Ben Hunter, plumber
Ben Hunter is a plumber. More precisely, he’s husband to Charlotte, father to Josiah, Lydia and Nathanael, a graduate of Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC), a most-of-the-time plumber and a part-time TAFE chaplain. (In Australia, ‘TAFE’ stands for Technical and Further Education, and TAFE colleges provide a wide range of vocational tertiary education courses.)
“Technically, I’m the Assistant Anglican Chaplain at Ultimo TAFE in Sydney”, says Ben. “I’m here one day a week every Tuesday, but I’m hoping to move to two days a week next year.”
When he’s not at Ultimo, Ben works as a plumber and loves it. “There’s something real and genuine about good tradespeople. They work with the raw materials of life. They shape them and mould them and make peoples’ lives better. Work, for me, can be part of worship.”
From work to college and back again
This wasn’t always the case. After high school, Ben wanted to bypass work and go straight into full-time ministry.
“At the end of year 12, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to serve God, but I didn’t know what that would look like. My only thought was that maybe I should go to Bible college, but on the advice of friends and family members, and principals of certain Bible colleges, I was convinced I shouldn’t go to college straight away, but rather that I should enter the workforce.
“I was generally disillusioned with education at that stage. I didn’t want to go to university, so I applied for a couple of jobs and ended up in plumbing. After six years, I actually got to enjoy the work and found it quite fulfilling—which is a bit of a miracle, really, because I was just not a practical person in any way, and plumbing is just such a practical trade.”
Ben spent seven years as a plumber before finally making his way to theological education. Having just completed a Bachelor of Theology at SMBC, you might think he would finally end up in full-time vocational ministry, but you’d be surprised.
“My decision has been to go back into the workforce, rather than enter full-time ministry. My mind changed over time at college: I found that serving God doesn’t necessarily mean taking yourself out of everyday life and work. There are a lot of people who do [full-time vocational ministry] really well, but I also feel there’s a great need for Christians to be serving God in the workforce as missionaries.
“I don’t like the line, ‘I just go to work to make ends meet so I can do ministry’. I think that work is part of worship, and in the workplace environment, there are so many opportunities to do ministry. There are lots of people who don’t know Jesus in the blue-collar world; they think he’s irrelevant. I want to show people that that’s not the case. He’s completely relevant and important, and he has a place in the culture and in people’s lives.”
Ben Hunter, TAFE Chaplain
If Ben decided to return to plumbing, what is he doing at Ultimo TAFE, sitting in a dingy room labelled ‘Female Prayer Room’?
Ben laughs when this is pointed out. He explains: “There are some situations where a second prayer room is needed. For example, Muslim men and women need separate spaces to pray. The room has been designated as extra prayer space and as the office for the Multi-faith Chaplaincy service.
“I made the decision [to return to full-time work] before this opportunity at TAFE came up. But the TAFE thing is a great complement to my work because it gives me the opportunity to get alongside young guys coming up in the trades, and encourage them to do what I want to do—that is, to get into the workforce, get to know people and start impacting the trade culture for Christ.
“I’d had contact with TAFE Ministries before, and [ministry to tradespeople] was something that had been in the back of my mind. Then as I was finishing my studies, Craig Blacket [Approved Visiting Anglican Chaplain to Ultimo TAFE and head of TAFE Ministries at the time] asked me if I’d be willing to do some ministry with him.” That resulted in Ben assisting Craig one day a week at Ultimo TAFE.
The fact that he’s here at all is quite an achievement. Historically, ministry has been very difficult in TAFEs. Unlike many universities, TAFEs don’t have chaplaincies or active student groups, and the laws regarding Special Religious Education in schools don’t apply.1 The New South Wales Government Department of Education and Training has been quite opposed to Christian ministry in TAFEs, embracing a secular educational ethic.
“Officially, TAFE is vocational training”, explains Ben, “which is just training you to do your work. In the West, we want to strip the religious aspect out of the everyday. But we have an opportunity at Ultimo that we just can’t ignore. Ultimo has a multi-faith chaplaincy arrangement that has been dormant for a few years, and this gives us an opportunity—an open door to come onto campus and do Christian work.
“Jesus has a lot to say about working, working well and living well. The Christian message is not in any way contrary to what TAFEs want to do. We want to show TAFEs that we support their objectives and complement them, but we’re cautious about being too ‘in-your-face’.”
“Jesus did a trade: his life for yours”
TAFE, explains Ben, is a difficult but important place for ministry. TAFE is a hard place to be a Christian, and young Christians going into TAFEs need to be looked after.
“As a TAFE student, you’re in a classroom of guys for six months or longer, and it’s a great opportunity to find out what’s going on in their lives and share with them. But they can be a pretty rough bunch at times. So you can feel quite alone in TAFE. You don’t know if there are any other Christians out there because nobody puts their hands up. If you’re vocal about your faith, it’s easy to become ostracized, and the temptation can be to just keep your head down and fly under the radar, or else go along with the crowd.
“You need a lot of support because you’re going into another culture. I think the risk is that Christian guys who come to TAFE will end up turning their backs on their involvement with church. They come into a new culture and embrace it to the point that their old culture—their Christian culture—has no relevance for them anymore.
“But I want to bring those two cultures together—Christianity and the trade culture. I don’t think there has to be a separation. These guys don’t have to go to church and act one way, and then go to work and act another way.
“As a tradie, there is the opportunity for what you are doing to be a form of worship: you are serving God as you’re serving people. You can be a real blessing to others, and you can even consider yourself fulfilling the mandate that God set out to look after the world in Genesis 1-2.
“That’s the special thing about a trade: what you do is valuable to the people you work for, and generally you are doing something that is helping someone. By and large, you’re improving people’s lives, and that’s an important thing!
“I don’t want young Christians to feel like they have to remove themselves from their work lives to be decent Christians. I want them to be mature Christians in their workplace. I want to help young workers to anticipate the kingdom of Christ in their work and witness. I dream of a trade culture that acknowledges Jesus and a church culture that incorporates tradies—blue-collar workers.
“The church needs to pray for our blue-collar brothers and sisters, and encourage them to make the most of the amazing skills and opportunities God has given them. They have a valuable missionary service to perform in their workplaces and communities.
“I’m praying that God would start something wonderful in the trade culture. I believe he already has. If we can be a small part of what he’s doing, then all praise be to him!”
Editor’s Note: TAFE Ministries has recently been incorporated as Inter College Christian Fellowship (ICCF) to reflect its ministry across various training institutions. Since this interview was conducted, Ben has been appointed chaplain at the new Anglican Technical College Western Sydney, which has been set up to cater for vocation training in the trades.
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- Special Religious Education (SRE) is enshrined in New South Wales law, and has provided a great platform to reach children in the state’s public schools. ↩
