Has anyone in my family saved any souls? Probably not, but here goes ...

In the tradition of my great-great-grandfather, consider this your chance at salvation.

October 23, 2026 — 11:37am

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My great-great-grandfather was a Methodist lay preacher, having no religious qualification, but a passion to spread the word. An engineering blacksmith by trade, on Sundays he’d hitch his pony to his gig and travel the muddy tracks out of Shepparton to the surrounding hamlets, and in small halls and wooden churches he’d hold forth to meagre congregations, warning them of the temptations of this life and extolling the rewards of the next.

Four generations later, I’m still in the family trade. Using this gig, I sally forth on weekends attempting to help this congregation of readers live a victorious life over sin. There’s no evidence that either of us ever turned a single congregant from the primrose path to destruction towards a more righteous existence, but we preach, nonetheless, in hope.

I have John’s handwritten journal chronicling his preachings during the early 1900s. The entries are filled with a sense of mission. “I was led........

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