, Australia – 2010

Friends, neighbours and church in Healesville, Victoria, Australia. So grateful for our multi-generational fellowship over the fence with the Milton Family, 2016 – 2019

AirBNB-ing in 2018 = a whole lot of ironing!

Travelling in 2011

Helping with Evie’s first ever bike ride (on a commandeered bike) in 2009

Helping Evie to walk – St George’s Basin December 2009

Helping Evie with bike riding – Canberra October 2015

Skateboarding with Evie in Olinda, Victoria – October 2015

Ben’s naming and blessing at Jervis Bay Baptist Church in 2011

New adventure, walking with Caleb – Yass NSW October 2015

The shed and grounds of the alpaca farm Gruyere, Victoria, where we lived for three months, crammed into one bedroom in 2016. It was an amazing transition!

Wallis Kids enjoying their 2016 “Tree-Change”

Evie and Ben, biking in Victoria, Australia – July 2016

Evie @ 8

Happy Birthday Ruthie!

Dad by Caleb – 2018

Paul and Ruth – January 2016

Young Wallises – 2016

Looking roundly unimpressed by some historic technology at West Wycombe Fair in 1977 – Auntie Freda, Carolyn John, Mark, Me – and some interloper…

Beach preaching at Dawlish Warren in Devon, UK in 1984

My author’s shot in 2006 – picture taken by Ruth at the NASA / CSIRO Tracking Station at Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory

With Mum, brother Mark and Dad (taking the pictures) enjoying life at the beach in Portugal’s beautiful Algarve – back in the 1960’s

Me and Evie on Callala Beach, New South Wales, Australia – 2011

Evie and Ben, practising their Tina Turner entrance! Sanctuary Point 2012

Evie and Ben, still practising their Tina Turner entrance! Sanctuary Point 2019

Evie, Daddy & Ben outside Daddy’s office at Morrissey Property in 2014

Celebrating the wedding of our friends Jackie and Papi – Canberra 2013

Paul at the inception of the Pan African Fellowship, Portsmouth UK – 1996

Home to the Pan-African Fellowship – 1996-2001
(Seeding the International Felllowship of Christian Students in 2001)

Matt Sellers

Matt Sellers and me – snorkeling at Yeppoon off the Australian Great Barrier Reef in 1999. Matt was an alumnus of one one of my group houses from the early days of JGen– and a great friend to me and to my cat Raoul. Matt always boasted that he could make Raoul purr just by talking to him. And it was true! Our lives intersected at an important moment for both of us. It was through boarding with me that Matt met (and later married) Heidi, the Love of his Life. And it was through travelling with Matt that I met (and later married) Ruth, the Love of my Life, and made my new home in Australia. Matt died in a tragic accident in 2006 at the young age of 30. I think about Matt often, a friend whose memory always makes me smile.

My brother Mark and me, snowballing in the
backyard one snowy English Easter in 1974

Getting Baptised in 1982, dunked by Geoff Hawkins & David Pytches

Happy New Year 2021 from Paul and Ruth XXX

Looking very Orthodox in 1991 –
shortly after my ordination as Priest in the Church of England

Visiting and learning from Pastor Sengh Lee at Faith Community
Baptist Church in Singapore in 1997

Naming and Blessing Caleb – Canberra, 2014

Naming and Blessing Ben at Jervis Bay Baptist Church in 2011

A very happy chapter in ministry, serving the Anglican Church in Australia as Archdeacon of North Canberra. This is me and the family as I was collated, The Venerable Paul Wallis, by Bishop Stuart Robinson at Goulburn Cathedral in February 2013. I don’t think Evie looks too impressed with the paparazzi attention though!

Ruth and Caleb travelling to the UK in 2016

Caleb and Daddy after lunch at a Yarra Valley winery one day in August 2016

Caleb and Mummy at lunch that same day!

While working with the London Diocese I enjoyed the slightly surreal experience of serving on a real diocesan committee chaired by a fictitious vicar – or was it vice versa?! (Frank Williams of Dad’s Army)

Few things are scarier than teaching a room full of teachers!! Here I am, leading a hundred teaching and ancillary staff on retreat in 2004. Paul with Principal, Carl Palmer.

St Pancras Old Church on the Fleet River – where I was first ordained in 1990

St Pancras Old Church Interior – a church has been on this site since before 314AD

Priesting at my first Australian Parish in 2000

Chaplain at the Australian National University from 2001

My Nan, Florence, (my paternal grand-mother) in her younger years. My brother and I have very happy memories of staying at my Nan’s. I remember details of her cooking, the way she would read stories, the games she would teach us and phone calls to her sisters on her giant 1930’s phone. Nan was clearly very proud of us! It was exciting too because staying with my Nan meant we were away from the subrubs and in the big city – London! It was like a different world – a house full of artefacts of distant times and, outside, the unfamiliar chorus of street-traders was like that scene out of Oliver!

I mean this one!

These are shots of Winston Churchill speaking on his election campaign in 1945 from the portico of the Red Lion in High Wycombe. This was just down the road from the pub of which my Nan and Grand-dad were the landlords in the 1950’s. I feel really proud of the business savvy, hard work and forceful presence by which my grand-mother made a success of this business.

Interestingly, even having “won” the war, Churchill was not voted in as a PM for peace time. He lost the 1945 general election. Having suffered and survived the losses and privations of a world war, giving up everything for their country, people did not want to return to the mean penny-pinching governance and the means-tested benefits of the depression years which comprised the decade prior to the outbreak of war.

This is my Nan and Grand-dad’s pub in the ’60s – after its name was changed from “The Grapes.”

Having been left out of the US-Germany deal at the end of WWII (part of the package responsible for ending WWII) Britain desperately needed rebuilding. Churchill’s promise of even more blood, sweat and tears in the peacetime following the war was entirely the wrong message and the wrong plan for that moment. In 1945 the public was ready to throw its weight behind a government which would rebuild the country by massive investment, and stimulus of enterprise, publicly underwriting education, health and infrastructure. Taking up where Chamberlain had left off, this policy of nation-rebuilding was the gift of Prime Minister Clem Attlee and the social-democratic policies of Labour’s manifesto. Accordingly, Churchill lost by a landslide.

Notwithstanding this extraordinary policy mis-step, Winston Churchill himself was loved and honoured for piloting Britain through the war years. The huge crowd gathered outside the Red Lion in High Wycombe in 1945 reflects that honour.

Baptising, anointing and washing with Jesus Generation in 2004

Paul & Ruth in 2004 – at a Ghanaian
cultural event in Canberra

Proud to become an Australian Citizen – Canberra 2007

A favourite prayer spot 2000-2009 – The Cotter Dam near Canberra

Baptising my neighbour, friend and paralympian, Greg, in the ocean at Tathra NSW

Paul & Nick at Greenfields Beach NSW in 2011

November 2009, enjoying the wedding of Paula and Dave,
(the latter, one of Paul’s 40 group-house graduates)

A daunting retreat for me in 1993 – teaching the Benedictine monks of Elmore Abbey about “Prayer & Spiritual Direction” Thankful to say I was graciously received!

Enduringly grateful to a wonderful faculty at the University of Nottingham & St John’s College, Bramcote. Great tutors and great libraries which drew me into a wonderful and life-changing tour of the Great Cloud of Witnesses! A real privilege.

Loving life with our favourite American cousins, Hannah, Enoch and Dora at St Georges Basin NSW in 2010 (Ask me the story of Selina the hospitality cat – far left!)