Macrae is the son of the Reverend Donald and Anne Macrae. He was born in Melbourne and spent most of his childhood in Sale, Victoria, before moving to Melbourne for secondary education and then Melbourne University.[4]
Macrae was ordained in 1984 and has served in rural, regional and inner-city congregations in Victoria, at Mt Beauty, Portland and West Brunswick. He served as Moderator of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania (2000–2003) and as executive director of the Uniting Church Centre for Theology and Ministry (2004–2009) in that Synod. He was a member of the board of Wesley Mission Melbourne and chaired its social policy committee. He has been a Director on the Board of Uniting Vic.Tas since 2020.
Macrae became President of the UCA in July 2009, at the 12th Assembly. His theme for the three years of the Assembly was "Living Water, Thirsty Land".
In September 2013 Macrae commenced as Minister of Wesley Uniting Church, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.
On Sunday 12 February 2023, Macrae retired from formal ministry, in a service at Wesley.[5]
Personal life
Macrae is married to Clare Boyd-Macrae, a writer,[6] and they have four children, Tess, Patrick, Hamish and Fiona. His interests include sport of most kinds, notably Australian Rules football (he played nearly 300 games of Victorian Amateur and country football) as well as cooking, reading, running, renovating, gardening and being with family and friends.
Macrae was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to the Uniting Church in Australia through executive and ministerial roles at state and national levels, and to the promotion of ecumenism, interfaith dialogue and reconciliation.[7][8] In 2021, he (along with several others)[9] handed back his award as a response to Margaret Court being elevated from Officer to Companion of the Order of Australia.[10]
