Queen’s Birthday Honours for Lutherans

At least three Lutherans have been included in the Queen’s Birthday 2017 Honours List. The congratulations of the church are offered to these and any other members who were honoured. Kelvyn Prescott was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia or OAM, while Ross Harding and Garry Watson each were appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia or AM.

Kelvyn Prescott, of Nuriootpa, South Australia, was recognised for his service to target shooting, and to the law. Mr Prescott, who is the Administrator of the LCA’s Judicial Tribunal and a member at St Petri Nuriootpa, is a former Chief Magistrate in South Australia and former Youth Court Judge of the District Court of South Australia. A Justice of the Peace, he was also Editor-in-chief for 14 years of South Australian State Reports and had a 10-year tenure as Editor of the Law Society of South Australia’s Law Society Judgement Scheme. Mr Prescott has been Director of Shooting Australia since 2013, is a Shotgun Referee and Judge for the International Shooting Sport Federation. He also has been Patron of the South Australian Clay Target Association Inc since 1995 and is currently Patron of the South Australian Gun Club, of which he has been a Life Member since 2007. He was also a Jury Member (Shotgun) for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Ross Harding, of O’Connor, Australian Capital Territory, was awarded for his significant service to the veteran community through preserving and documenting the history of modern Army Aviation in Australia. Retired Colonel Harding has been a member at St Peter’s Memorial Lutheran Church Canberra, since the mid-1980s. He has been a synod delegate for his congregation, as well as being delegate for the Canberra-Queanbeyan Lutheran Parish to the LCA’s General Convention of Synod since 2013.

Garry Watson, of Cook, Australian Capital Territory, has been recognised for his significant service to the tourism industry in the Australian Capital Territory, and to educational visitation initiatives. He is a member at Holy Cross Lutheran Church Belconnen, where he is a deacon, district synod delegate and a former chairperson. Mr Watson is also a member of the NSW district’s Warrambui Retreat & Conference Centre Board.