The Marcus I Knew and Loved: An Autobiographical Appreciation of Sir Marcus Lawrence Loane

By Gregory M. A. Blaxland

A simple, loving, autobiographical appreciation of a truly great man of God, who in life stood head and shoulders above the vast majority of those countless whom I have known in many countries in my short eighty years of life. For nearly sixty years, he was the most significant and constant mentor I ever had.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Feb 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452508405

Gregory M. A. Blaxland

While studying accountancy, I came to faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour. I studied theology for four years and was ordained as an Angelican priest. From 1960 to 1992, I served in several parishes. I spent twenty-eight years as a missionary in Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Australian Secretary of the Missionary Society. From 1992 to 2004, I founded and led a missionary agency.

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Copyright © 2013 Gregory M. A. Blaxland

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Balboa Press rev. date: 02/19/2013

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Marcus I Knew And Loved

Chapter 2 On Our Way At Last

Chapter 3 Recovery and Renewal In Parish Ministry

Chapter 4 Chile Again, But With Greater Warmth Than Imagined

Chapter 5 Back in Australia. Few Disappointments and Big Surprises

Chapter 6 Sovereign Appointment of a Reject

Chapter 7 The Quiet Years—1975-1982

Chapter 8 Marcus’s Retirement & Our Last Terms in South America. 1982-1992

Chapter 9 Early Years of Retirement for Marcus & Operation Abba in Australia

Chapter 10 Diminishing Contacts Midst Deepening Affection

Chapter 11 Later Years (2004-2005) And Increased Correspondence

Chapter 12 The Last Years Part A. 2005

Chapter 13 The Last Years Part B. 2006-2007

Chapter 14 The Last Years— Part C. 2007-2008

Chapter 15 His last Year 2008-2009. Part A

Chapter 15 Part B In Sight of Home

Postscript 1

Postscript 2

Preface

The pages that follow do not purport to be a complete life story, nor seek to be some pretentious competitor of major biographies of the principal person mentioned.

Rather they are a simple, loving, autobiographical appreciation of a truly great man of God, who in life stood head and shoulders above the vast majority of those countless whom I have known in many countries in my short 80 years of life. For nearly 60 years he was the most significant and constant mentor I ever had.

Not only so, but more indeed, Marcus Loane grew in my life to be one whom I came to look upon as a father figure, & why not, as if any could claim the title, he was truly a father in God.

May the reader find these pages to be of spiritual edification and even inspiration to the glory of God.

Introduction

Was he austere, severe, cold, impassive, unapproachable, distant, aloof, unsympathetic or the like? NO! A thousand times no! Yet to many, they are some of the very impressions and hence, epithets, which could be received and given from a brief encounter with or a cursory glance at this unusual gentleman, his countenance or to hear that unique accent and tone of voice.

Sadly all too often those who thought of him in those terms, either never had the opportunity or never made the effort to acquaint themselves with the real person who bore the name Marcus Lawrence Loane.

Thus it was that at the time of his election as Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, one of his closest friends, who knew and loved him as a dear brother in Christ, gave him a relevant piece of advice and encouragement. Marcus, every time you see a camera pointing in your direction, SMILE!

As for years I have been aware of all the foregoing and so aware that such mistaken impressions should not be those which remain in the minds and memories of so many, there birthed in my heart and mind a desire to make a small contribution to the ameliorating, if not the extinguishing of those errors of judgement. If we accept the term conservative as applicable to Marcus, it is certainly not the impotent insularity producing stultifying inflexibility!

The following pages are that which began to flow from the memories and correspondence which have blessed me so richly.

Chapter 1

The Marcus I

Knew And Loved

That was a terrific sermon sir. I had just listened for the first time to Canon Marcus Loane, Deputy Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney and with my naturally extroverted personality, the comment was that which spontaneously sprang to my lips in appreciation, as the service of Morning Prayer had concluded at St. Stephen’s Church, Willoughby.

Oh, you really shouldn’t say that, you know, was his immediate but humble response. It was the type of response I would learn in subsequent years to expect from him to any words that were directed to him which could be interpreted as any form of praise. It was also an indication of his naturally shy personality which was often misunderstood by many.

