Views from Western Australia

People pondering about the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and its unique character within the Anglican Church may well ask the question  ’Who was Nathaniel Jones?’ and what role did he have in shaping the diocese into what it has become today.  Its clergy are almost exclusively trained at Moore Theological College (MTC) which has clearly had a profound impact on shaping the outlook and approach of its clergy.

I attended that college in 1978/79, when its Principal was ‘Broughton Knox’ and much has been written about Knox and his influence.  I was intriqued by many things of MTC as its ‘Evangelicalism’  seemed so  different to that of Melbourne where my Father had trained a generation earlier (later that contrast with brought into stark definition with their divergent positions on the ordination of women).  Another thing that was unexpected  by me at MTC was the number of ‘Brethren’ people amongst the student body and amongst the teaching staff.  On the latter, my recollection are of at least two lecturers from a Brethren background, Barry Webb and Graeme Cole; interestingly Cole later went on to become Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne.

Broughton Knox was one of a group of Sydney evangelicals produced by the Moore College of Canon Nathaniel Jones,  Bill Lawton who has written on the history of the Sydney Diocese  describes Knox as one of Jones’ "spiritual heirs" (God Who is Rich in Mercy, p.361). but what does this mean?  Currently there is very little available on the net about ‘Jones'’, which is odd when you notice the attention given to other Churchmen such as George King on the ADB website.  The little that can be gleaned is that before being appointed Principal at Moore  he had run a very small theological college in Bendigo.  It also appears he was Brethren.

Jones also had a lot of daughters and during his tenure at MTC they married men who went onto become the movers and shakers of the Sydney Diocese during the middle years of the last century.  Careful observers of the Sydney Diocesan hierarchy will have noticed there are some strong family lines running through the years and they will have noticed the links between those families.  Anecdotally, it has been suggested to me that they have ‘Brethren blood flowing through their veins’ or ‘Brethren genes’.  

You never know how true this might be!