Naked pastor's 'holy' actPAUL WESTON
27mar05
WHEN Pastor Bob Wright appears naked before his congregation of Christian nudists, he feels no shame about his lifestyle.
"I think it's a holy and reverent act," said Pastor Wright, who yesterday gave communion in the nude to more than 200 Christians at the Pacific Sun Nudist Resort at Donnybrook, north of Brisbane.
The 51-year-old is the first Australian priest to "come out" as a naturalist and believes yesterday's service was a world-first.
But he says he is not the first to strip before delivering a sermon.
"In the Old Testament, they had to go naked or remove their shoes because they were on holy ground," said Pastor Wright, who was ordained by the worldwide Acts of Missions church three years ago.
"I was able to come to grips with being a naturalist only recently. I was struggling with what people in the church would think when they found out," he said.
"There's nothing wrong with being nude. When I realised God was against sexual immorality but not nudity, I was right."
Pastor Wright said he told church elders of his membership of the Donnybrook nudist group 12 months ago.
His story came out after friends at Donnybrook convinced him to help combat public protests against Raw, a three-day nude rock festival in the northern New South Wales coastal town of Cabarita.
Cabarita residents against the festival were backed by Tweed Coast Community Church Pastor Graham Eggins who said the event offended "common decency".
Pastor Wright telephoned Pastor Eggins to tell him how many Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists and other Christians he had met at the nudist camp.
"I told him there is more to a naturalist group than you realise," the former gem cutter said.
"I explained that nudists are people who like to go naked and run round with other people in nude resorts. That's nudists.
"A naturalist lives a lifestyle that includes nudity, but is about healthy lives, healthy foods. It's not just running naked."
Raw has moved to Caboolture after the Tweed Shire Council said a permit decision would be made on April 20, two days before it was supposed to start.
Pastor Wright does not usually conduct services. He works on the streets of Buranda in south Brisbane where he counsels 20 and 30-year-olds living rough.
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