Dawn of a new era or recipe for disaster? The rise and demise of Edward Roberts-Thomson as Principal of the Baptist Theological College of New South Wales

Text of an address by Rev Rod Benson to the Baptist Historical Society of NSW at Morling College, Thursday February 5, 2004, for publication in The Baptist Recorder (forthcoming).

Introduction

Baptists were among the last of the British denominations to arrive in the Australian colonies, and Baptist witness began from a position of numerical and financial weakness tempered by ecumenical cooperation. For Baptists, early ecumenical fellowship arose out of necessity rather than choice, but through it the seeds of sustainable evangelical ministry were planted which later bore fruit – albeit largely under the shade of well-defined denominational umbrellas.

In NSW the inaugural service of the Bathurst Street Baptist Church, the first Baptist church in Sydney, drew a crowd professing various religious affiliations;[1] and four of the nine or ten people who constituted the church had been affiliated with non-Baptist churches.[2] In 1843 the Rev John Saunders, the first Baptist pastor to be officially appointed in Australia, observed that although NSW Baptists were

obliged to take a denominational badge in an age of so many divisions, ours is indeed a Baptist communion; but we consider ourselves entitled to a higher distinction; we pursue a nobler aim than the extension and perpetuation of sectarian differences; we assume, and desire to maintain, the style and dignity of a Christian Church; we claim fellowship with the Church universal, and we are willing that any member of that spiritual body shall claim fellowship with us.[3]

Clearly there were important tensions and distinctions between spiritual and structural union, as there are today. But Saunders articulated the generally non-exclusive nature of fellowship between Protestant Christians in nineteenth century Australian church life, while maintaining the right to promote certain distinctive Baptist doctrines and practices. The Roman Catholics, of course, were another matter.

During the first half of the twentieth century, however, practical cooperation even between evangelical Christians of different denominations became less common, and moves toward formal amalgamation were rare. In NSW this was perhaps because Baptists were experiencing (and enjoying) the muscular confidence and noble conscience of institutional adolescence. “Better to remain obscure and small,” Rev Arthur John Waldock declared at the 1906 Annual Assembly in Sydney, “better to die out altogether than build up a church with a worldly heart and spirit and just be as big as others.” [4]

In saying this, Waldock was not betraying an anti-ecumenical bias (indeed, in his Presidential address in 1918 he urged Baptists to recognise that they were merely part of the true church along with other Christian denominations[5]), but his rhetoric gives a sense of the contemporary denominational culture and the pressures under which its leaders laboured. From the 1920s to the 1940s especially, there was growing denominational identity, and increasing organisational unity and doctrinal certitude, undergirded by the strong and long leadership of ordained ministers such as Waldock himself (1872-1961), Colin James Tinsley (1876-1960), George Henry Morling (1891-1974) and Wilfred Lemuel Jarvis (1895-1977). Perhaps these shifts too arose out of necessity rather than choice. Whether they were responses to the so-called Spurgeonic tradition (championed in NSW), or the influence of nascent American fundamentalism, or some other factor, is not for me to judge here.

Proposals for dialogue and union between Christian denominations arose from time to time, most notably between Baptists and the Churches of Christ. Yet prior to 1940 the influential weekly paper, The Australian Baptist, carried very little news or opinion that was not critical of interchurch relations and formal union. A common view was expressed by the editor in April 1939, in reference to a recent decision by Spurgeon’s College to apply for affiliation with the Baptist Union of Great Britain: “Christian unity should grow from within. Let Baptists get together and then they can consider uniting with other Christians.”[6]

Principal A.J. Grigg of the Baptist Theological College in Melbourne (from which Edward Roberts-Thomson had graduated four years earlier) articulated another view in 1939. Grigg argued that, for Baptists, church union could only come by addition (i.e. by gathering the evangelical Christians in all the churches) or subtraction (i.e. excising “extraneous elements that mar the great evangel”).[7] He concluded that “the federation of Baptist churches in the Baptist World Alliance leads them to see more hope for unity in a free federation of autonomous churches than in a rigid unity.”[8]

