Born in Tonga, Salesi moved to Australia as a child as his father Haloti, a minister with the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, undertook missionary work with the Methodist Church.

Salesi’s Uniting Church journey began on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and he was ordained as a minister in 2012.

“I made a vow at my ordination in 2012 that I would make myself available and commit myself to serving God,” he says.

“I believe that God calls me into this role of Moderator and continues to equip me for it, and that is where my faith lies.

“The connections and relationships I have formed in congregational ministry, at a presbytery level, and within the Synod itself, have been very important to me and will continue to be as Moderator.

“The inclusivity and diversity of the Uniting Church is something that I have always found heartening, and, in 1985, the Church declared itself to be a multicultural church and that journey continues.”