As already noted, throughout the twentieth century there were concerted efforts on the part of denominational officials to bring about organic unity between Baptists and the Churches of Christ. During 1951 G.H. Morling travelled to London where he addressed the Commonwealth and Empire Baptist Congress, and participated in a conference of Principals of Baptist Colleges following the Congress. He also addressed BBC radio listeners on the broad subject of “The wider religious outlook: observations on the contemporary situation in Great Britain.” A hand-written script for the radio address has been preserved. In reference to comments made at the Congress, Morling claimed that believers’ baptism is a means of grace, although he acknowledged that this was a truth that most Baptists did not emphasise. He critiqued the leading English Baptist theologian of the day, Dr H. Wheeler Robinson, regarding his understanding of justification in Paul. Then, revealing something of the theological and historical dimensions to contemporary debates on church union, Morling added:

In Australia our conferences with the Churches of Christ have broken down on this matter. They have never been willing clearly to say that baptism has nothing to do with our standing with God. A distinction has been made between Classical Protestantism and Radical Protestantism . Baptists are the radicals of Radical Protestantism because of their emphasis on conversion. The history of the Church reveals the terrible ease with which warm evangelicalism slides into formal sacramentalism. Historically Baptists are radical evangelicals. Let us be true to our tradition.[1]

The 1950-51 Year Book had hinted that “maybe the question [of affiliation with the WCC] will come up for further consideration at some future debate.” The editors were correct, and 1961 saw another opportunity for NSW Baptists to be true to their tradition as “radical evangelicals.”

At its 1959 Triennial Assembly in Perth, the BUA resolved to ask the state Baptist Unions to re-examine their previous decisions on affiliation with the WCC, and anticipated a second vote on the issue at the 1962 Triennial Assembly in Melbourne.[2] At the time, two major projects filled the vision of NSW Baptists: the growing missionary enterprise in the rugged highlands of New Guinea, and the 1959 Billy Graham Crusade. Both projects, in different ways, required and facilitated organic Christian unity. Church union of the structural kind was so low on the horizon of NSW Baptists as to be virtually irrelevant. So it was courageous of the BUA to revisit the matter of affiliation.

As one would expect, the arguments by NSW Baptists for and against affiliation in 1961 bore close similarity to those expressed eleven years before. The Baptist Union of Australia published a pamphlet outlining both cases, with section titles such as “the inadequacy of the doctrinal statement of the World Council,” “Approaches to Rome,” “The menace of a super-church,” “Reversal of Christian history,” “Autonomy of free churches threatened,” and “Dangers of false ideologies.” There was also growing concern about a “misplaced emphasis” inimical to evangelism and mission, and the notion that ecumenical activities were “a waste of time” and stole scarce time and resources from essential Christian work.[3] But above all was the conviction that WCC affiliation was quite unnecessary and that Baptists in NSW could maintain their integrity and witness more effectively by remaining outside the WCC.[4] The Special Assembly was held on Friday March 24, 1961. The program includes the words of the emotive hymn, “Faith of our fathers,” written by Frederick William Faber, who began his ministry in the Church of England but ended it in the Roman Catholic Church. Ironically, the hymn carries the refrain:

Faith of our fathers! Holy faith!

We will be true to thee till death!

There was a noticeable “hardening of opinion against participation” in the WCC at this Assembly, but the anti-Roman Catholic rhetoric was not as pronounced as it was in 1950.[5] The motion was “That the Baptist Union of NSW agrees to the Baptist Union of Australia joining the World Council of Churches and the Australian Council of Churches”; it was defeated by 365 votes to 74 – sending an even stronger anti-ecumenical message than in 1950 to any who cared to take note. Defending the decision, the Australian Baptist argued that

The disunity to which members of the WCC refer as a “scandal” and a “sin” is the characteristic of Protestantism. It is the expression of the virility of groups of Christians prepared to separate for the sake of truth.[6]

