Robert and Michelle Griffith are settling in for "a nice, long chapter" at Gunnedah Baptist Church.
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The new minister and his wife have moved to town after a three-year stint in Lismore and have been "very well received".
The pair have bought a home and are carrying out some renovations and Mr Griffith said everyone, including the tradies, had been "incredibly friendly".
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Mr Griffith said news of the role at Gunnedah came "out of the blue" when someone sent him an email.
He came to the church as a guest in early December and said when he drove into Gunnedah, he "looked around the town, the way the environment is, and thought, 'this is like home'."
Mr Griffith grew up in Orange where he was met his future wife at an Inter-School Christian Fellowship camp when she was 18. They married in 1980 and welcomed five children into the world over the years.
Mr Griffith was ordained as a reverend in the Baptist church in 1993 and ministered at Orange Baptist Church for 15 years.
He took "a sabbatical" in 2008 and they moved to Bathurst. During their time there, he decided to do some study at the Uniting College then wound up ministering in the Yamba Uniting Church. He also took on the role of presbytery chair for the whole region.
Three years later, the Griffiths made the move to Lismore Regional Mission, arriving six weeks before the 2017 flood, which wiped out the church.
In late 2019, Mr Griffith "sensed it was time to come home to the Baptists" and he accepted the role in Gunnedah.
"I had a very strong sense of a call. I didn't apply for anything else. I didn't look at anything else ... there was just something very strong about the call here and that has been confirmed since I got here," he said.
His wife is now wrapping things up in Lismore before she joins him in Gunnedah.
"We're looking forward to a nice, long chapter," Mr Griffith said.
The minister said Gunnedah Baptist was "a great little church" and he was also keen to get involved next door at the Gunnedah Baptist Community Preschool and support the team where he can.
In his downtime, he is looking forward to riding his "very neglected" Harley Davidson and seeing his grandchildren in Singleton and Newcastle.