On Friday, the Lismore App was lucky enough to get a few minutes with the Archbishop of Canterbury while he was touring the region.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop, Justin Welby, was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013 as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury.

After visiting the Lismore City area and speaking with some local residents, including the team at Resilient Lismore, the Archbishop explained why he decided to include Lismore and the Northern Rivers in his itinerary, "Wherever you are, either a war or a natural disaster, it has much the same effect on people. Yes there are people who are probably worse off, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are OK."

"I decided to visit Lismore and the Northern Rivers as I am in Australia, and to extend my trip by a few days, and to not just rush past, was something I can do."

"In the story of Jesus and the Good Samaritan, the Priest and the Levi walk past the man who is being beaten up by robbers, but the Good Samaritan stops.

I don't want to be like the priest and the Levi; in other words stop, pay attention and even if you can't make much difference, show that you mind."

In regards to Climate Change, he said "I think it's really important for the Church to have an interest in Climate Change, and I wouldn't have said that 15 years ago, but the more I've looked at it, and listened to people who really knew what they were talking about, I've thought 'what am I missing here?', what an idiot I've been to miss this up until now, and then after a visit like this....it's irrefutable, because you just have to look around you."

"There was a Victorian priest (in the Victorian era), in the slums of East London who said "if you really love God and love people, you will be interested by sewers. In other words, what basically affects people."

"I would update it. If you really love God and love people, you will be interested in Climate Change."

"Intense courage" are the words the Archbishop used to describe his impression of the Lismore and Northern Rivers community.

"If someone asked 'me what is an Australian like?' when I return home, I would say, on the whole, really courageous, really brave, they really get out there with a 'can do, we'll beat this' approach to life, which is of course a massively enjoyable thing.... aside from on the cricket pitch!"

"Of course England ought to always win the ashes" he said with a clear sense of humour.

The Archbishop went on to say that the way members of the community have chosen not to give up, is amazing, considering only around 1 in 5 people are back in their homes, with still over 1000 left unhoused, and some homes, clearly still off their stumps or wrecked.

The state of our small city after over 7 months took the Archbishop by complete surprise. "I mean entire streets have been completely wiped out and very few people in some, who have gone back to live, but again there is this 'let's just get on with it attitude'. I visited two houses, and heard from the residents who had lost everything, everything that symbolised their life, and that was heartbreaking."

"I met with a family, with a young daughter, who was going off to school, and they told me that some days they wake up, and suffer with the anxiety they feel, but they choose to get on with things, and out of this, they sweat the small stuff less."

In comparison with other regional cities or places where natural disaster has hit, the Archbishop said "I think Resilient Lismore is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. I genuinely mean that. I was just super impressed with that. Just stunning"

"Where I've seen failure and success in re-establishing community life around the world, there are 3 things needed. All levels of government must work in perfect lock-step, it's no use in this context, states saying "oh well that's the Commonwealth's Job, or vice versa". Or anyone saying 'that's the insurance company's job."

"Secondly there has to be a really superb partnership between government and commercial sector, voluntary sector and churches, and none of these know what's going to happen, and then a year later, nothing has happened. They must talk to the locals and find a way to work together. They will find the things and the people who will make it happen, in the local."

"In our own experience in England, the hardest thing for governments to do, when dealing with a natural disaster is to stand back and make decisions for the long-term futures of their communities."

"For example how are we going to make this place less prone to flooding? Or deal with the issue, so we aren't going through this every 5 or 10 years."

For the Northern Rivers community there are certain things that you can do in regards to maintaining hope and resilience, the Archbishop offered these words of wisdom:

"Stick together. It's very easy for the adrenaline of the early months to wear off, it really matters that people are supporting each other, year after year. You have found a new level of extraordinary community than you ever have before, it's important to hold onto that, to keep it alive through regular connection".

If you look in the book of Psalms, you find Psalm after Psalm that asks God "why did this happen, why aren't you helping us? it's not all lovey dovey all the time about God being good. You have Psalm 88 about depression. Psalm 44 where they say "not only are you a rubbish God, but you have sold your people, (he means the people of Israel), and not even for a decent price! What are you asleep? Why don't you wake up and do something about it?!"

"Use opportunities when you can celebrate to celebrate, and thank for what progress has been made, but also cry out, and lament and protest about what needs to be done."

"Don't just look at the problems, but neither just pretend that everything is OK, when it isn't."

The Archbishop also met with the principles of flood-affected Christian schools and was pleased to hear talk from each of them about forward planning, building for the future, rather than choosing to close their doors.

The Archbishop left Lismore yesterday evening but he left Lismore and other flood-affected areas with a reminder to think about where we have been and how we have worked so hard to get to this point in our recovery as a community and that we need to stay together over the coming years as the improved city takes shape.