Father Norm Fellowes is celebrating his diamond anniversary after 60 years in the Priesthood of the Anglican church.
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At 93 years old, Father Norm has had a long, rewarding career guided by his faith which took him all around the state.
Ordained by Bishop Burgmann in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 1959, Father Norm began his journey to help others as a curate.
He said part of being in the priesthood was to be there through the good times and the bad.
"The privilege of being in the priesthood is to take part in the highlights and low times of family life," Father Norm said.
"I have baptised around 500 babies, married many people, but also have been with families at their darkest times if family members have died or at the scenes of accidents.
"The job of a priest is to be a friend."
Father Norm was even able to baptise his own great-granddaughter.
"Not many people get the pleasure to do something so wonderful," he said.
Over his career, Albury-born Father Norm has been everywhere from Batlow and Cooma, to Tarcutta and Barmedman, even spending three years in Sydney in the latter years of practice.
The passionate family-man shared a few words of wisdom in light of the dark times faced by many recently.
"Faith in God is the most important thing to help you through life, which is one of the things we see with our Muslim brothers and sisters - it is their faith that gets them through," he said.
"We've learnt a lot of things about The Church recently that have saddened us deeply, but our first and foremost rule is to love God and treat others as we would like to be treated so we do the best we can."
After his time in Sydney, Father Norm moved to the Diocese of the Riverina which his wife Dorothy said he adored.
"Norm loved his time there, going to Culcairn, Lockhart, The Rock and Lake Cargelligo, before retiring here in Wagga," she said.
Up until five years ago, Father Norm still took services in Ashmont, despite it being a little more difficult to get out and about.
He said it gave him great pleasure to share his faith with the community.
"To live the christian life, you have to care, share and respect your fellow man and woman," he said.
"Doing this brings about true love, which is the nature of God - He is not just loving, God is love and I have tried to bring that message to all the people I've ministered to and met along the way."
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