Taken together, the outcomes of the 1950 and 1961 Assemblies confirmed that NSW Baptists eschewed ecumenism and distrusted ecumenists. The Assembly resolutions also signalled that, as Michael Petras suggests, NSW Baptists now identified more with the orientation of the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States (which stood opposed to the WCC) rather than that of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (which strongly supported the WCC).[7]

The 1962 Assembly of the Baptist Union of Australia resolved not to seek affiliation with the ACC and the WCC, but also resolved to “assure our brethren in the Lord of other denominations that we will happily continue to work with them in our joint task of spreading the gospel and relieving the needy.”[8]

Resignation and later ministry

This is the environment in which Edward Roberts-Thomson found himself as Principal of the denomination’s theological college in 1961. Those who secured his appointment knew of his views on ecumenism, and of the subjects treated in his MA and DD theses. His first book, Baptists and Disciples of Christ, had been in print since 1948, and the book drawn from his doctoral research, With Hands Outstretched: Baptists and the Ecumenical Movement, was published in 1962 while he was Principal of the Sydney college. In his conclusion to the latter work, he inadvertently echoed the spirit of those who had argued in favour of affiliation with the WCC in 1950 and 1961:

If Baptists remain alone it will be necessary for them to demonstrate to the world that their way of life is better, and their conception of truth is truer, than that which holds the others in ecumenical association . Yet it is doubtful if those who have already had a foretaste of ecumenical fellowship in the World Council would be willing to forgo its continuance for the sake of the narrower fellowship their own Baptist way of life can afford. Moreover, there have always been those Baptists amongst them who have felt that their doctrine of the church, built upon a concept of the churches in their local setting, is completely inadequate to explain either the New Testament or the ongoing life of the Church in the world. Those Baptists are multiplying.[9]

As they did, they also brought about division. At various times during his Principalship, Edward attracted strong criticism from his political opponents and from those who did not understand his views. A crisis point came at a conference on the Second Coming of Christ held at the Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle toward the end of 1962. Edward was asked to speak on the fact of the Lord’s return, and the pastor of the church, Rev L.M. Thompson, followed up with a dispensationalist interpretation of the features of the Lord’s return. It appears that Edward first succeeded in confusing his audience as to the nature of the parousia, then scandalised them by discounting the value of historico-grammatical exegesis and declaring that “the hope of the world lay in the World Council of Churches and the Second Coming of Christ.”[10]

This proved to be one of the triggers used by the Executive Committee, which itself was under pressure from several churches offended by the stance of the Principal on ecumenism, in an attempt to bring about his resignation. An Executive Committee report in April 1963 affirmed the right of individual members of the Baptist Union to dissent from decisions of Assembly, but stated that

In view of the Union’s known and declared position in relation to the WCC, so recently and overwhelmingly re-affirmed, an appointee of the Union should of his own volition refrain from association with and active participation in the Movement. The Officers believe that the Principal’s open association and implied advocacy of the WCC is highly embarrassing to the Denomination and, under the circumstances, is indiscreet.[11]

Subsequently the Executive Committee pressured the Principal to withdraw from the College by not consenting to re-nomination at the 1963 Annual Assembly, since “the work of our denomination will be helped” if he did so.[12] Edward did not receive this advice well; he shared it with the churches, many of which lobbied on his behalf, alleging that the Executive Committee had exceeded its authority, trespassed on the rights of Assembly, ignored fundamental Baptist principles, and had not realised the far-reaching effects of a dispute of this nature at the Assembly.

The pressure continued to mount, with increasing strain on relationships within the College and Union. Finally, on March 18, 1964, in a letter dated March 24, Edward Roberts-Thomson tendered his resignation to the Secretary of the Union, Mr Bruce King. In the letter he noted that

My resignation is submitted reluctantly, for I find it hard to believe that my work here is done. Thus it is done against my own conviction. However it is given because I recognise that there are forces at work in the denomination which will not rest content with less than this, and that according to report these forces are gathering momentum. I have consulted many people before taking this drastic step. The opinion seems to be that if I allow myself to be renominated, there are those who are prepared to press their opposition to me to the point where Assembly, and thus our people, would be deeply divided. To this I could not become a party. Hence, despite so much that speaks of the continued blessing of the Lord upon the work of the College, I am being compelled by the attitude and activity of a section of our people to resign .

