Stu Cameron

Stuart McNicol Cameron is an ordained Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). Since 2021 he has served as the CEO and Superintendent of Wesley Mission, the largest parish in the denomination, and one of the largest Christian not-for-profit organisations in Australia. Previously he had been the lead minister at Newlife Church, the largest UCA church in Queensland.

Early life and education
In his own writings, Cameron describes growing up in rural South Australian town of Naracoorte, and enjoying Christian camps with his family, where he came to faith. He moved to Adelaide after high school, completing an accounting degree then worked in the business sector. However, he was already taking lay leadership roles in youth groups in Uniting Churches, eventually taking a full time role as an organiser of National Christian Youth Conventions, for two years in South Australia, and for two years in Tasmania, each with 2,000 to 3,000 people. He returned to Adelaide for theological studies, preparing for ordination.

Ministry
Cameron has described the Uniting Church as "my denominational tribe, one I love.” Before he was even ordained, Cameron was invited to apply for the role of General Secretary of the Synod, South Australia, the administrative head of the Uniting Church in that state. He served in the role, becoming its CEO, for six years.

Though he had not led a church before, Cameron was then appointed to the role of Senior Minister, of what was then known as Robina-Surfers Paradise Uniting Church, focusing on the community in the newly developed suburb of Robina. Working alongside a "very capable" Executive Minister Melissa Lipsett, the church saw steady expansion

Eventually, the church would be rebranded as Newlife Church, building on its original campus in Robina. From 2011, Newlife added locations at Coolangatta, Brisbane and Moreton— as well as launching independent churches in Pacific Pines (becoming Uniting North) and Burleigh Heads (becoming Burleigh Village Church). According to church documents, Cameron served as Board Member and Chair for the Willow Creek Association's Global Leadership Network Australia from 2012 to 2019. In this role, Cameron spoke out against the Willow Creek's founder when accusations of impropriety surfaced, while expecting that repentance would lead to renewal and hope.

After 15 years as Senior Minister, the size of the Newlife congregations represented 10 per cent of the entire Uniting Church in Queensland, making it the largest Uniting Church in Australia. By this point Cameron was described as "the most successful leader in the UCA." However, he was also known to be "a UCA insider rather than a fringe critic" because of his role as the General Secretary of the UCA in South Australia. In 2020, Cameron was invited to take the leadership at the largest UCA church in NSW, Wesley Mission. He was given the dual roles of CEO and Superintendent Minister as he would be heading a large welfare organisation while leading a church. According to its annual report, between 2022 to 2023, across its ministries and services Wesley Mission grew its operating budget from $216 million to $268 million. It is said to employ more than 2,000 staff across NSW, operating from more than 200 centres, with services that include emergency accommodation, foster care, family centres and mental health services; while the church hosts nine culturally diverse congregations. He remains active in the evangelical leadership group known as Propel in the Uniting Church. However, it is for his social justice concerns where Cameron increased in his profile.

Homelessness
In 2021, Cameron opened a refurbished centre for people experiencing homelessness, the Wesley Edward Eagar Centre. Situated on Bourke Street in Surry Hills, New South Wales, it accommodates 40 residents, for short term living at minimal board. The City of Sydney contributed $1m to the $12m project. In August 2023, Cameron announced that Wesley Mission had received approval to develop 39 homes in Glebe in Sydney, providing affordable housing for almost 100 residents, with a $3 million contribution to the development from the city. From 2021-2023, Cameron was a Board Member of the End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC), a government and community services collaboration committed to seeing street sleeping in Sydney and NSW rare, brief and non-recurring. From 2022-2023, he served as Co-Chairperson.

Inter-faith dialogue
Cameron has taken a high-profile role in multi-faith and multi-ethnic events, such as Australia's National Day of Unity, where he worked alongside Imam Imraan Husain and Rabbi Nir Gurevitch.

Poker machine reform
Having seen the impact of gambling harm on people Wesley Mission works alongside, in 2022 Cameron became a vocal advocate for gambling reform in NSW, particularly for "cashless gambling" that limits losses. He appealed to the leaders of the Labor and Liberal parties, both of whom ended up making election promises to limit poker machine losses. Eventually poker machine reform became a key issue in the 2023 New South Wales state election. He aligned both with key progressive figures, such as Alex Greenwich; and church leaders, such as the prominent Baptist minister Tim Costello and Sandy Grant the conservative dean of St Andrew's Cathedral. At the time Cameron insisted that the issue was both political and theological, as “The gospel is good news for the poor and release for the prisoner. In announcing the Kingdom, Jesus proclaimed a message that has implications for all of life." Following his election win, Labor's Chris Minns announced that a proposed trial of cashless gambling would be implemented and expanded to 4,500 poker machines. To oversee the results of the trial, and to make further gambling reform recommendations, the Minns government announced the establishment of the 16-member Panel, which included Cameron, led by an executive committee of Michael Foggo, Dr Ursula Stephens and the Hon Niall Blair.

Orthodoxy within the Uniting Church
Cameron has led two of the largest churches in the Uniting Church in Australia: Newlife Church Gold Coast being its largest church congregation, and Wesley Mission the largest parish in the denomination. Within those roles, critiqued the direction of his own denomination, particularly its drift away from its evangelical foundations, holding to traditional views on topics such as marriage. In one influential essay, which became widely discussed amongst Australian church leaders, he warned "We've failed the Great Commission and lost the Gospel." Noting that the Uniting Church has closed 10 churches for each one it has planted since 1977, Cameron has urged the Uniting Church to re-embrace an historic and orthodox understanding of the Christian message, allocating property proceeds to those wishing to plant new churches and, more widely, for the church to renew its confidence in the historic understanding of the gospel of Christ.

Suicide prevention
During his leadership, Wesley Mission has continued to operate Lifeline in Sydney and Sutherland, a suicide prevention phone service, started by his predecessor Alan Walker. Drawing on the frontline experiences of his own staff, he has advocated before Federal Parliamentary committees on the connection between cost of living pressures in the 2020s, and the uptick of suicide. Cameron also initiated a joint project between Wesley Mission and University of Technology Sydney to train students in the health sciences in "lifesaving conversations."