“I was always going to farm,” Mr Sloane said.
“I was the eldest of four boys so it was only natural that I would take over from my father, but God had other plans.”
Despite his five years at boarding school in Geelong followed by a further four at agricultural college, Mr Sloane’s two years back at home on the station served only to produce a restlessness in him that he was destined for other things.
“I felt a calling to do something other than farming,” he said.
“So, I enrolled into teacher’s college and spent a wonderful four years doing a Bachelor of Education at the University of New England during the sixties.
“It was during that time that I got a call to ministry within the Presbyterian Church.”
A further seven years of study and theological training ensued before David began what would become 50 years of pastoral care in rural communities.
“This memoir is both a spiritual and outward journey to faith,” Mr Sloane said.
“I did some really crazy things before I married, including hitchhiking across Australia and New Zealand, but this journey was not just about what I did, it is also very much about how I was being led.
“It was those younger years that prepared me for rural ministry.”
It took Mr Sloane five years to write the book which was aided, in large part, by the many letters that his mother had kept from his travels over three decades from 1953.
Incorporating memories from diaries and journal entries, he says it was interesting to relive those times from his current perspective and explains that one of the biggest themes in the book is how he has changed as a result of both his experiences and the people he has encountered along the way.
“It includes both the good and the bad times,” he says of the memoir.
“It is very honest about my life.”
A Journey Under Grace was published with the help of Deniliquin author and book publisher Garry Baker, who was guest speaker at the recent launch.
It is available at various outlets in the region including the Berrigan Book Shop, or by phoning David Sloane on 0476 378 601.
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