Leaders of the Diocese gathered at a lunch at the Cathedral hotel to farewell the Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, ahead of his formal retirement on 8 November, marking the close of a transformative eight-and-a-half-year tenure, which included the challenging time of COVID.
Archbishop Smith’s ministry in Adelaide will formally conclude with a service of Holy Communion at St Peter’s Cathedral at 10 a.m. on 1 November, where he will lay up the bishop’s staff.
The Archbishop, who announced his resignation on May 2nd, 2025 , will then move back to Queensland to “reconnect with family and friends”, settling on the Sunshine Coast with his wife, Lynn.
Tributes from diocesan leadership celebrated Archbishop Smith’s strategic accomplishments, particularly his focus on financial health, ministry development, and cultural shift.
Joe Thorp, Secretary of Synod, praised the Archbishop’s leadership in tackling long-standing structural issues.
“Many of these things could not have happened if he hadn’t so firmly and so publicly supported the sale of Bishops Court after so many years of debate before him,” Joe said, noting the move enabled the Diocese to become largely self-supporting and freed up resources to enable flourishing ministry.
Joe highlighted this as part of a significant legacy of Archbishop Smith, which also included the recent creation of the $5 million Ministry Development Fund to support people in their journey to ministry and a”steadfast commitment to lifting the level of female representation in leadership positions” and the encouragement of South Sudanese congregations.
Bishop Sophie Relf-Christopher reflected on the profound shift in the diocesan culture under Archbishop Smith’s guidance.
“The really big thing I think that he has done here in his time… is the culture change. The safety that people have in their ministry, the exercising of their responsibilities. I think all those things have improved with Geoff Smith,” Bishop Sophie said.
She also praised his inclusive and non-micromanaging leadership style, noting he was “very good at letting others jump in and at supporting other people”.
She added that the Archbishop has been very supportive of women in ministry, ensuring greater freedom for them to serve in the Diocese.
In his own remarks, Archbishop Geoff divided his episcopate into three distinct phases: “There were the three years prior to Covid, the three years effectively of Covid and the three years since Covid, and they’ve all been quite different.”
Reflecting on his life of ministry, which has spanned nearly 43 years , the Archbishop spoke of being led by God through a series of extraordinary experiences, from working overseas in Papua New Guinea to working for ABM, all of which “have kind of built into Geoff Smith”.
He concluded with a personal testimony of faith and a message of confidence for the future of the Diocese.
“One of the key words that I think of when I think of God is ‘faithful’.
“That is my testimony really, that God is so faithful, God is so dependable, God is absolutely full of love,” the Archbishop shared.
He said that even as he and Lynn move into their next phase, “God continues to be faithful. God continues in God’s mission. God hasn’t given up on the world by any means, and we are still called to be part of that work.”