There are areas of concern . in which change is needed, and which, I trust, the denomination will face with courage, charity, and realism, prior to the appointment of another Principal. First, there needs to [be] a clear defining of the Principalship. Here, as some of you know, I was unwittingly involved in a situation which ought never to have been permitted. Second, there needs to be a clearer recognition of the relation of the College Council to the Principal, and the authority resident in each. Third, the question of academic freedom should be studied frankly, if staff quality is to be maintained and enhanced. Fourth, a greater awareness seems required of the importance of the few short years of the College course, for basic biblical and theological disciplines, before students become engulfed in pastoral cares . [13]

The resignation generated various responses, many of which are documented in letters, minutes and reports. Here I simply note the perspective of the students who knew Edward best. A special meeting of the Baptist Theological College of NSW Students’ Association was held in the dining room lecture hall at the College on March 24, 1964 to discuss the Principal’s resignation earlier that day. Thorwald Lorenzen, deputy Senior Student, outlined a proposed course of action. He noted that:

the Principal did not wish to leave but felt he must do so rather than cause a split in the denomination. He also said that the President of the College Council, Rev J.C. Campbell, had asked for confidence and cooperation, but this was not forthcoming in the present situation. He [Lorenzen] therefore suggested a deputation wait on the [College] Council, present it with a letter setting forth the views of the students, and then if nothing came of it, express a lack of confidence in the Council.[14]

The students, with one or two exceptions, strongly supported their Principal. On March 26 the following minute of appreciation was recorded in the Association’s Minute Book:

During the three years during which he has been in office, Dr Roberts Thomson has made a profound impression on the life of the College and the ministry of its students. His reverent scholarship has led us to a deeper search for the truth of God, and the gracious influence of his personal life has inspired us to a closer devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. We extend to him and his family our prayerful interest and we rest confidently in the promise that Christ will remain to them a friend who never leaves us nor forsakes us.

This was high praise, but nothing could now be done to reverse the decisions that had been made, to halt the processes that had begun, or to heal the wounds that had been sustained.

Later in 1964 Edward became a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Australia, a path that was far from uncommon for NSW Baptist ministers disaffected by what they perceived as the narrow theological outlook or inferior polity of their churches.[15] He was Acting Chaplain at Scots College, Sydney, from May to December 1964, then Minister at St Andrews Presbyterian Church, South Turramurra, from September 1, 1965 to November 30, 1973, after which he retired from full-time ministry. Edward exercised a supply ministry among Presbyterian churches from 1974 to 1983, and died aged 78 at East Maitland, NSW, on October 19, 1987. Rev. B.G. Wright, who had been Vice-Principal since 1950, became the fourth Principal and served until 1974.

Conclusion

Referring to developments up to 1920, Alan Prior suggested that Baptist ministry in NSW was

marked by qualities of conservative theology, evangelical conviction and expository preaching. These qualities were to find personification and advocacy in the man who was to become Principal [of the Theological College]

in 1921 and hold that office for forty years – Rev. G.H. Morling.[16]

Generally, Edward Roberts-Thomson was marked by these same qualities, with the significant exception that he was a passionate advocate of ecumenism – an idea to which he had devoted considerable research and whose time, he believed, had come. However, he brought many good qualities and skills to the office of Principal. He was a competent theologian and a seasoned biblical preacher. He was a scholar of high standing and an ecclesiastical statesman. He was an avid reader and able writer. He possessed significant administrative experience and understanding of the particular needs of a burgeoning theological college. He knew the importance of public relations. And it seemed that he could manage and lead others, although some of his contemporaries (including such Baptist luminaries as R.E. (Ron) Walker, Neville Andersen and Fred Church) apparently formed the opinion that he could not.

