April 11, Annual • Honoring Humble, Big-Minded Selwyn

any of us complain when we think too much has been put on our plate. Not George Augustus Selwyn! When he saw that his orders mistakenly read "34 degrees North" instead of "34 degrees South," he smiled to himself and kept quiet.

The English-born, Cambridge-trained clergyman had just been appointed as the first bishop of New Zealand. That would seem like work enough for most men. But to Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, the error seemed a wonderful opportunity. The clerical slip placed all of the Melanesian islands of the Pacific under his leadership. And he intended to find a way to meet that daunting challenge!

In New Zealand he gained the respect of the Maori. He had a knack for making peace with them and they respected him.

He had won that same kind of respect in college, where he was named leader of the first Cambridge team to row against Oxford. Selwyn and his crew were victorious.

He won the same kind of respect in a parish he worked early in his career. Assigned as a curate to Windsor, he was urged to avoid tough Beer Lane. But what were obstacles if not opportunities to such a man? Down to Beer Lane he went. When a bully approached and ordered Selwyn to retreat, the clergymen kept moving forward. The bully flourished his fist in Selwyn's face, shouting at him to stop. Selwyn flattened him to the applause of bystanders and the bully slunk away.

The bishop not only founded the New Zealand church, but during a low period in his work, sailed the pacific, persuading young men from many of the islands to return to New Zealand with him. They were the more willing to follow, because he was so bold--swimming in shark-infested waters to repair his boat, for example. After the young men joined him, Selwyn set himself the task of winning each of them to Christ. He then sent them back as missionaries to their own people. In this way he fulfilled the "impossible" task laid on him, and Christian communities sprang up all across the Pacific ocean.

Near the end of his fruitful life, Selwyn reluctantly accepted the see of Lichfield at Queen Victoria's personal request. That is where he is memorialized. The Anglican Church honors him on this day, April 11.

Bibliography:

1. Boreham, F. W. "A Tuft of White Clover" in Cliffs of Opal. London: Epworth Press, 1948.
2. Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921-1996.
3. Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Missions. The Pelican History of the Church #6. Hammondsworth, Middlesex, England: Pelican Books, 1964.
4. Saunders, Alfred. History of New Zealand 1642-1861. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd,.1896.
5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Last updated May, 2007.