Q & A with Russ Skelton

posted by Navigators on July 6th, 2021 in Get to Know

Russ Skelton is a member of our Board of Directors.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have been married for 48 years. They have four children and nine grandchildren.

He has lived on the Central Coast of NSW since 1964, graduated from the University of New South Wales as an Engineer in 1973, and worked for the Electricity Commission of NSW in Sydney for a few years. After then working in power stations on the Central Coast until 1996 as a Maintenance Engineer, he worked for Macquarie Generation in charge of electricity trading, and from 2011 to 2013 as CEO.

Since leaving Macquarie Generation, he has worked part time as a Consultant, and is now “almost fully retired from paid work!”

He has has faithfully served on the Navigator Board since 2006. Seeing his humility and perseverance as he co-labours with us, we wanted to find out more about him personally and how his role has evolved.

How did you come to be involved with the Navigators?

I first met the Navigators while I was at the University of NSW doing an engineering degree. Dave Crowe was doing the same course and got me involved with the Navigators on Campus.

I did one year of my course part time and I worked in downtown Sydney. During that time I got to know Barry Ewels who helped me get established in the basics of being a disciple. This included spending some lunch times doing walk up evangelism at Circular Quay.

Shortly after I graduated, I married Elizabeth. We ended up living on the Central Coast and Rob Bolton used to come and visit to encourage me.

Why do you serve on the Board?

I was fortunate to have a long career in the energy sector and become a senior manager. When I was invited to become a board member, I saw this as an opportunity to use the business skills I had acquired to assist the Navigators to be a more effective organisation.

As a result of early training with the Navigators I want to contribute to fulfilling the Great Commission in any way I can. It is clear to me that I would not be nearly as effective at grass roots ministry as the Navigator staff. However, I can contribute by using what skills and experience I have gained through working to assist the Navigator organisation as it seeks to support staff ministry. This also encourages me to persist in my own stumbling attempts at evangelism and encouraging others.

*Update: Russ continued to serve on the board until November 2021.