This is the belief one truly caring lady holds and it is this principle that sees the Murrurundi woman give many hours of her time to her local community.

Barbara Morgan is well known in Murrurundi. 

She is the manager of the Murravale Aged Care Hostel, she is an Anglican priest in the local parish and she is the current president of the Lions Club of Murrurundi. 

And when she is not busy fulfilling one of these passions, Barbara is busy helping someone out or organising another event for the people of her town, her friends. 

Barbara describes herself as a ‘cradle Anglican’ as she has been going to church since she was a baby, following in the footsteps of her parents who were extremely faithful. 

It may be Barbara’s strong faith that drives her every day to help others, this coupled with her loving and caring nature, and will to make a difference. 

Barbara was born in  Wingham and grew up in various locations, including Wingham, Young, Goulburn and Sydney, attending many different primary schools. 

Her secondary education was delivered at Goulburn High School and Blackburn Girls High School where the young lady developed in readiness for the wide world outside of the classroom. 

Upon graduating from high school the young woman joined the Bank of NSW working as a ledger keeper, which she continued for the next six years before meeting the love of her life and transferring to his home town of Dunedoo.

Barbara and Stan married and she continued to work in the bank for two years with Mr Morgan being the local pool manager. 

A very sporty woman, both were quite involved in local sports, especially the local swimming club where she was a time keeper, judge and referee.

Soon after the couple started a family, first with a son, followed by two daughters who they reared in Dunedoo for about 15 years before making the big move to the Upper Hunter in 1983. 

Stan’s transfer to become the pool manager at Murrurundi was the main reason they chose to settle at the top of the shire, however they never looked back and these days Barbara would not wish to call anywhere else ‘home’.

 After settling in Murrurundi, Barbara carried out a few odd jobs before joining the Commonwealth Bank at its branch in town, however when it closed she transferred to the Scone branch where she worked until 2004 when it was time for a change to a more personalised line of work. 

This is when Barbara joined the team at Murravale as an administration clerk for the first year, moving into the manager’s role in 2005.

Eleven years later, Barbara takes great pride in leading the team of 28 staff who care for the 24 permanent residents and visiting residents. 

Barbara said she really enjoys her job, working with the different mix of residents and caring for their needs.

“I’ve got a really good staff, which makes a big difference,” she said. 

Barbara has always been involved in the community, firstly through sport such as tennis, night hockey and swimming, as well as the sports her children were active in. 

She was also a familiar face at the pool as she would frequently assist Stan with coaching and carnivals. 

Barbara originally joined the Lions Club of Scone about 12 years ago and later transferred to the Murrurundi club where she is now serving her first year as president of the team of enthusiastic volunteers. 

The group have been very instrumental in town through fundraising barbecues and other events to collect funds to build new barbecues and other structures.

The club also assist with any community projects that are happening and its volunteers look after the war memorial rose garden.

Barbara said she really enjoys the fellowship of the group, as well as supporting the community.

After many years of aspiring to be a priest, Barbara decided to do something about her unfulfilled dream and completed a three year course - a Certificate and Diploma of Theology through the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle. 

This qualified Barbara to be ordained as an Anglican priest six years ago being the local minister licensed to Murrurundi, however she can also assist in other parishes when needed. 

Barbara shares the ministry role with Wendy Jackson, and they are both volunteers (non-stipendiary role) supported by the parish, which means all money from the people goes straight to the church – St Paul’s Anglican Church.

In this role Barbara is supported by the parish supervising priest Father Glen Hughes, in delivering baptisms, weddings, funerals and weekly Sunday services.

Barbara said she really enjoys her role as she feels it is a calling to be there for the people and support her community.

“If Murrurundi didn’t have Wendy and I, we wouldn’t have a parish as we can’t afford to have a full time priest so this way it allows the parish to continue,” she said. 

“I love doing it, it’s a big part of me.”

Barbara attended the recent Anglican Synod at the Cathedral in Sydney as a delegate representing this region, along with three lay people from Murrurundi.

After losing Stan in 2002, Barbara has always liked to keep busy and has enjoyed living in a friendly community where there is lots of support. 

She is involved in the Murrurundi Community Leaders Forum, where the group of organisers and community members welcomed a guest speaker from Bingara recently to gain ideas on possible strategies to improve Murrurundi to make it a better town in the future. 

“We hope to revitalise the town to make it welcoming and attractive to visitors,” Barbara said. 

“If you live here, you need to support the community as if you don’t support the community, it dies and we don’t want that to happen.”