Dean Eland retired from full time ministry late in 2003 after forty years serving congregations in three Australian states. Dean was ordained in Stow Church (now Pilgrim) in March 1963 and married Judy in the same church in December 1966. They worked in the inner city of Sydney, based in Redfern, for 12 years and then for the next thirteen years served congregations in Whyalla and Port Adelaide-Alberton. In 1992 Dean was called to be Director of Mission Planning in the Synod of Victoria and his final pastoral placement was in the heart of Melbourne‘s western suburbs based at Sunshine and St Albans. During this time Judy was a teacher of English as a Second Language at Victoria University.

For the last eight years Dean has been active in establishing and supporting the Urban Mission Network within the Presbytery of SA and has served as supply minister at Pilgrim on a number of occasions and also at Darwin Memorial UCA. He is editor for the UCA Historical Society and a member of the Australian Association of Mission Studies. He has a continuing interest in Australian urban mission and his Doctor of Ministry Studies with MCD explored the changing identity of the UCA in Melbourne‘s western region. In 2011 he produced a study of fifteen congregations in the Western suburbs of Adelaide for the Uniting Church in SA.

As a member of the UMN and Pilgrim he has been active in inviting international visitors to Adelaide including Ann Morisy, Dinah Butler Bass and Michael Northcott. In 2012 Dean will be working to explore and encourage others to engage with the Story of Pilgrim Church, its past experiences, present challenges and future opportunities. He is also involved in planning three Adelaide based mission conferences: Church on Mainstreet in September 2012, a second National UCA City Church conference in September 2013 and the third national Mission Studies conference in September 2014. Dr Chris Baker from the William Temple Foundation, Manchester will be guest at the 2013 conference.

Judy and Dean have two children, son Mathew and two grandsons living in Cairns and daughter Elizabeth with three grandchildren living in Victor Harbor.