For example, in 1988 Fred Church offered the following reflection:

When [Roberts-Thomson] was appointed Principal it was publicly known what his views were on the World Council of Churches and the NSW Union accepted him on that basis. The main reason for his resignation related to his administration of the College. However, some of his supporters raised the question of the ecumenical issue as a ‘smoke screen.'[17]

Church may be correct, and structural and administrative problems were a factor leading to Roberts-Thomson’s resignation; his letter of resignation makes that clear. But his passion for ecumenism is hard to ignore, and at least helped to put him out of favour with a significant majority of NSW Baptists – including many of the leading laymen who determined and preserved the theological and ecclesial ethos of the denomination.

That ethos remains largely intact today, and ecumenical enthusiasm continues to wane among NSW Baptists. This reflects broader trends across the denominational spectrum. Harding Meyer, a leading present-day ecumenist, laments that

The signs of a deterioration of the ecumenical urgency are immense. There is a palpable decrease of common interest in ecumenical themes, events, and publications. The underlying loss in ecumenical motivation is connected with a disdain for the ecumenical achievement and an uncertainty of ecumenical orientation. Reservation and resistance, with which the ecumenical movement has always to struggle, gain new power.[18]

Historically, a large majority of NSW Baptists championed the reservation and resistance of which Meyer speaks. Edward Roberts-Thomson, who came to NSW from “outside,” appeared consciously aloof from this culture. The outcome of this was magnified by the fact that the College and denomination had been blessed with forty years of irenic leadership and genial stability in the person of G.H. Morling. Equally important is the fact that he was the victim of poor organisational planning, and proved unwilling to reform his administrative practice and unable to facilitate necessary structural reforms. In particular, G.H. Morling had relied heavily on men such as Walker and Church for administrative leadership,[19] and Roberts-Thomson found it difficult to exercise his own administrative competencies in what quickly became a hostile political environment.

For a constellation of reasons, far from heralding a new dawn, Roberts-Thomson’s appointment to the NSW College was a recipe for disaster. As a result the College and the denomination suffered in various ways. Despite significant physical and curricular developments, and increasing student numbers through the 1960s, it was arguably some years before wounds began to heal and equilibrium was restored to the College. In fact, from correspondence I have received while researching the subject, it is apparent that significant unresolved issues remain today – 40 years after the event – for certain students and others who inadvertently became caught up in the imbroglio.

It appears that, among Baptists in NSW in the 1960s, it was prudent to understand and accept the institutional culture, to provide strong yet theologically conservative leadership, to work with a united team, and to resist the temptation to make what the fictional British civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby famously described as “courageous” statements. History will reveal whether and to what extent the denominational culture changed during the following 40 years.

Rev Rod Benson is founding Director of the Centre for Christian Ethics at Morling College, and Baptist Chaplain to Macquarie University. He has pastored Baptist churches in Queensland and NSW, and is editor of Mosaic, the Quarterly Journal of the NSW & ACT Baptist

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[1] Resolution of Executive Committee, June 18, 1963, communicated to the Principal the following day.

[1] Letter from the Principal to the Secretary of the Union, dated March 24, 1964.

[1] Minutes of the Baptist College of NSW Students Association 1964.

[1] See Michael Petras, Extension or Extinction: Baptist Growth in NSW 1900-1939 (Baptist Historical Studies No. 3; Eastwood: Baptist Historical Society of NSW, 1983) 123;

[1] Alan C. Prior, Some Fell on Good Ground: A History of the Baptist Church in NSW, Australia (Sydney: Baptist Union of NSW, 1966) 136.

[1] Petras, Australian Baptists Past and Present, 70.

[1] Harding Meyer, That All May Be One: Perceptions and Models of Ecumenicity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 152.

[1] Neville Andersen, who by 1964 exerted significant influence on the leadership and management of the College, was appointed honorary Secretary of the College in October 1960, and assumed the position of Dean in early 1961; his predecessor was Rev. A.H. Orr, who had for many years been a friend of Roberts-Thomson. See Australian Baptist, Oct 20, 1960, p. 9; and letter from the Principal to Secretary of the Union, dated June 18, 1963, referring to alleged defamation of the character of A.H. Orr.