(Michael & Joy Morgan, Noel Bell)
A Planned Seed of Holiness for Australia:
I sense a divinely appointed 'preparation' in England for the 'birthing' of Christianity in the colony. ..one senses there was a real vision and high hopes....this led up to the appointment of a special man of God in Rev Johnson...
A Rejected Nation of Misfits
What was established here was an "ignoble penal settlement under man" not a "noble nation under God it was harsh territory in which to plant that 'seed of holiness'....
Spiritual Opposition to Birthing the Church:
And the 'planting' wasn't too succesful and perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. But it's almost like the actual 'birthing' of the Christian faith in Sydney (and here I mean the essence of the faith not specifically the traditional C of E) was actively opposed by the powers of darkness... eg
there was no religious blessing at the raising of the flag on that first 26th January
resistance or indifference from the authorities forced Johnson to go it alone and build the first church.. ..which was later burnt down ...
the first Cathedral St Andrews was believed to be unconsecrated
for many years (foundation stone being laid by Gov Macquarie, a
mason, and designed by Greenway also a mason)
and Johnson...the first Minister.. Christ's representative... .was openly rejected by the people (being 'treated with apathy, discourtesy and ridicule')
It was like something was inhibiting the birthing of the pure church the rooting of God's Spirit in the foundation of the nation....and Johnson's attempt to build his own church (without help/approval from the authorities) could almost be seen conceptually as an attempt to 'separate' the Church and the State ... to proclaim through the first church building the supreme Lordship of Christ.. ..Christianity in its own right, if you like, rather than Christianity in the C of E which in turn was 'buried/entangled' in almost subjective to secular affairs of the State.
It seems significant too that the man chosen to birth the church here... was such a godly man....about whom nothing 'bad' appears to have been written... .in contrast to Marsden for example or Lang...
Distortion of the Pure Truth through the Church:
Despite Johnson's valiant and gody efforts, the real truth of the gospel was 'distorted' because it was 'used' as a religion to be IMPOSED ON the people - rather than a religion FOR ALL. It was imposed 'from above' - with spiritual and secular authority being seen as 'in league' with each other.
As put in the book 'Sydney Anglicans' ... "The ministry of the C of E in NSW was Evangelical as well as formal, the impetus for it coming from the upper classes of
society. It was religion for rather than to the motley inhabitants of the penal
colony."
And so the 'vehicle' for Gods truth the Church - got itself into a position of compromise a wrong 'position' being locked in/associated with secular authority (see Dean Inge's later comment on being married to the spirit of the age) and a wrong 'position' by trying to impose religion from on high. God's truth couldn't really be 'heard' from this position ...
It led - no doubt exploited to the full by Satan - to a total disregard and ridicule of the institutional church in Sydney by all parts of society here ... one suspects that Marsden, for all his undoubted good work, would have been 'used' to discredit/distort the vital 'truth' of the gospel....
Wrong Model for God's Authority:
This flows from the above.. .the early Church's authority would have been seen in the same light as the oppressive penal secular authority of the State... .indeed Church and State were probably seen as inseparable. This was a distorted image of God's authority....which one suspects still exists.. .and helps explain negative attitudes to the 'church'....
The 'penalty' for this legacy is still being paid. Dean Inge once said that the church which 'marries the spirit of the age becomes a widow in the next'. In Britain at that time, the 'Established' Church at least, by its identification with the State, its intimate association with the ruling class, and its belief in the existing social order being unquestionably God-ordained, had married the 'spirit of the age'. It paid dearly for it by becoming a 'widow' in the antipodes, so far as the great majority of convicts and ex-convicts were concerned.
And so.. ..the wrong model for God's authority.. ..was rooted in our English heritage....and transported here from day one...
(The model brought in later by the Catholics was also 'wrong', though for different reasons....)
And a Consequent 'Lack of Respect' for Clergy:
This 'model' brought the almost inevitable response from the people in the early days (see later section 3.5. "Attitudes to the Clergy & Church")
And this lack of respect for clergymen in Australia still exists today. It may not be outright hostility, except toward men like Rev Fred Nile, rather it is a sniggering, disinterested attitude and certainly on the media clergy are portrayed very much as figures of ridicule.
There is a noticeable contrast to the way the clergy are treated in England where they are given a special respect in society. German parents of a friend also compared the salaries of German pastors with those of Australian clergy - a marked difference down for the Australians.
