New South Wales Council of Churches was a body of leaders from the evangelical Christian churches, and for a time the Church of England, of the city of Sydney and the Australian state of New South Wales. It was formed to present a unified front to influence public discourse and government policy, and also served to increase communication and cooperation between rival churches with similar aims and philosophies. This article traces the history of the body through its presidents and other officeholders.
History First incarnation Rev. John Walker founded and was secretary of the first Council of the Churches in 1889, apparently called by him to fight relaxation of the laws governing public entertainment on Sunday. Delegates, 32 in all, were appointed by the Sydney churches of the participating denominations: Church of England, Presbyterian, Wesleyan Methodist, Baptist, and Primitive Methodist. The rules provided for no president; a chairman was elected from the delegates at each meeting, held monthly in the YMCA hall. In 1895 Walker resigned, to be replaced by William Allen, who was replaced in 1896 by Rev. Theophilus Parr.
Apart from the secretary, no mention has been found of any other continuing office, although William George Taylor has been mentioned as president of the New South Wales Council of the Churches in 1899. and C. James Tinsley, Baptist preacher, sometime around 1905, but these may refer to a different body: In 1899 the Congregational and Baptist churches founded the "Evangelical Council of New South Wales", supported by William Allen with the same aims and similar membership. The Evangelical Council ceased to exist with the eighteenth Christian Conference at the Petersham Town Hall in 1914. An independent Council of Churches was formed in Newcastle in 1897 By 1899 the council was a spent force; one problem as outlined by Professor Rentoul was that the great churches had no more rights than "miserable little sects". Great umbrage was taken, however, at the formation of the rival Evangelical Council.
Second incarnation In 1924 a new council was formulated by representatives of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational Churches, the Associated Churches of Christ, the Salvation Army, and the Society of Friends, but its institution was held up by Anglican Church red tape. F. H. Rayward was the first secretary and president 1925 D'Arcy Irvine Dr Carruthers elected secretary. Victor C. Bell followed as secretary In this year the NSW Council joined with those of other States in hosting evangelist Gipsy Smith in 1926. 1926 Archdeacon Boyce 1927 P. J. Stephen (Methodist) 1928 Dr A. J. Waldock (Baptist) 1928 P. J. Steven 1929 Victor C. Bell (Methodist/Presbyterian) 1930 Albert Edward West (c. 1863–1945) (Congregational) Council approved establishment of an AM radio station 1931 D. J. Davies (Anglican) 1932 D. J. Davies 1933 T. E. Rofe 1934 William Cooper (Society of Friends) 1935 W. H. Jones (Methodist) In 1936 the Church of England formally withdrew its support for the Council. 1936 Charles Alfred White 1937 Wilfred L. Jarvis Changes following Anglican withdrawal 1938 Frank Bell, of the Salvation Army 1939 Rupert J. Williams, Methodist 1940 C. A. White (2nd term) 1941 C. Bernard Cockett 1942 Dr H. Whitmore Dart 1943 J. H. G. Auld 1944 A. C. McLean (of Churches of Christ) 1945 T. Manning Taylor 1946 S. Arthur Eastman (Presbyterian) Anglican Church rejoins council 1947 S. A. (A. S.?) Eastman 1948 S. Barton Babbage (Dean of Sydney) Courtenay Thomas secretary 1949 Major Nicholson 1950 H. W. K. Mowll 1951 S. W. McKibbin (McKibbon ?) 1952 Cumming Thom R. G. Fillingham secretary 1953 Cumming Thom (Presbyterian) 1954 Cumming Thom
See also Ross Clifford Margaret Rodgers (deaconess) Josiah Thomas (politician)
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