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David Penman

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David John Penman (8 August 1936 – 1 October 1989) was the 10th Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne.

Early life and career

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Born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 8 August 1936, Penman received his secondary education at Hutt Valley High School, and studied Physical Education as part of teacher training at Wellington Teachers' College[1] (now a part of the Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education). He was accepted as a candidate for ordination by Archbishop Reginald Herbert Owen, and entered theological training at College House (University of Canterbury),[2] and the University of New Zealand.

He was ordained deacon in 1961 and priest in 1962.[3] His first post was as a curate at Wanganui from 1961 to 1964, followed by a decade of missionary work in Pakistan and the Middle East. In 1972, he completed a PhD in Sociology at the University of Karachi.[4]

In 1975 he was appointed Principal of St Andrew's Hall a Church Mission Society missionary training college in Melbourne. He returned to New Zealand in 1979, where he was Vicar of All Saints' Church in Palmerston North.

Archbishop of Melbourne

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In 1982 he became a bishop coadjutor in the Diocese of Melbourne before becoming the archbishop two years later.[5] Though remaining strongly Evangelical, he was passionately committed to dialogue between religious traditions. He ordained the first women to the diaconate in Melbourne in 1986[6] and was also a supporter of women's ordination to the priesthood in the Anglican church, proposing canons on this issue at three successive General Synods.[4][7]

He was a member of the first Australian Palliative Care Council, President of the Australian Council of Churches, Patron of the National AIDS Trust and a member of the Australian National Council on AIDS. On his way to Britain for the 1988 Lambeth Conference he undertook a highly secretive detour to Iran in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to secure the release of Terry Waite, the personal envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and several other western hostages.[citation needed]

Death and legacy

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On 24 July 1989, after returning home from the Tokyo World Conference on Religion and Peace and the Lausanne Evangelical Congress in Manila, where he delivered a series of Bible studies, he suffered a severe heart attack. He was kept on life-support in Melbourne's St Vincent's hospital, but although he regained consciousness, he died on 1 October 1989. He was 53. His state funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne on 6 October 1989.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Alan Nichols, David Penman: Bridge-builder, Peacemaker, Fighter for Social Justice (Melbourne: Albatross, 1991)
  2. ^ (incorrectly): Alan Nichols, David Penman, 25.
  3. ^ "Year-Book of the Diocese of Melbourne 1988"
  4. ^ a b Nichols, Alan (6 October 1989). "David Penman:archbishop for a changing world". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. ^ The Times, 12 January 1984; p. 22., "A New Bishop of Melbourne"
  6. ^ Porter, Muriel. "Applause as women ordained". Movement for the Ordination of Women Newsletter 02 Easter 1986: 2.
  7. ^ "Movement for the Ordination of Women Newsletter 01 August 1984". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Funeral details Archived April 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
Religious titles
Preceded by Archbishop of Melbourne
1984 –1989
Succeeded by