The consensus on ecumenism seemed clear, not only in NSW but in other Australian states. But things were about to change. Formation of the World Council of Churches was agreed in 1942, although, stalled by the War, the first meeting was convened in 1948. The editor of the Australian Baptist urged readers as early as November 1944 that “we, in this fortunate and favoured land, must surely make our utmost contribution to its activities.” [9] In his Presidential address at the 1948 Annual Assembly, A.C. Joyce lauded the establishment of the World Council, lamented the perennial disunity apparent within the church, and warned that isolation from the WCC

may lead us to an extreme policy of non-co-operation which I believe to be alien to the cause of Christ . If there is any hope of success, we as a denomination cannot afford not to be a party to this courageous attempt to bring to an end the elements of disunity which have so long hampered the Church’s work of Christian evangelism.[10]

After 1945 the confidence of ecumenists in NSW grew, although they remained a minority voice. The war experience of many Australian Baptists led them to question previously accepted conventions, and to accept and experience a wider Christian fellowship than they had known at home. In early 1945, for example, Chaplain F.H. Starr participated in an ecumenical Easter Day service in New Guinea; reflecting on this, he later noted the remarkable unity evident during communion – a unity that transcended rank, denomination and nationality. “How the Risen Christ unites men,” Starr observed. “He is the only foundation on which to build real brotherhood and peace.”[11] Such convictions were probably not uncommon.

The Australian Section of the World Council of Churches first met on February 20-21, 1946 in the rooms of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Sydney. At this meeting Anglican Archbishop Rev. Dr H.W. Mowll was elected President; the Rev. Dr A.C. Hill, President-General of the Baptist Union of Australia (from South Australia), was elected Vice-President; and F.H. Farrar, the unordained Secretary of the Baptist National Service Auxiliary, was elected Treasurer and a member of the Executive Council. Farrar was enough of a realist (or a diplomat) to reflect that

The World Council is really the necessary expression of a situation in which the Churches must say to each other, ‘We cannot unite, because there are deep and serious divergences between us in matters of faith, but neither can we continue to live in complete separation from each other, because we recognise our common Lord, and we desire to seek together the Una Sancta. We are not yet ready to enter into a full communion with each other, and to act as one undivided body, but we are now ready to give up all policies of isolation, to enter into a truly Christian conversation with each other and to act together whenever we can find common ground for doing so.[12]

Through the following twenty years it became increasingly clear that NSW Baptists were decidedly unready and unwilling to enter into full communion with other denominations, especially if that communion was facilitated by instruments such as the World Council and its regional bodies – an insight that appeared lost on the third Principal of the Baptist Theological College of NSW, as we shall see.

Early life and pastoral ministry

Edward Roberts-Thomson was born in England on April 10, 1909. His father had fought with the Royal Horse Artillery in the Boer War, and later served in India (for a considerable time), and saw action at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World War I.[13] He retired from military service with the rank of Colonel. Edward’s mother was the daughter of a British General and medical doctor in the British Army.[14] The family returned to Worthing, Sussex, shortly before 1909 to seek medical help for their third son who suffered from poliomyelitis. Edward had four brothers and no sisters.

Medical advisors recommended that the family move to a warmer climate, and they emigrated to Australia, settling on a farm just out of Wynyard. In England and in India the family had attended the Church of England. At Wynyard they joined a Brethren assembly where Edward’s father became a well known and gifted Bible teacher.[15] Difficult times led Edward to leave school at Wynyard before completing the Intermediate Certificate. He first worked with the Primary Producers Bank of Australia. During his late teens, he settled in Burnie where he began attending Burnie Baptist Church, apparently “through his convictions regarding the ministry.”[16]

He showed promise; from late 1931 he worked for three months with the Tasmanian Baptist Home Mission at Smithton in north-west Tasmania. This was a normal prerequisite for young men wishing to attend a Baptist College. Edward left a positive impression on local Christians. A note from the Smithton Baptist Church in March 1932 refers to helpful addresses, three baptisms and recent services of worship characterised by “seasons of refreshing” for “the ‘faithful few’ in this corner of God’s vineyard.”

