It is exciting to be in a new parish. New people to meet, new names to learn.
This is my third parish since becoming a pastor. My first parish was a small country town in the Wimmera called Minyip. You may not have heard of Minyip but you may have heard of Coopers Crossing, the town at the centre of The Flying Doctors series which was filmed in Minyip.
Having spent 3 ½ years in Minyip I received the call to serve a new parish formed between the Frankston Lutheran Church and Karingal Uniting Church. This was the first ecumenical arrangement of its kind and showed that 2 denominations could work together whilst respecting each others traditions.
During my ministry in the Frankston parish I was installed as Chaplain to the new Lakeside Lutheran College in Pakenham.
After 6 years serving the Frankston parish I received my current call to serve the Ringwood/Knox Lutheran parish.
I am excited about this new call as it gives me the opportunity to work with a parish that is committed to inter-generational relationships and community outreach. I look forward to serving this new parish and leading it as it worships and serves our Lord and lives out God’s presence to those around us.
About Pastor Peter
I was born in Australia in 1959. My parents arrived in Australia as part of the post war migration. My father came from Lebanon and my mother from Germany. I was baptized in the Lutheran church as an infant and that was the extent of my church life until my late teens when I began a search for the meaning of life. Having received a Gideons Bible in my first year at high school I thought that I would start to read and see what Christianity had to offer. I soon discovered the meaning of life that I had been searching for – a relationship with a loving God who created me and offered me eternal life as a free gift out of his love for me. I then joined the Lutheran Church in Box Hill and began serving God in various ways in that church.
I was employed as an accountant but soon found that my time was preferably spent serving in the church. In 1993 we made the decision that I would follow my inner call to study to become a Pastor with the Lutheran Church.
I don’t have any particular hobbies but I do love to go bike riding as a way of keeping fit and to get away from the pressures of ministry.
I have been married for almost 23 years to Sharon who has a love of patchwork quilting which she does in her spare time. Sharon works full time as a store manager for Williams Shoes.
Sharon and I have 2 children:
Ben, 20, is an apprentice carpenter and a great handyman around the house.
Grace, 17, is in year 12 at Luther College.
We have a dog, Nina, and cat, Romeo, who make visitors to the manse feel extremely welcome.
We are fortunate that all my ministry has been in the Victorian District as Sharon and I both have our families in Victoria and just over the NSW border. My parents actually live between the Ringwood and Knox congregation.
Pastor Peter Ghalayini was installed as the second pastor of the Ringwood Knox Parish in February 2009. You can also read about our previous pastor, Pastor Stephen Pietsch.