Integrity: A Journal of Australian Church History

The shifting attitudes of Australian evangelicals towards race in the 1960s

Phil Rademaker — 2019-11-08

Australian attitudes to race and racial discrimination were changing in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Commonwealth Government’s policies of restrictive immigration (known as the ‘White Australia’ policy) had enjoyed strong support as the majority of Australians believed the country was destined to be, in the words of Prime Minister John Curtin in 1939, ‘forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race.’ Yet the Second World War stoked fears of being overrun by Asian masses and this prompted a relaxation of the policy to enable non-British Europeans to become citizens. While this change was motivated by racist fears, over the next decade as former British colonies declared their independence and as the world reflected upon the actions of Nazi Germany, many in Australia started questioning Australia’s racial policy. In 1963, Hubert Opperman replaced Alexander Downer (Sr) as minister for immigration, signalling a shift in the Liberal party, and by 1965 Gough Whitlam had convinced the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to remove its support for White Australia. Yet, as historian Judith Brett notes, there was still significant support for the policy among older ALP members and voters, and among much of the Coalition. Paul Strangio likewise observes a division in Australia regarding the question of race.

Given the pre-eminence of the Church of England in Australia at the time, and the keen sense of Australian identity as white, British and Christian in the previous years, this paper will examine the stance of evangelical Anglicans to race during the 1960s. How did evangelicals negotiate between their belief in the equality of humanity and their legacy of social action in this sphere on the one hand, and their political conservatism and desire to maintain Australia’s Christian identity on the other? Was the majority supportive of restrictive immigration? Were they divided, like the major political parties? What did they think of assimilation policy at home and Apartheid abroad? On what basis did they argue?

Marie Elizabeth Robinson (nee Taubman) (1925–2014): Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Stephanie Judd — 2019-11-08

To many, Marie Elizabeth Robinson (1925–2014), lived her life as a mother and wife in the shadow of her husband Donald William Bradley Robinson (born 1922). Donald’s various offices, including Vice-Principal of Moore Theological College (1952–1972), Bishop of Parramatta (1973–1982), and Archbishop of the Sydney Anglican Diocese (1982–1993), allowed him extraordinary formal ecclesial influence in Sydney and Australia, and significant influence in seminaries and churches worldwide through his academic contributions to the field of theology, in particular, the doctrine of the church. For Anita Barnett, however, Marie ‘carved out for herself a role of far greater influence than Don had’. It is beyond the scope of this essay to assess this claim, and indeed to do so might be impossible as Donald and Marie served God in such different ways. Yet what can be said is that in those ‘ordinary’ arenas in which Marie focused her energies, leadership abilities, and her first-class mind—namely, in raising her children, supporting her husband, teaching God’s Word, and the edification of other Christians—an extraordinary influence was had.

‘Facts about the child-wife problem from Groote Eylandt, 1938– 1939’: how the account of Sister Elizabeth Taylor sheds light on mission policy and missionary responses to Aboriginal cultural practices in late 1930s Northern Australia

J.R. Bradshaw — 2019-11-08

This paper will examine one missionary’s account of child-wife practices on Groote Eylandt in Northern Australia in the late 1930s. Elizabeth Taylor, a nursing sister, served on the Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission station among the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt for just under eighteen months in the late 1930s. During her time on Groote Eylandt she became concerned that girls were being betrothed from infancy and going to their husband’s camp from a young age. Following her time of service, she wrote an account of polygamy and child-wife practices for the CMS Aborigines Committee. In this account, Taylor seeks to explain the problem of the practice as she sees it, and calls for stronger action against the practice to become mission policy. She titled her account, ‘Facts about the child-wife problem from Groote Eylandt, 1938–1939’.

Recent historical writings have critiqued the careless use of cross-cultural accounts like Taylor’s for simplistic reconstructions of the cultural practices of the observed culture. However there is also a growing recognition of the value of missionary accounts for gaining insight into missionary attitudes, policy and practice and specific interactions between missionaries and indigenous peoples. Huber and Lutkehaus suggest colonial studies have often focussed on the effects of colonialism on the colonized while depending on ‘large generalizations about colonizers without regard to the finer points of geographical, institutional, or historical variation’. Grimshaw and May also see metanarratives about colonialism and imperialism as potentially silencing the diversity of interactions between missionaries and indigenous peoples.Further, Harris has suggested the implementation of more progressive mission policy during the mid-20th century in an Australian context was a complex process significantly dependent on beliefs and attitudes of individual missionaries.

Consequently, this paper will examine Taylor’s account as a source that sheds light on mission policy and missiology at the time. Earlier missionaries on Groote Eylandt had questioned how they should respond to polygamy and ‘girl wives’. Later missionaries would take more active steps to oppose polygamy, persuading or pressuring some older men to give up their youngest wives to single men. This decision had complex and debated consequences for those directly involved and for the complex social relationships on Groote. Missionaries also actively discouraged child-wife practices through social pressure, exclusion from the mission, the mission dormitory, and legal action in the 1960s. However, prior to 1944 CMS did not have a clearly documented or comprehensive policy for its Northern Australia missions and how they were to respond to local cultural practices. As a result this paper will explore Taylor’s account for insights into mission policy and missionary responses to complex marriage practices on Groote Eylandt prior to 1944. However, this requires that Taylor’s individual account be first situated in the wider historical context surrounding mission policy. So, before looking at Taylor’s work in detail, this paper will begin with a brief examination of developments in missiology during that era more generally in order to understand the context in which Taylor worked and wrote.