I noted the occasion in my diary at the time. It was Sunday 4th, February 1951, barely six months after my own surrender to Christ Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. My summarised record of that moment simply says,—Canon Loane gave a very good sermon in Morning Service.

By the time Canon Loane came again as visiting preacher, God had confirmed in my heart, with the encouragement of our Curate, (Assistant Minister) the Rev. Allan Yuill, the call of God upon my life for full-time ministry. It was then that Allan enthusiastically introduced me to the man who was to become the greatest spiritual giant in my life for the next 58 years. Allan’s main purpose was to also inform Marcus that I had received such a call. He responded warmly, but with quiet reserve, obviously and wisely not wishing to give me any false sense of grandeur about such a calling.

The year 1952 and early 1953 seemed to pass rapidly as I earned a high income to enable me to save sufficient to cover four years of study, including one to matriculate, when income would be extremely low.

However in spite of the purpose of such lucrative occupation as a bread vendor and at the time, having the affection of a certain young lady, the call to ordained ministry and the demanding hurdles to be leapt, seemed to have cooled my commitment.

Nevertheless it is not without significance that in my file of printed articles about Marcus I have kept a cutting from The Australian Church Record from late 1953 of the announcement of his appointment as New Principal of Moore College. Always somewhat camera-shy, it includes the first smiling photo I had seen of him. Among other things, it notes he was already the author of a number of devotional books and of two studies of the Evangelical Revival, ‘Oxford and the Evangelical Succession’ and Cambridge and the Evangelical Succession’". All of these I was later to enjoy reading myself.

Thankfully, in mid 1953 the Lord allowed me to badly break my ankle while playing a game of soccer. This effectively put an end to my high income and following several other short term occupations, God clearly showed me that it was time to apply for entry in Moore College as a matriculation student.

Late in 1954 Canon Loane, now Principal of Moore College, once again entered my life as a significant influence. So my application was made. With his almost faultless memory, he recalled our previous encounters and in my first interview with him, was full of encouragement to press toward the mark without further ado, giving me the open door to board at Moore as a Matric student in March 55.

After six years of non high school studies, to tackle a two year course in one was to prove a serious hurdle. However Canon Loane’s warmth of welcome to Reg Barker and me, gave us the initial impetus we needed and in due course we both thankfully matriculated. As far as I am aware, we were the last to be granted such privilege at Moore.

Before commencing that year of studies, I had made a commitment to overseas missionary service at the Katoomba Convention on the Blue Mountains. Then just prior to exams, I had heard the call to South America through Kevin Bewley, first Australian missionary with the South American Missionary Society. It was therefore an added encouragement to know and be encouraged by a Principal with a missionary heart. It was only in later years in reading John Reid’s Biography of Marcus L. Loane that I learnt that such was M.L.L’s heart for world mission that Bishop Alf Stanway of Tangayika, his personal friend, had besought him to join him as an Assistant Bishop.

With exams over and the College academic year concluding, a farewell evening was arranged. As one skit included of course the need for someone to act as the Principal, I was chosen due to the fact that I’d been often heard taking him off. Following such a performance, the said Principal came to me and with that knowing look in his eye inquired, Where did you learn to imitate my voice, Gregory? To which I happily replied, Oh sir, you know you have a rather unusual voice which is not difficult to imitate. This drew an unspoken response simply expressed with that slight drop of the head and the pursing of lips in that famous benign and winsome smile. Of course, for those of us who knew him well, it was not a matter merely of imitating his voice, but also capturing those intriguing facial expressions; the slight raising of eyebrows, the gentle inclination of the head to one side, as well as that sometimes enigmatic smile of concession, not to mention the open hands with fingers pressed together in ponderous pose. I can still picture it all today.

I found 1956 as my first year as a college student enjoyably stimulating. Canon Loane’s masterly studies on the New Testament delivered as living lessons, often left me enthralled with the wonder of the person of our Lord Jesus.

Initial exam results reflected the fact that I was at least able to cope quite adequately with the academic demands