Life Saving Chaplaincy Australia in Partnership with Sports Chaplaincy Australia announced today the appointment of Gold Coast Titans Chaplain Rev. Russell Harmon as their new Australian director. Reverend Harmon, who has been the NRL Titans Chaplain for the past 6 years, will continue in his role at the club while undertaking the National Leadership role with Life Saving Chaplaincy Australia.
Harmon said, “It’s a great privilege to work with the NRL players and even more so now with the unsung heroes of our nation’s beaches, our Aussie Life Savers!” He noted, “We are grateful for the selfless work of our life savers but what often goes unnoticed is the personal and occupational stress Life Savers regularly experience in their job. They often face more than just the onslaught of large surf; unfortunately they all too often experience the trauma of a near drowning or tragedy.” Harmon observed, “It can be all too overwhelming for our young lifesavers to console others in shock or face the families during such tough times.” A major focus of Rev Harmon’s role is to work in partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) to appoint trained volunteer Chaplains to provide pastoral care to clubs throughout Australia. National Director of Sports Chaplaincy Australia and Melbourne Football Club Chaplain Cameron Butler stated, “We are just thrilled to have Russ on board! The respect Russ has earned as a Minister on the Gold Coast Community for the past 25 years and his experience at the Titans will go a long way towards our vision of having a chaplain serving in every Life Saving Club in Australia.”