Secondly, this paper will examine in more depth Taylor’s concerns with the existing mission policy towards child-wife practices and her call for stronger action by the mission. It will examine Taylor’s account for the insights it gives into some of the values, attitudes and organisational factors that influenced her perceptions and responses and the implementation of mission policy at the time. To this end, the second portion of this paper will explore some of the factors that shaped Taylor’s experience and perceptions of child-wife practices. Ultimately, this paper will conclude that, while Taylor’s concern and call to action were well-meaning, they also reveal a lack of understanding of the cultural complexities surrounding child-wife practices, which in turn highlights the complexity of the issues and developments around Aboriginal missiology in that era more generally.

How the evangelical convictions of Sir William Edward Parry influenced his running of the Australian Agricultural Company from 1829 to 1834

Andrew Kyrios — 2019-11-08

Sir William Edward Parry was a successful and well-regarded man in his own right. Previously famed as an arctic explorer and Hydrographer of the Navy, he arrived in New South Wales in 1829 to embark on his newest endeavor: the running of the Australian Agricultural Company (hereafter the ACC). The company had formed four years previously with a government grant of one million acres to establish farms with the purpose of raising fine wool sheep.After a disastrous start, the company altered its operating structure by removing the advisory Colonial Committee and instead appointed Parry as a sole Commissioner.The task before him was monumental. He was the sole proprietor over the entire company, including its servants (both indentured and convict), property and officers. Only someone with his experience, qualifications and ability would have a chance at success. His brief was to restore to order, and then maintain the AAC’s assets and operations, including reviewing, and if necessary, altering the location of the million acre plot, which was then situated on the northern shores of Port Stephens in the Hunter Region of NSW. At no point did his brief mention the spiritual plight of his ‘subjects’.

In a letter to Sir John Stanley (from December 1830), Parry remarks about the poor state of the AAC’s affairs on his arrival: ‘I found the Company’s affairs, on my arrival, in a loose and disjointed state, as circumstances had led me to expect [[…]]’. Until this point, many of the officers and officials had been able to run amok. Indeed, Parry vents some frustration at the company accountant, Mr Barton, who he describes as a dangerous man. Problems of drunkenness and licentiousness also plagued the community. After expanding on this comment, he continues: 'You must not, however, imagine, from what I have just said, that all I have been doing is of the character above mentioned… In our character of the parson of the parish and his wife, we have visited, admonished and assisted every body within our reach.'

Thus from the outset, Parry considered himself to be a ‘parson’ in addition to his official role as Commissioner. He certainly spent considerable time fulfilling his official duties to the company, and he succeeded in bringing order to a failing business. Yet in all this, he never neglected the spiritual wellbeing of his charges. Indeed, both he and his wife Isabella took it upon themselves to do all in their power for the spiritual wellbeing of the employees, servants and others living on company land. Parry’s aim was to bring morality and religion to this ‘moral wilderness’ that they had found themselves in.

It is this aspect of Sir Parry’s role that this paper will examine. Here we will seek to show not only that Sir William and Lady Isabella were firmly evangelical in their Christian convictions, but that out of these convictions flowed an abundance of gospel-based initiatives to help those under their care. The Parrys went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that those in their charge had access to, and were taught from, the word of God.In this paper we will show the sincerity of their faith in the fact that they went above and beyond what was expected of them in order to care for the lost in their midst.

With recourse to the broader Ethiopian, evangelical and biographical contexts, identify the missional motivations and strategies of Dick McLellan.

S.T.F. — 2019-11-08

Voyaging across the Indian Ocean, Dick and Vida McLellan wrote: ‘anyone on board that we mention to that we are going to Africa, looks at us as though we are crazy. With all the uncertainty in Africa today, we, too would much rather stay at home where we are free and safe’.Nevertheless, this self-confessedly ‘very ordinary Australian couple’ would serve for twenty years as missionaries with Serving in Mission (SIM) in Ethiopia (1954–1974). There, they would pioneer the evangelisation of unreached tribes and fan flames of revival. Thereafter, despite having returned to Australia with four children, and in the face of the Socialist uprising of 1974, Dick would visit Ethiopia over twenty times to encourage the underground church.

This paper seeks to explain both the motivations and strategies of Dick McLellan as he ministered in this unique context. It is by analysis of early correspondences, later books, and recent interviews that his missional motivations and strategies will be identified. We will argue for five major motivators that inspired McLellan’s missionary endeavours: his conviction that there is only one way to be saved, that much of southern Ethiopia was unreached, that all Christians have a responsibility for mission, that he was personally called to go, and the encouragement received from observing church growth. With respect to strategies, we will show Dick’s thinking with regard to the location and placement of their mission work in Ethiopia, their partnership with the indigenous church in evangelism and edification, and the priority of prayer.