The Awesome Accountability of the Early Church:
The book 'CCC' gives considerable evidence to support the view that anticlericalism is rooted in the early foundations of the church in the colony. One senses that the clergy are still labou ring under the burden of this today.
The mocking attitude of Australians today toward anything Christian or to do with the church is also probably rooted in this time.
The corporate accountability of the early church is awesome and surely continues to need prayer.. ..it may not be too alarmist to suggest that the institutional church bears some of the responsibility for not only turning people AWAY from God but also for turning them TO things definitely not of God.. .as outlined graphically in CC&C....
By the 1820's the convicts and ex-convicts had no interest in the doctrine.' and liturgies of 'Old England'; they felt no need to come to God in prayer; anc they had no desire to wash away their sins in Christ's precious blood. There were exceptions, but mostly they were sustained by mateship
A Transported 'Legacy of Privilege':
The C of E was effectively the State religion in the early colonial days and there was deep-rooted conflict and difference between the denominations (particularly Anglican and Catholic) ... this early history/legacy must still hinder the real development of a real "spirit of unity" across the churches in Sydney....
A Growing Disturbance to the 'Status Quo':
The early church - which was the C of E faced ongoing threats to its traditional power and status':
- its legacy of 'privileged position' was effectively diluted as other denominations came to the colony...
- particularly savage opposition from authorities, officers and convict populace in the early days was common....
- clergy and church were held in low esteem....
- threat 'from within' also disturbed the church at that time.. ..a 'threat' to the 'Evangelicals' in the Anglican Church from the Tractarians (and the Oxford Movement) and the real potential for this to undermine the traditional doctrines of the church...
A natural reaction to this from the church over the years appears to have been a move to 'protect'... to 'control'...to 'hold on to' their traditions... .to 'stay aloof' and assume their traditional position. Part of this may have been an unconscious sustaining of the church's tradition from those early days to 'impose from above'.. ..almost to dictate how it will be...
It does seem to help explain what some see as the 'prideful aloofness' of the Anglican Church - and in particular what seems to many to be the 'arrogant separateness' of the Sydney Diocese. It would appear to be rooted back to the early days in the colony.. Research illustrates this in a number of ways:
- comment from a visiting US Anglican Priest, Howard Johnson in 1964
- after investigating Anglican Churches all over the world - that "Nowhere in my entire tour of Anglicanism did I encounter questions of churchmanship so divisive....
- the marked difference in 'climate' within Anglican clerical circles in the city of Sydney and in the country of NSW....(personal observations by Mrs Barker....written up in Marcus Loane's book....)
the noted difference in the way the Sabbath was used in Melbourne and Adelaide as compared to Sydney... .written up by an historian (not a Chnstian)..
the serious differences (quarrelsomeness) between the Anglican Church and the other denominations in the early days....
A Persistent Resistance to Revival:
Australia is one of the very few countries in the world that has never experienced revival a real sweep of the Holy Spirit despite much 'investment' over the years to reach people for Christ it has not happened.
It has happened in US, England and Wales... .yet curiosly it has not (like most everything else) been 'transplanted' to Australia....
Why? Why has it happened elsewhere and not here? How have the 'powers of darkness' succeeded in blinding the eyes of Australians to the gospel ?
From our early Church History some of the underlying reasons may be:
that the Christian faith has never really been birthed in the land. ..never really been 'allowed in' so to speak....
until the post World War II period, we were symbolically a nation of 'rejected Deople' who had never really felt 'accepted'...(.the expression 'spirit of convictism' littered much secular writing we researched)...
and finally we have a distorted image of God's authority ... our 'authority figure' as a nation was an oppressive cruel penal secular authority (with which the early church was directly related) which originally inhibited us seeing God's authority and 'Fatherhood' as it really is
..and I believe the 'spirit of Momus' (the god of Ridicule - and possibly the root of our uniquely Australian 'put down' mentality) has been used by the powers of darkness to sustain this wrong image
As with Japan - another nation where much evangelism and prayer has produced 'low' returns - maybe for Australia too intensive and sustained spiritual warfare could be a key to bringing people to Christ. As Peter Wagner said in a recent article " if God had called me to be a leader in the evangelisation of Japan, I would:
- Seek God's power to unite the various Christian factions
- Train pastors and lay leaders in deliverance ministries,
- And.. Look to God for ways to identify, engage and break the power of the territorial spirits that have held Japan in their clutches for centuries."
