Dear Colleagues We were blessed to have the opportunity to work closely with Ray and Elaine over many years - both passionate about caring for the lost & lonely. Jon Owen who is the current pastor at the Wayside Chapel has included a tribute to Ray's work in the Wayside newsletter: " As I write this, we just received the sad news that Reverend Ray Richmond passed away this week. Ray was Pastor and CEO of Wayside Chapel from 1991 – 2004, prior to Reverend Graham Long. A kind and loving pioneer, he was instrumental in demanding change in the area of drug treatment in the '90s, when Kings Cross was caught in the midst of a heroin boom. He was stirred to action by the countless lives lost from drug overdoses and established a safe injecting room known as ‘The Tolerance Room’ where drug users were allowed to safely inject. This was an act of civil disobedience that even saw Ray arrested, yet didn't deter him from persevering with his vision. Reverend Ray Richmond's actions, along with widespread support from our community, led to a change in state legislation and the subsequent approval and opening of the first medically supervised injecting centre (MSIC), which still stands today on Darlinghurst Rd. All of us at Wayside owe a debt of gratitude to Ray. He will be greatly missed." May he rest in peace John & Elaine On Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 11:03 PM Lynda C via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
As our country deals with the opioid crisis, I am reminded of the amazing pioneering work that Ray and Elaine did working with folks in similar circumstances at King’s Cross neighborhood of Australia. As I recall, it was a bold ministry of the church to reach out in love to people dealing with an unpopular illness. Thanks be to God for his vision, care and life of service among us.
With care to the Richmond and Dalke families, Lynda and John Cock
*From: *OE <oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net> on behalf of OE List < oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> *Reply-To: *OE List <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> *Date: *Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 7:04 PM *To: *OE List <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> *Cc: *Lawrence Philbrook <icalarry@gmail.com> *Subject: *[Oe List ...] Ray Richmond
Robyn
Ray will be missed
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Dear colleagues,
It is with great sadness that we announce the completed life of our dear friend and colleague, Ray Richmond.
Ray passed away, following dementia in the Opal Aged Care facility in Browns Plains in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Ray and Elaine were pillars of the ICA in Australia and globally, since the beginning.
Sandy, Ray’s daughter, will let us know of funeral details.
We invite you to send tributes to Ray, via this list or to Julie or us, and these will be shared with the family.
Grace and Peace, Robyn, with ICAA
Mike or Larry, could you please forward on to the OE and Dialogue listserves.
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