Jenan Taylor
18 June 2024
St Paul’s Cathedral member Ann Rusden has received a Medal of the Order of Australia, in recognition of her service to education, and the community.
Miss Rusden’s strong Christian values drive her push for chaplaincy programs and Christian education in state schools.
Her contributions include voluntary work at St Paul’s and at the Melbourne Cricket Club, and education leadership roles, including being Camberwell High School principal from 1987 to 1992.
Miss Rusden said an abiding passion was championing religious instruction in schools because it gave students an opportunity to learn about Christianity, and benefit from its values.
Miss Rusden said her time spent working in education was also extremely rewarding because it gave opportunity to positively influence young people.
She taught religious instruction in state schools, and now financially supported chaplaincy programs, because she believed that chaplains and religious education were very necessary.
Read more: Melbourne bishop named on King’s Birthday Honours List
“As a practicing Christian, I feel strongly that all students should have the opportunity to know about Christianity,” she said.
“Many young people now don’t have the benefit of what I had as a youngster when I went to Sunday school and church. Some wouldn’t even know the biblical stories we grew up knowing, like the Good Samaritan.”
Miss Rusden first attended St Paul’s with her parents in the 1960s, and became very involved with it largely through her Friends of the Cathedral membership later on.
She said being involved at church was a way of life, and she was unable to conceive of ever being unable to attend every week.
She said being Warden of Servers from 1985 to 2001 was a highlight, because she got to be part of consecration services, and the funeral of Archbishop David Penman.
Miss Rusden said the funeral service was large, and particularly special because the archbishop had passed unexpectedly, after only five years in office.
She said she was still a Friends of the Cathedral member and continued to help convene the Flower Guild.
Dean of Melbourne the Very Reverend Dr Andreas Loewe said it was a delight that Miss Rusden was recognised, because her love for St Paul’s was a shining beacon.
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He said she had built good relationships with many people at the cathedral through being engaged in an array of significant roles.
Dr Loewe said Miss Rusden’s affectionate recollection and knowledge of St Paul’s happenings over many decades made her a living embodiment of history.
He said her Flower Guild membership enabled others to learn how to create stunning floral arrangements in the cathedral, a skill that went beyond placing flowers in a vase.
Dr Loewe said Miss Rusden’s other extraordinary passion was cricket, and was almost as deep as her love for St Paul’s Cathedral.
“Her enthusiasm was such that she would drive to Adelaide for the second part of the test, right after Christmas,” he said.
“She’s been a tour guide at the MCG and has taken groups from the cathedral there from time to time. She’s an outstanding member of the community and greatly valued here.”
Specialist physician Jo Ann Douglass and paediatric endocrinologist Christine Rodda were also named in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Do you know of any other Melbourne Anglicans who have received King’s Birthday Honours? Email us at editor@melbourneanglican.org.au.
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