Yet through it all - A Persistent Light in the Darkness:
Despite all this... .God's light has been 'spread abroad' in Sydney since Johnson arrived... through the faithfulness of so many great men of God over the years... God's grace and goodness is so evident in the lives of individuals.. .such as Johnson, Barker, Campbell etc... despite real corporate difficulties Successful inroads have of course been made. ...often where free from authority....eg itinerant, mostly non-Anglican mobile ministries....
We pray that there is indeed truth in the vision Newton had so many years ago for the settlement - and in particular for Johnsons ministry - when he said "The seed you sow in the settlement may be sown for future generations and be transplanted in time far and near. I please myself with the hope that Port Jackson may be the spot from whence the Gospel light may hereafter spread in all directions".
Is this a prophetic word for Sydney today?
Bibliography:
Convicts, Clergymen and Churches " by Allan M. Grocott (Sydney University Press)..... attitudes of convicts and ex-convicts towards the churches and clergy in NSW from 1788 to 1851. ..complled by an historian
Religions in Australia" by Tess van Sommers (Rigby)....
Sydney Anglicans " by Stephen Judd and Kenneth Cable (Anglican Information Office)... a pioneer essay charting the growth of the Sydney Diocese
"Hewn From The Rock" by Marcus Loane (Anglican Information Office) origins and traditions of the Chruch in Sydney
"The Oxford Movement" edited by Eugene Fairweather (OUP)....a description of the movement.. .the Anglo-Catholic Revival.... drawn together by a Professor of Theology...
"The Mind of The Oxford Movement "by Owen Chadwick (A & C Black)... a selection of Tractarian wdtings....
Hierarchy and Democracy in Australia 1788-1870 " by T. L. Suttor (Melbourne Uni Press)... the formation of Australian Catholicism by an Associate Profesor of Theology
Rockhoppers " by Edmund Campion (Penguin) a popular' book that explores the experience of contemporary Catholics in a colonial culture by a Sydney Priest
"Australian Catholics " by Edmund Campion (Viking) the contribution of Catholics to the development of Australian society.
Australian Christian Life from 1788" by Ian Murray historical background of key Christians in bringing Gospel to Australia.
Some Letters of Rev Richard Johnson " Parts 1 and 2 by George Mackaness (Reveiew Publications P/L, Dubbo NSW)
"Some Private Correspondence of the Rev Sarnuel Marsden and Family 1794-1824" by Goerge Mackaness (Review Publications)
3.2. Outline of Early Christian Life:
In 18th century England:
- religious ignorance and practical atheism well established
- mass of working class not outwardly religious, never attended church
poverty was considered God-ordained and the social hierarchy part of the divine plan for mankind
established church closely linked with State and status quo
the professional criminal class would have had no contact with Christianity and their first contact possibly in prison usually did not go down too well
All these attitudes were transported to Australia.
In Sydney:
Church services regarded as punishment by convicts.. ..used to preach good subservient behaviour
Was compulsory, caused indifference and cynicism to harden into hatred and opposition
Anglican chaplains were:
objects of ridicule and abuse
the most easily hoodwinked of the ruling hierarchy.
scorned for participation in penal system - Marsden, particularly severe.
seen as moral policemen - sanctimonious spies of the govt and puritanical 'kill-joys'.
Overly identified with ruling class.
Only the Catholics and Methodists were able to bridge the gap between convicts and clergy through friendship
The few convicts who were genuinely religious and publicly showed it, were mostly Catholics. Such men displayed admirable courage in the face of merciless ridicule and persecution by other convicts, who saw them as hypocrites, renegades or traitors.
Prison inmates forced to play hypocrite in order to gain indulgences and shorten their sentences.
- Catholic convicts hated compulsory C of E services.
(Norfolk Island) - anti-religious attitudes were partly institutionalised in the blasphemous liturgies of the 'Ring'.
Interesting to note - the monopoly of the powerful 'Rum Trade' was finally broken by Robert Campbell, a Christian businessman/merchant.
Frontier environment and struggle for survival put Church at bottom of people's priorities.
Most 'new chum' clergy were depressed by the penal character of the colony, many had great difficulty in adjusting and some failed outright.
In the bush many parsons were regarded as a 'standing joke' by acclimatised bushmen.
The churches, with some exceptions, failed to win the hearts and minds of the felonry. The evangelical and moralistic message of the Protestant Churches especially, was unappealing and unacceptable to the convict world.
Dean Inge once said that the church which 'marries the spirit of the age becomes a widow in the next'. In Britain at that time, the 'Established' Church at least, by its identification with the State, its intimate assocjation with the ruling class, and its belief in the existing social order being unquestionably God-ordained, had married the 'spirit of the age'. It paid dearly for it by becoming a 'widow' in the antipodes, so far as the great majority of convicts and ex-convicts were concerned.
