Anglican Board of Mission – Australia

The Anglican Board of Mission – Australia (ABM), formerly Australasian Board of Missions and Australian Board of Missions, is the national mission agency of the Anglican Church of Australia. In its earliest form, it was established in 1850.

History

The Church of the Province of New Zealand was not formed until 1858. In 1850, George Selwyn, the Bishop of New Zealand, approached his fellow Australasian bishops for funds to buy a boat for evangelisation of the islands of Melanesia, which then formed part of his diocese by virtue of a clerical error in the letters patent.[1][2] That missionary endeavour became the Melanesian Mission, but also led to the establishment of the Australasian Board of Missions.[1][3]

In 1872 (by which time New Zealand was a separate province) the Australasian Board of Missions was constituted as a board of the church by a canon of General Synod.[1] At that point the board changed its name to the Australian Board of Missions.[4][5] It was only in 1872 that an administrative structure was created, with a general secretary.[6]

The board celebrated its jubilee in 1900, at the consecration of Gilbert White as Bishop of Carpentaria at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.[3] The board was restructured in 1916, which led to the creation of an executive chairman position in place of the former general secretary; the Rev John Jones, general secretary since 1912, became the first chairman.[7] Many chairmen (and the renamed national directors) were former diocesan bishops, including George Cranswick (1942–49), Donald Shearman (1971–73), Ken Mason (1983–93), and Geoffrey Smith (2000-05). Another notable chairman was the Rev Frank Coaldrake (1957–70), a prominent pacifist during WWII and who, in 1970, was elected Archbishop of Brisbane but died before being consecrated.[8]

In 1953 the board created a department of co-operatives and appointed the Christian Socialist the Rev Alf Clint as director; Clint had previously established a series of co-operatives in Papua.[9] At the time, the board still had a number of Aboriginal missions, and Clint travelled around them, establishing co-operatives at Lockhart River Mission (1954), Moa Island, Torres Strait (1956), and Cabbage Tree Island (1959).[10] In 1957 Fr John Hope of Christ Church St Laurence gave Clint a house, Tranby, for his work with Aboriginals.[11] Now (2021) called Tranby National Indigenous Adult Education and Training, Tranby is still run by the Co-operative for Aborigines Limited, founded by Clint.[12] By 1959 the Lockhart River co-operative was bankrupt due to the collapse of the trochus shell market.[13] In 1960 the Rt Rev John Matthews was elected Bishop of Carpentaria; he considered Clint to be a destabilizing influence and, in 1961, banned him from entry to Anglican missions in the diocese.[14] That led the board in 1962 to replace its co-operative department with an autonomous body, Co-operative for Aborigines Ltd, of which Clint was the general secretary.[15]

The board was renamed the Anglican Board of Mission – Australia in 1995.[16]

Work

As of 2021^[update], its focus is on three programmes:[17]

• Church to Church: leadership formation and training, and evangelism;
• Community Development: adult literacy, improved food security, water and sanitation, gender equality and social inclusion, livelihood support, some health services, HIV testing, counselling and awareness raising; and
• Reconciliation: reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglicans.

The Board also issues emergency appeals.[17]

Leaders past and present

Chairmen

• The Rev John Jones 1917-1922[18][19] (Bishop Long was offered the chairmanship in 1922, but declined, as it would have required him to resign his see.)[20]
• The Rev John Stafford Needham 1922-42[21][22][23]
• The Rt Rev George Cranswick, 1942-49[24]
• The Ven Charles Shearer Robertson, 1949–56.
• The Rev Canon Frank Coaldrake, 1957-70[25]
• The Rt Rev Donald Shearman, 1971-73 [26]
• The Ven John Alexander Munro, 1973–76.[27]
• The Rev Canon (later the Rt Rev) Robert Leopold Butterss, 1976–83.[28]
• The Rt Rev Ken Mason, 1983–93.

National directors

The position of chairman was renamed national director in 1993.

• The Rt Rev Brian Kyme, 1993–2000.
• The Rev (later the Most Rev) Geoffrey Smith, 2000–05.[29]

Executive directors

The national director was renamed the executive director in 2005.

• Linda Kurti, 2005–08.
• The Rev John Deane, since 2008.[30]

References

1. "Anglican Board of Mission: Our History". Retrieved 1 August 2021.
2. Boreham, Frank W. (1911). George Augustus Selwyn: Pioneer Bishop of New Zealand. p. 44.
3. "Australasian Board of Missions". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. XXX, no. 4372. New South Wales, Australia. 21 May 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 2 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Loos, Noel, White Christ Black Cross: The Emergence of a Black Church, (2007: Aboriginal Studies Press), p 45.
5. "Australian Board of Missions". The Church Of England Messenger For Victoria And Ecclesiastical Gazette For The Diocese Of Melbourne. Vol. XXXI, no. 370. Victoria, Australia. 1 August 1899. p. 114. Retrieved 2 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
6. Loos, Noel, White Christ Black Cross: The Emergence of a Black Church, (2007: Aboriginal Studies Press), p 47.
7. "Jones, Edith Emily (1875–1952)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Edith Emily Jones. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
8. "Coaldrake, Frank William (1912–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Frank Coaldrake. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
9. "Clint, William Alfred (1906–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Alfred Clint. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
10. "Clint, William Alfred (1906–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Alfred Clint. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
11. "Hope, John (1891–1971)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: John Hope. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
12. "Tranby: Who We Are". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
13. "Clint, William Alfred (1906–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Alfred Clint. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
14. "Clint, William Alfred (1906–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Alfred Clint. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
15. "Clint, William Alfred (1906–1980)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: William Alfred Clint. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
16. "Australian Board of Mission - Summary | Find & Connect". www.findandconnect.gov.au. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
17. "ABM: How we work". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
18. "Australian Board of Missions". The Maitland Daily Mercury. No. 15, 888. New South Wales, Australia. 4 March 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
19. "Jones, Edith Emily (1875–1952)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Edith Emily Jones. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
20. "Australian Board of Missions". The Maitland Daily Mercury. No. 15, 888. New South Wales, Australia. 4 March 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 2 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
21. "AUSTRALIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS". The Age. No. 23745. Victoria, Australia. 19 May 1931. p. 5. Retrieved 3 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
22. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1932, p 944.
23. "Treloars: John Stafford Needham". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
24. "Cranswick, George Harvard (1882–1954)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: George Cranswick. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
25. "Coaldrake, Frank William (1912–1970)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Frank Coaldrake. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
26. "Church Times: "New head for Australian Board of Missions", 12 February 1971, p 16". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
27. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973-74, 85th Edition, p 681.
28. "Church Times: "In Brief", 14 May 1976, p 20". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
29. "ABM: Congratulations to the Most Rev Geoffrey Smith". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
30. "Anglican Board of Mission: Our Staff". Retrieved 1 August 2021.