With the coffin borne on a gun carriage, a packed St Andrew’s Cathedral has farewelled Bishop Ken Short.
Bishop Short, described by Archbishop Davies as an ‘elder statesman’ of the Sydney Diocese, died on October 19th after suffering a stroke.
Family as well as friends and colleagues from his varied ministry as CMS missionary in Africa, through parish ministry at Vaucluse and as Dean of Sydney, as well as his roles as Bishop of Wollongong and Parramatta, gathered in St Andrew’s Cathedral.
There were some wonderful Australian bishops of that generation. I was interested listening to the service to hear of the impact John Stott had coming to Australia. I wish I had heard Bishop Short in his heyday. Perhaps there are other bishops there following in his shoes? It would be good to hear from them.
“Heaven is not just a very long church service, no matter now good it is. All that’s best in creation gravitates there.” Canon Short told the congregation. “It’s a place of art and culture, nothing of value will be lost. All the threads of goodness that God has woven into our world – not one thread will be missing.”
Great stuff.
PM at #1, I had the privilege of being confirmed by +Short (interestingly he was assisted by Archdeacon Harry Goodhew, later Archbishop of Sydney).
Bishop Ken was a wonderful speaker, and his military background was apparent in his direct look-you-straight-in-the-eye approach. He was gentle and compassionate but he could preach fire-and-brimstone when he believed it was needed.
So many of our greatest bishops have been foreign missionaries first – there is probably a lesson in that.
As for the current assistant (area) bishops, time will tell but I trust that the Lord Who Provides will continue to bless all communities of His people with wise and godly shepherds. Here in Sydney there are five area bishops and they come from a very diverse range of backgrounds. For example, Chris Edwards who was chosen as bishop of North Sydney last year to replace Glenn Davies had spent 17 of the previous 20 years outside Dio Sydney, including in Africa and Europe. Others have spent all their pastoral careers within this Diocese.
But like all churches, qualifications and experience in the end are no certain safeguard – we are reliant on the Lord himself to send us good shepherds and guard their hearts as he guards ours.