3.3 The Early Christian Ministers:
Unlike America the first settlers in Australia did not come to establish a nation under God, they came in chains sentenced to hard labour, brutal treatment and death. The arrival of the First Fleet (12 sailing ships with prisoners, soldiers and officers as well as food and livestock) was a military operation without any consideration for the spiritual needs of the men and women sailing to the other side of the earth from Britian (it took about 10 months by ship) to establish a penal colony simply to relieve the overcrowding of the British jails. In all over 80,000 convicts were sent to Australia over a 60 year period.
Rev Richard Johnson:
Five months before the First Fleet sailed, Rev Johnson was appointed as Chaplian by Pitt at the recommendation of Wilberforce. The first fleet subsequently arrived on 26th January 1788. He was Chaplain to 568 male convicts and 191 female convicts with 13 children. Johnson also felt responsible for the Marines as well as the Governor (Captain Arthur Phillip and his staff) which comprosed his whole 'parish' of about 1,000 people. There were about 300 Roman Catholic convivts amongst them.
The first public service of worship in Australia was held at 10 am on Sundey 3rd February
1788 and Johnson preached from Psalm 116:12 "What shall I render unto the Lord for all
his benefits towards me ? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord".
Johnson's ministry was not easy as he had very little support from the Governor and the military. Once Governor Phillip left (December 1792) his job became very difficult dealing with the officers of the NSW Corps (the Rum Corp). Major Grose positively discouraged people from attending Johnson's services. They provided no building for a church so Johnson with helpers built a church himself out of of his own funds. When Grose became Lt Governor he prevented Johnson having a second Sunday service and sometimes even marched his soldiers out of the middle of Johnson's morning service. At this time Johnson said 'almost all common morality and even decency was banished from the colony'.
In 1794 he was encouraged when a second Anglican Minister arrived by the name of
Samuel Marsden. By 1798 (ten years of settlement) things had improved under Governor
Hunter however Johnson's health was worn out and he returned to England in
September 1800. In 1794 he issued his one only publication " An Address to the
Inhabitants of the Colonies established in NSW & Norfolk Island " - a bold challenge of the
Gospel to an indifferent colony.
Socially Johnson was despised because he was a 'Methodist' instead of a traditional Anglican 'church man'. He was a strong evangelical who faithfully preached Christ to both convicts and their military keepers.
Samuel Marsden:
At the age of 28 he arrived with his wife Elisabeth and first child born at sea. He was given the spiritual care of the small settlement at Parrammatta (where all the food was grown for the colony) and, when Johnson left, responsibility for the settlement of Sydney as well.
He was joined by another Anglican minister William Cowper in 1809. His two eldest sons
were killed as children, one thrown from the horse and gig whilst the other fell into a pan of boiling water when left to the care of a servant.
Christian fellowship was vey small although all convicts and soldiers had to attend Sunday services. He writes; "living where iniquity abounds so much, our civil connection with the worst of men renders our souls dry and barren. We feel little of that vital spirit of life which is essential to the happiness of the real Christian". However the nucleus of future Christian leadership in the community was formed through John Palmer and Surgeon Thomas Arndell as well as by Robert Campbell who was Australia's first merchant, and who eventually broke the rum economic control of the military over the people of the colony.
Marsden's name has been blackened by the history books because he accepted the job of magistrate as well as clergyman and is known as "the flogging pastor ". He also possessed much farming land and property.
In his early life he was a Wesleyan but joined the Church of England as a Chaplain to NSW. He was a man full of sound judgment, fervent piety and enlightened zeal, he acquired great influence with the public and commanded the confidence and respect of both civil and military authorities.
Marsden as a missionary visited New Zealand (1814) and on six subsequent occasions.
This was the scene of his greatest spiritual fruitfulness bringing many Maoris to the Lord.
In all he spent 45 years of his life preaching justification by faith, regeneration and
holiness as essential. In brief his life's message was "Christ is all in all to the sinner".
Fugitive Missionaries:
In 1798 a group of fugitive missionaries arrived from Tahiti who settled in Parrammatta and helped Marsden. Francis Qakes became Chief Constable. Rowland Hassall opened the colony's first Sunday School.
