|PIC1|M V Tronson has been considering this idea for some years through his involvement in both sport and religion. He was Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years, and he has established ministries such as 'Life After Cricket' from 2001 and 'Cricket Family Respite' from 2007. He has written five books on field hockey and was the field hockey writer for The Australian newspaper for 24 years up to 1994.
Leading up to that, in 1982 he initiated the Sports and Leisure Ministry in association with Heads of Churches in order to place chaplains in professional sports across the nation. By 2000 there were 150 chaplains serving in Sport including the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Heads of Churches in that same year released Mark and Delma Tronson to initiate Well-Being Australia, one of whose major activities is athlete respite in the two facilities, 'Basil Sellers Tweed' and 'Basil Sellers Moruya'.
M V Tronson also has Olympic connections, initiated in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics. In 2000, his expertise in both sport and Christian ministry precipitated an invitation to assist the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the development of a Religious Services protocol for host city Olympic Villages, which was the basis of Beijing Olympic Village Religious Services program, then Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012.
M V Tronson has been a sought-after speaker on sports ministry and as a bible teacher on the international evangelical circuit up to 1999, including Israel, Turkey, Italy, France, England, USA, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Korea, and South Pacific nations including Papua New Guinea. And he preached at Anzac Cove Gallipoli in February 1999.
Since 2000 he has made additional mission trips to England, New Zealand, Israel, Switzerland, Poland and the Ukraine accompanying the Australian cricket team tour schedules and in 2005 was one of an international 'Gentile' delegation of 48 invited to the 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz in Poland for the 'March of the Living'. Three months later, in that same year, Mark and Delma Tronson were delegates at the Baptist World Congress in Birmingham England.
"There was a sentiment abroad in sports as there is now in institutionalised religion that the old adage of the police investigating the police is never a good look," M V Tronson noted.
Moreover, he says, there is a broad community concern over methodologies of arbitration within religious institutional procedures, let alone complaints across the denominational divide, particularly where false claims by one 'religious worker' over another 'religious worker' have traumatised reasonable accountability measures.
"The Arbitration of Sport, regardless of initial concerns by those who may have had reservations, has established a protocol and record that has reflected its fair minded reputation at home and on the international front," M V Tronson explained.
Moreover, there is no current avenue through the myriad of current 'Denominational and Other Faith Religious' systems apart from the public courts system which for many is too expensive, unsuitable and too public.
"In my view, such a body might, with good will, get up, and more importantly, without any formal link to any existing religious institution," M V Tronson stated. The process, he believes could work with people with expertise in matters of evidence.
The philosophy M V Tronson is endorsing is that of 'reputation'. He noted that a recent church administration conference in Sydney one seminar was titled 'Reputation does matter.' Accreditation he says is often a formal administrative procedure, whereas 'reputation' goes way beyond this.
Australians acknowledge 'reputation' M V Tronson says, whereas they 'nod' at accreditation as that fulfills a minimal Government requirement. It is like doctoral work today, he noted, a dissertation's quality is directly related to the doctoral student's supervisor rather than the hosting university.
Reverend John Edmonstone the highly acclaimed retired President of the Baptist Union of Australia who was a member of Heads of Churches for over two decades, recognises such issues from the past and wholeheartedly endorses the concept of an Arbitration of Religious Practitioners.