In early 1932, aged 22, and having “done his time” with the Home Mission, Edward moved to Melbourne to enter the Baptist College of Victoria where, as Stuart Piggin observes, “Baptists were now committed to a ‘liberal’ and ‘ecumenical’ education for their ministers.”[17] Edward was one of three new students among a total of 12. At the time the College admitted only three students each year.[18] The Rev. Penry Evans preached the Commencement service sermon on “Spurgeon and the Moderns.”[19] Rev. Howard Crago, a student from 1930 to 1933, describes the spiritual and intellectual environment:

Most of us were conservatively evangelistic; we always liked to talk on Sunday nights of how many decisions for Christ were made at the services we had participated in. None of us was a keen University student . Once a week we would also all troop over to [the Methodist] Queens College to attend a combined preaching class in the Chapel, taking turn about to preach . Once a week . we went to Ormond for Philosophy of Religion and Psychology of Religion . Saturday morning Homiletics classes were a pleasant interlude – practical and down-to-earth sessions, such as ‘How to Conduct Church Meetings’; ‘A Minister and His Deacons’ . [20]

Edward was an exemplary student; he received the junior prize for 1933, and his abilities did not go unnoticed. Along with one other student, Edward was ordained at an extraordinary ordination service at the Half-Yearly Assembly meetings on May 15, 1935,[21] and was “being made available for service with the Home Mission Committee, at its special request.”[22] Rev. Eric Burleigh (who had just become Edward’s brother-in-law[23]) read the Scripture and prayed for the young ordinands.

Three weeks later, Edward was inducted into the ministry of the Hamilton Baptist Church.[24] It had started well in 1867, but by 1898 the church was “in a depressed state” and from that year on relied on Home Mission assistance at least until after the end of Roberts-Thomson’s pastorate. Rev. Eric Burleigh, then pastor of the Camberwell church, preached at the induction service. He “spoke highly of the character of the new pastor and his new wife, having known them and their parents for a considerable period.”[25]

In addition to local pastoral activities, from July 1935 he was Vice-President of the Western District Association,[26] and from May 1936 its President, giving an address, “The need of the hour,” an urgent plea for evangelism. The Australian Baptist reported that, as a result, “many present re-dedicated themselves to the service of their Lord.”[27] In August 1936 he orchestrated a shift from the usual program of the Christian Endeavour Society by arranging a six-month series of addresses, each by “a person of Christian standing.” The first of these was by Rev Wyllie of the Methodist Church who took as his subject the life of Mohandas Gandhi, apparently including “first-hand knowledge” of the great man. The Australian Baptist added, almost apologetically, that “although not admitting to being a Christian, Gandhi sets an example to us who are recognised Christian.”[28]

When an opportunity arose in 1937 to pursue further studies in England, he resigned from the Hamilton pastorate and sailed for the land of his birth. His ship also carried many other Baptists to the Coronation of King George VI at Westminster Abbey.[29] Edward enrolled at the Bristol Baptist College where he gained a Bachelor of Arts in theology before returning to Australia in 1940. He also studied at Bristol University where he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts. As a graduate of Bristol Baptist College, he did his MA thesis externally.[30]

With his wife and now two small boys, Edward was inducted into the ministry of the Hobart Baptist Tabernacle in November 1940.[31] Rev Harold G. Hackworthy’s ten-year pastorate had concluded following his resignation in November 1939. Roberts-Thomson was the seventh pastor of the Hobart Church; other distinguished pastors include Rev Dr Frank William Boreham (pastor from 1906-16), Rev S.J. Merlyn Holly (1950-62), Rev E. Ron Rogers (1963-65)

and Rev Dr Frank Rees (1983-1990). At his induction Edward impressed the large congregation with his “sincerity and keenness.”[32] Historian of the Hobart Baptist Church, Laurence Rowston, observes that Roberts-Thomson “constantly gave a cultured presentation of the Word that was satisfying and full of blessing. His stirring evangelical addresses proved him a teacher and expositor of the Gospel.” [33] Edward also received this high commendation:

