Flinders Patrol

Hughenden, Queensland

The patrol is based at Hughenden and sits on the western edge of the Great Divide. It covers an area bounded by the shires, of Flinders, Richmond and McKinlay. This patrol now incorporates what used to be known as the Leichhardt Patrol.

The region is mainly made up of sheep and cattle stations interspersed with very rugged low mountain ranges and gorges. The small towns of Richmond , Nondah, Neilia, Stamford and Torrens Creek are part of the patrol.

The "Flinders" Patrol was established originally in 1995 to provide ministry to a small region that had suffered a prolonged period of drought. After this, the "Flinders" and the "Leichhardt" patrols were amalgamated to form the new Flinders Patrol.

Regular worship is conducted for the Hughenden congregation and smaller communities as appropriate, along with a liturgical and sacramental ministry to people living on pastoral stations. With the financial effects of drought still lingering, support and encouragement are offered to people living on the land. Here counselling, befriending, and listening become a very important part of ministry. The "mini-schools" associated with the distance education programmes in the region are attended which makes it possible to connect with quite a number of the families associated with the patrol.

Pastor Peter Harvey has been the Patrol Minister since March 2007.