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Pioneering Motorsport Chaplain Retiring From Praying With Fans

by | Mon, Dec 20 2021

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The best known preacher in Australian motor racing is retiring.

The Reverend Garry Coleman has been senior chaplain at the Bathurst 1000 for 35 years.

For the past 18 years, he got to pray for at least one minute on international television.

The first time, he remembered the victims of the first Bali Bombing.

He paid tribute for 3 minutes in 2006, the year Steve Irwin and Peter Brock died.

Garry told Eternity News almost everyone at Mount Panorama stands up, takes off their cap and falls silent.

The 80-year-old says it shows respect for God; for the moment; and for prayer.

The former mechanic believes it’s partly because of the wording he uses which is not church language fans don’t understand.

More than 50 chaplains now pray before motoring events around Australia.