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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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Book review
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Thirty years ago I heard a sermon, the text of which has stuck in my mind ever since, ‘Wherefore, consider Jesus’. The preacher was Marcus Loane, the first Australian-born Archbishop of Sydney and Australian Anglican Primate from 1978-1982. One of the memories I have of that sermon is the earnestness with which the preacher proclaimed his message. Shortly afterwards, I lived in Sydney for a time and came to know a clergyman who had studied under Loane at Moore College and later served with him in the Sydney Diocesan team. When he spoke of ‘Sir Marcus’ it was with great affection, as a person who had nurtured him in the faith and greatly encouraged him in his ministry. Particular interestThis recently published biography of Archbishop Loane is written by John Reid who served with him as an archdeacon and assistant bishop in the Diocese of Sydney. While it is obviously selective in what it covers, Reid’s biography is an appreciation of the enormous contribution made by Loane to the Diocese of Sydney and the wider church. The opening paragraphs of the book are of particular interest to Tasmanians as they record that this evangelical leader within Australian Anglicanism was born in Tasmania to a pioneering family and baptised at St John’s Church, Launceston. Even though he left the state when only one year old Reid states, ‘The Tasmanian connection is an important clue to the temperament of Marcus Lawrence Loane. He came from hardworking stock, folk who had turned wilderness country into farmland’. It was while in Tasmania to deliver the Bible studies at the 1975 Keswick Convention that it was announced Loane had been made a Knight of the British Empire. Deep appreciationReid records Loane’s very significant contribution as a theological teacher at Moore College, where he served as Chaplain, Vice Principal and later Principal. He notes with appreciation his intellectual rigour in the study of Scripture, passion for evangelism, leadership of the Diocese of Sydney and contribution to the wider church. For me, one of the most moving sections of the book is the account of Loane’s service as an army chaplain in New Guinea during the Second World War. Working in this most difficult of environments he demonstrates a deep passion to see people won for Christ and a deep appreciation of Anglicans of traditions other than his own. Reid’s biography of Loane is easy to read and a most interesting account of an Australian Anglican leader, whom Archbishop Phillip Strong of New Guinea once described as ‘a very nice fellow indeed and a very earnest evangelical of the best type’. |
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