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Julie Lanham takes up Diocesan Clearance Officer role.

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Lanham as our new Clearance Officer for the Diocese. Julie is well known to many of us for her pioneering work with husband, Rich Lanham, in visioning, establishing, and for six years successfully operating the social enterprise that was Café 123 in Sale.

Julie was an employee of the Diocese during that period, and has a proven administrative capacity alongside the ability to generate and test new ideas and processes.

Equally important with respect to this new position is Julie’s pastoral heart and gentle professional manner. Julie is committed to helping people feel safe, and the opportunity to work in the Safe Ministry space appeals to her. At the Café we observed that it was Julie’s ability to create an environment in which people from all backgrounds and with diverse needs felt included and cared for that made 123 such a beloved gathering place in the Wellington Shire – one which had a significant outreach ministry either side of and right throughout the Covid period.

For those who may not have met Julie yet, she introduces herself a little further here:

" Hi I’m Julie Lanham and have been living in Gippsland since 2012. My husband and family and I moved down from Gilgandra NSW, where we had worked in the community with the Bush Church Aid Society. We came Sale in the first instance to work for the Cathedral Parish on the invitation of our dear friend, the late Bishop John MacIntyre. Rich and I worked together at at St Paul’s with the youth.

I came to manage the 123 Café that Rich had birthed as a ‘Fresh Expression’ of church. The Café was a wonderful place to manage and I was proud of what we were able to accomplish. It helped solidify my thoughts around approaching people with love and kindness, free of judgement, and big on acceptance. And it helped me to practice this – which, of course, is an ongoing learning and relearning …

I have a heart for people and a passion for food which combine in a love of sharing life over a meal, and I am currently studying Commercial Cookery. I look forward to this new work with the Diocese and meeting everyone one either in person or over the phone – happy to be seeing some old friends and meeting and making some new ones."

Julie will work two days a week and be the conduit between our parishes and ministry centres and the clearances arm of Kooyoora, and assist with the transition to the ‘OSCA’ platform in the months ahead.

Further details as to how and when best to contact Julie, and the ways in which her role will facilitate the smoother running of the whole clearances process will follow in the coming weeks.