The church was indeed fortunate when the Rev Edward Roberts-Thomson accepted the call to the pastorate. Congregations have shown marked improvement during the last couple of months, and the earnest and forceful gospel messages of the pastor have been greatly inspiring and helpful . He and Mrs Thomson have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the work of the church, giving of their very best for the Lord, and showing a splendid lead to the members.”[34]

Preaching seems to have been Edward’s primary gift; it was certainly his most prominent. In September 1942 he is described as “the young minister . [who] delivered a powerful and thoroughly evangelical address suitable to the important occasion” – the centenary of ecclesiastical and civil life of Hobart, which saw the attendance of the Governor of Tasmania, Sir Ernest Clark, and other local dignitaries. In fact, the Governor attended services on many occasions while Edward was pastor.[35]

In late 1943 Edward’s wife Gwendolyn bore their third son.[36] At Hobart he was also thrust into a healthy ecumenical community. In 1941 there was a bold move to merge the Collins Street Church of Christ with the Hobart Baptist Church. Rowston records that “the formula, as drawn up by the representatives, was submitted to the respective unions, but agreement was never finalised.”[37] In 1943 Edward was President of the Hobart Council of Churches.[38] At the 1943 Tasmanian Baptist Assembly it was observed that, as President of the Tasmanian Council of Churches, Roberts-Thomson had made “some outspoken statements from time to time, and has been challenged by both Anglican and Roman Catholic spokesmen” on the issue of religious education in state schools.[39]

Throughout these years at Hobart the Second World War was in progress. In early 1944, Edward Roberts-Thomson decided to resign from the pastorate and enlist as a Chaplain with the Royal Australian Air Force. He had served as pastor for 3 ½ years; the Hobart church was accustomed to considerably longer pastorates. An extraordinary members’ meeting was hastily convened to consider the resignation.[40] The church chose not to accept his resignation, and Edward was instead given leave of absence.[41] He had worked hard at Hobart: in addition to the responsibilities of a busy city church, he had served as a member of the Union’s Executive and Council, the Advisory Board, the Foreign Mission Committee, and the Education Committee (of which he was Secretary).[42]

Roberts-Thomson was called up as RAAF Chaplain in mid-1944,[43] and was stationed with his unit in New Guinea, Borneo, Dutch Halmaheras and the Philippines.[44] His letters home revealed “that our good brother is mixing well with his unit, grasping every opportunity for service and making contacts that mark a Padre as ‘doing the work of an evangelist.'”[45] He returned to Hobart at the end of 1945, where the Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Soundy, accorded him a civic reception.[46]

The immediate postwar years saw Edward’s scholarship flourish and his wider influence grow. In April 1946 he addressed the Tasmanian Baptist Ministers Fraternal on aspects of Baptist history. An article, “Our Baptist heritage,” on the beginnings of Baptist work in Tasmania, was published in the Australian Baptist.[47] He pioneered an aged care home and championed it as a humanitarian cause worthy of the oversight of the Baptist Union of Tasmania. In November 1946 he was elected Vice-President of the Union. In May 1947 his Bachelor of Divinity degree was conferred. The Hobart Baptist Church at the time had 262 members. In 1947-48 he was President of the Baptist Union of Tasmania, and chose for his Presidential address “Every member a crusader for Christ,” a call to personal witnessing.[48] In March 1948 he spoke again to the Fraternal, on evangelism and education. In 1948-49 he served a second term as President of the Union, launching it with an address titled, “Tides of the Spirit.”[49] At his re-election the chairman, Mr F.H. Ralph, noted that delegates “whole-heartedly, determinedly, unitedly, and unanimously welcomed the extension of the term.” [50] Also, from January 1948 to July 1950 Edward produced a series of 16 substantial articles on various aspects of theology under the general heading, “Things most surely believed among us.” The Australian Baptist published these pieces, usually beginning on the front page.

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[1] J. Bollen, Australian Baptists: A Religious Minority (London: Baptist Historical Society, 1975) 10.