Samuel Leigh:
Samuel Leigh arrived in NSW in 1816 as the first Wesleyan Missionary. Leigh was a trailblazer, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. He had the support and cooperation of Marsden. By the time he left Australia (1831) he had established in Australia and the islands of the South Pacific 9 circuits of Wesleyan Methodist, 14 missionaries, 736 communicants and 1,000 children in schools. In those days Methodists were careful about who they admitted to sit at the Lord's Table so the number in church attendance was a higher figure.
Samuel Leigh left because of a breakdown in his health but continued his ministry in Britain until 1845. He was a man full of zeal for the Lord whose desire was to seek the salvation of men's souls. He did not spare himself and was not concerned to become a comfortable settler in Australia.
Other Methodist Missionaries who followed after Leigh were men of like spirit... wise for eternity turning many to righteousness.
John Dunmore Lang:
He arrived in NSW as a minister of the Church of Scotland in 1823 and soon became one of the most influential, determined and colourful figures in Sydney. He founded Scots Church and for the rest of his life was its minister.
He returned repeatedly to Britain to crusade for able Christian immigrants and evangelical ministers, as well as opposing the continued British policy of transporting convicts to Australia. He saw that without the arrival of a large number of free settlers the whole spiritual and moral tone of the nation would not change. For the first 20 years of the new colony there were fewer than 100 free settlers. As free settlers were the backbone of the first churches in Sydney and Parrammatta, more free settlers were needed for the growth of the church in the colony.
John Dunmore Lang was a prolific writer and his book in 1834 gave a historical account of the life in NSW and the need for free settlers. Convict transportation stopped in 1853 and over 160,000 free settlers had come to NSW. Many of these new settlers were not concerned for material wealth. They were God-fearing people ready to subordinate worldly comforts for spiritual advancement.
It is interesting to note that the Christian merchant Robert Campbell established a fine country property at Duntroon (now the federal Capital of Canberra) and he employed about 70 Scottish families of good stock who began each day with prayer and kept the Lord's day as a community.
The moral standards of the nation gradually began to change at which time the Rev Saunders arrived in December 1834 and as a pastor established the first Baptist Church in Sydney. He saw the great need of the people of Sydney at that time and he writes:
Sydney appears at first sight, like some oriental city rising from the wilderness at the command of a despotic power. On landing its streets appear wretched, sand and loose, and a hovel next to a respectable shop; a hut next to a mansion a Prince might be proud
of. It appears at present as unlike an English town as it could possibly be made. And then to look at the people; so thin, so sunburnt, and many of them so drunk - not a lady to be seen, hardly a woman."
Saunders was active with many Christian agencies that began to operate in the colony eg
Bible and Tract Society. There was a growing bond of friendship between Evangelical
Christians who were united in their spiritual and moral endeavours to change the whole
character of the colony.
3.4 Profile of First Minister - Rev Johnson:
3.4.1. Background to his appointment:
(From "Hewn From The Rock" by Marcus Loane and also from "Sydney Anglicans" by Judd & Cable. Any highlighting is the researcher's)
In 1783 Eclectic Society was formed in London. A group of Evangelical clergy under the leadership of John Newton, they met on a regular, although informal, basis in order to discuss matters of faith and the progress of the Gospel. Close contacts were men like Henry Thornton and William Wilberforce who was a close friend of William Pitt, the Prime Minister, at the time decision was made to settle Botany Bay.
The Eclectic Society were Evangelicals who formed a part of the religious renewal which flourished in Britain in the 18th century as a result of earlier influence of Whitfield and the Weseleys. Unlike the Methodists, the main element in the great revival, they remained firmly within the Church of England. They were no less dedicated to the cause of Evangelical religion but they were of the ruling classes, landowners and merchants and professional people. They saw their duty as moral and national rather than revivalist and personal. Prison reform, poular education, public morality, the abolition of the slave trade, were - or came to be - their interests.
Rev Richard Johnson's name was recommended by this group who had interested themselves in the appointment of a Chaplain to the colony. He received his Royal Warrant on 24th Oct 1786. On 13th Nov the Society discussed the question "What is the best method of planning and propogating the Gospel at Botany Bay ?"
Wilberforce then introduced Johnson to the Societies for the Propogation of the Gospel and for Promoting Christian Knowledge and they gave him a large supply of books and tracts for the colony.
Wilberforce in a light-hearted mood spoke of Johnson as "the Bishop of Botany Bay".
The ministry of the C of E in NSW was Evangelical as well as formal,
the impetus for it coming from the upper class of society. It was a religion
for, rather
Get your free registration and log in to view entire article
Post new comment