Foundations of Anglican Evangelicalism in Victoria

Four Elements for Continuity, 1847–1937

Wei-Han Kuan

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781532682162
  9781532682179
• eBook ISBN:
  9781532682186
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

For more than half a century, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne was unquestionably the most rigorously evangelical and missions-oriented diocese in Australia. The Diocese of Sydney, in that same period, was decidedly broader in theological and liturgical practice. How and why did Melbourne move in one direction, while Sydney in the other? This study suggests that the answers are to be found in four vital contributors: local churches, evangelical societies, theological colleges, and diocesan bishops. For three broad periods of history between 1847 and 1937, the presence of these four contributors is uncovered, described, and evaluated for the Diocese of Melbourne. Evangelical activism, theological reflection, and leadership are each shown in their contemporary contexts to help us understand how people with gospel passion sought to respond faithfully to their times. This is the question of vision, leadership, and strategy at the heart of this study: "What makes for long-term evangelical continuity over a hundred-year period?"

1

Literature Review

Primary Sources

The Melbourne diocesan newspaper started by Perry remains an invaluable primary source for historical research. The Church of England Messenger, known briefly as the Church Record, subsequently as See, and more latterly as The Melbourne Anglican, records episcopal messages, clergy moves, newsworthy items, and letters to the editor.

In addition, evangelicals had their own periodical from 1890 to 1913, The Victorian Churchman, edited by one of their clerical leaders, Alfred Charles Kellaway.13 The mood of the paper is at times strident in its advocacy of the evangelical faith over and against the Roman and liberal tendencies of the rest of the diocese. Again, it provides useful information on personalities, events, and ideas.

From 1873 to 1898, H. B. Macartney Jr., the son of Melbourne’s first dean, single-handedly edited The Missionary at Home and Abroad, a periodical containing missionary news, prayer points, and calls-to-arms. It is testament to his perseverance and passion for missions and the evangelical priority on conversion. It recorded letters from missionaries abroad, news of state-wide missions run by Melbourne clergy and leading laity, and lists of financial subscribers, personal and parochial. Up to very recently, CMS Victoria archives held a nearly complete set—now part of a large CMS Victoria collection lodged in the State Library of Victoria.

The official Diocesan archives contain such material as the early bishops’ letter books. Unfortunately, most of these are almost completely illegible due to spreading of the ink on paper. The collection of Diocesan Year Books, with parochial and clerical information, is probably the best indicator of the size and distribution of evangelicals in the diocese over time.

Two significant early memoirs are accessible. Charles Perry’s wife Frances Perry, herself a notable figure in early Melbourne history, kept a journal, now held by the Royal Victorian Historical Society. Towards the end of his life, between 1889 and 1890, Dean Hussey Burgh Macartney wrote a memoir in two volumes “for his children.” It was rediscovered in the vault of the law firm Mallesons in 1984, and is now held in the Diocesan archive.14

Parish historical records are in varied states of preservation and collation. All Saints’ Northcote, St. Matthew’s Prahran, St. Columb’s Hawthorn and St. Mary’s Caulfield have especially accessible and useful archives. Other parishes like St. Jude’s Carlton and St. Michael’s North Carlton have records lodged in the State Library of Victoria and the University of Melbourne’s Baillieu Library respectively. Where possible, interviews with leading evangelical and diocesan personalities have been conducted, including of descendants of the persons discussed in this study.

Anglican studies15

Bruce Kaye, General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Australia for the decade 1994 to 2004, is a leading proponent of national Anglican studies. His A Church Without Walls: Being Anglican in Australia (2005)16 and Reinventing Anglicanism (2003)17 provide a theological commentary on the development of Anglicanism in Australia and suggests some future directions for study. The latter book emerges out of the major study he edited Anglicanism in Australia: A History (2002).18 This in turn was the result of the General Synod Anglican History Seminar, which Kaye convened. It is the leading commentary on the development of Australian Anglicanism and the church’s contribution to Australian life. The book has two parts: narrative history and thematic discussion. It is exhaustively indexed and there is discussion of evangelicalism and evangelicals in most of the chapters, making this the most useful single volume secondary source currently available. A number of contributors are themselves major scholars of Australian Anglican history and feature in the paragraphs below. However, it is national in focus, and although particular events, persons, and issues are discussed, there is no sustained or specific analysis of evangelicalism in Melbourne.

Similarly, a recent volume from the prolific Tom Frame, Anglicans in Australia, majors on an overview of national Anglicanism and its hist...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• 2019 Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Literature Review
• Chapter 2: Defining Evangelicalism
• Chapter 3: Charles Perry: The Evangelical Founding Bishop of Melbourne
• Chapter 4: Evangelical Energy, 1847–1875
• Chapter 5: Mission at Home and Abroad, 1876–1900
• Chapter 6: Entrusted with the Gospel, 1901–1937
• Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Appendix I: Charles Perry’s Letter to the Clergy with Regard to the Use of Music in Services, Reproduced in the Messenger, July 1857
• Appendix II: Interview Question Guide and Checklist
• Appendix III: Interviews and Conversations
• Bibliography