[2] Ken R. Manley & Michael Petras, The First Australian Baptists (Baptist Historical Studies No. 2; Eastwood: Baptist Historical Society of NSW, 1981)

66.

[3] Bollen, ibid.

[4] Baptist Union of NSW Year Book 1906-07 (Sydney: Baptist Union of NSW, 1907) 21.

[5] A.J. Waldock, “The conscripting army,” Presidential address, in NSW Baptist Year Book 1918-1919 (Sydney: Australian Baptist Publishing House, 1918) 6; see also Roy Henson, And One was a Doctor: A Life of Rev Dr A J Waldock (Baptist Historical Studies No. 7; Sydney: Baptist Historical Society of NSW, 2003) 45.

[6] Australian Baptist, April 18, 1939, p. 6.

[7] Australian Baptist, July 4, 1939, p. 2.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Australian Baptist, November 28, 1944, p. 4.

[10] Australian Baptist, Sep 21, 1948, p. 2.

[11] Australian Baptist, May 1, 1945, p. 3.

[12] Australian Baptist, March 12, 1946, p. 7.

[13] Notes by John Roberts-Thomson, Baptist Union of Tasmania Archives, quoted in This Corner, 29.

[14] B.G. Wright, “”A new era in the life of the College,” Summa Supremo 12, November 1960, 29.

[15] Ibid.

[16] B.G. Wright, op. cit., 29.

[17] Stuart Piggin, “A history of theological education in Australia,” in Geoff Treloar (ed.), The Furtherance of Religious Beliefs: Essays on the History of Theological Education in Australia (Sydney: Centre for the Study of Australian Christianity, 1997), 38.

[18] Roslyn Otzen, Whitley: The Baptist College of Victoria 1891-1991 (South Yarra, Vic.: Hyland House Publishing, 1991) 76.

[19] Australian Baptist, Apr 5, 1932, p. 11.

[20] Otzen, 77. “Ormond” College was the Presbyterian Theological Hall established in Melbourne in 1865 and affiliated with the University of Melbourne.

[21] Australian Baptist, May 21, 1935, p. 9.

[22] Ibid.

[23] In 1928 Eric Burleigh married Doris Joyce; earlier in 1935, Edward Roberts-Thomson married Doris’ sister Gwendolyn.

[24] Australian Baptist, Jun 18, 1935, p. 3.

[25] Australian Baptist, Aug 6, 1935, p. 12.

[26] Australian Baptist, Jul 30, 1935, p. 4.

[27] Australian Baptist, Jun 2, 1936, p. 9.

[28] Australian Baptist, Sep 8, 1936, p. 12.

[29] Rowston, 1984, 46.

[30] Email from Dr Ken Manley to the author, Feb 14, 2003.

[31] Rowston, 46.

[32] Australian Baptist, Dec 10, 1940, p. 8.

[33] Rowston, 46.

[34] Australian Baptist, Jun 10, 1941, pp. 7-8.

[35] Australian Baptist, Mar 21, 1944, p. 2.

[36] Australian Baptist, Nov 16, 1943, p. 3. There was later a fourth child, a daughter.

[37] Rowston, 46.

[38] Australian Baptist, Mar 23, 1943, p. 2.

[39] Australian Baptist, Nov 9, 1943, p. 3.

[40] Australian Baptist, Apr 11, 1944, p. 4.

[41] Rowston, 47.

[42] Australian Baptist, Apr 11, 1944, p. 4. In publishing this list of offices, the Australian Baptist adds, “There may be others that we cannot now recall.”

[43] Australian Baptist, Jun 6, 1944, p. 1.

[44] Australian Baptist, Nov 23, 1960, p. 1; B.G. Wright, “A new era.” 29.

[45] Australian Baptist, Mar 20, 1945, p. 2.

[46] Australian Baptist, Jan 29, 1946, p. 5.

[47] Australian Baptist, Sep 3, 1946, pp. 1, 8.

[48] Australian Baptist, Oct 21, 1947, pp. 1-2.

[49] This second Presidential address was not subsequently published by the Australian Baptist.

[50] Australian Baptist, Nov 2, 1948, p. 3.