Peter and Enid Robinson in 1984

Pioneer Australian Pastor Rev. Peter Alfred Robinson, former District Secretary and member of the District Advisory Board of the Australia Southern District and former member of the Board of Nazarene Theological College (Thornlands, Australia), went to be with the Lord on Sunday 19 August 2018 in his hometown of Adelaide, South Australia at the age of 91. Pastor “Robby” was one of the few remaining pioneers of the Church of the Nazarene in Australia, having received the experience of entire sanctification as a Baptist junior police constable during a revival held at the Adelaide (later Croydon Park) Church of the Nazarene in 1950. Peter became one of 6 laymen transformed in this revival who later became pastors in the Church of the Nazarene.

Born on 25 March 1927 in Adelaide, the capital city of the state of South Australia, Peter married the former Enid Ruth Slater on 12 February 1949 and were the parents of 2 sons, Bret Robinson and Lindsay Robinson. In 1954 Peter and Enid relocated 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to Sydney, to enroll in Nazarene Bible College, then located in the suburb of Thornleigh, that was founded by Dr. Richard S. Taylor in February 1953. After several months of study, Rev. A.A.E. Berg, District Superintendent of the Australia District since December 1948, invited Peter to pioneer the Church of the Nazarene in the Central Queensland coastal city of Mackay, 1,720 kilometres (1,070 miles) north of Sydney, and almost 700 kilometres (430 miles) from the nearest Church of the Nazarene. After 12 months of holding meetings in the rented house, the Robinsons returned to Sydney, where Peter became the Pastor of the Birrong Church of the Nazarene (formed by the merger of Burwood and Campsie, the first Australian Nazarene church founded in 1946), and continued his studies at NBC. In 1958 the Robinsons accepted a call to pastor the Stafford Church of the Nazarene in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

Rev. Robinson in 1970

In February 1959 Peter was ordained an elder in the Church of the Nazarene by General Superintendent Dr. Daniel I. Vanderpool at the Coorparoo church. At the end of 1963, the Robinsons returned to Adelaide, where Peter became the pastor of his home church at Croydon Park. After the creation of the Australia Southern District in February 1977, Peter served as a member of the initial District Advisory Board, and as District Secretary from 1983 to 1992, and also for 3 years as a member of Nazarene Theological College, which had relocated to Thornlands (an exurb of Brisbane) in 1976. While pastoring the Birrong church for the second time from 1980 to 1985, Pastor Peter was responsible for an extensive expansion, renovation, and beautification of the church building. After a pastorate at the Ingle Farm church in Adelaide, Peter retired from the ministry in 1992, subsequently transferring his membership to the Logan Community church and then the Capalaba Community church in Queensland and his credentials to the Australia Northern Pacific District. On 16 March 2008, the Robinsons were presented with a Distinguished Service Award by the Capalaba church in recognition of more than 60 years of dedicated loyal service to Christ through the Church of the Nazarene in Australia. Despite health concerns, including a heart attack in 2014, Pastor Robbie preached as the opportunity was given, and attended church regularly in Adelaide. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Enid; elder son Bret and his wife, Moira; and younger son, Lindsay and his two children.