The Rev. Dr Robert Gribben was born in 1943 in country Victoria where he was educated through primary and secondary state schools. He entered Queen’s College in 1961 in order to study degrees in law and arts, but after two years discontinued his legal studies and completed his Bachelor of Arts whilst beginning his candidature for the Methodist ministry. In 1965 he and his wife Susan became engaged, but before he could begin his theological studies he was offered the opportunity to undertake his theological studies in Cambridge University in Wesley House. After Susan completed her law degree with honours at Melbourne University, she followed Robert to England in June 1967, and they were married in June 1968 as Robert was completing his Cambridge B.A. He’d received notice that his first Methodist ministry appointment was to be in “Portland No. 2”, but as they had six months before he was to take that up, they moved to India where Robert worked for the Student Christian Movement and Susan for the Church of South India sorting out their legal records. Robert’s placements that followed in the Methodist Church were Portland and Heywood and Highbury Grove Kew, and in the Uniting Church as chaplain of Ormond College, Trinity Church North Balwyn, General Secretary of the Victorian Council of Churches, Wesley Church Melbourne, and Professor of Worship and Mission at the UCA Theological Hall and UFT. He formally retired in 2008. He has been involved with, lectured in, studied at, worked for, chaired committees or directed at one or more times — La Trobe University, Christian Television Association, Australian Consultation on Liturgy, UCA Assembly committees, Lincoln College, England, Brugge Catholic Faculty, Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies, Graduate School in Ecumenism at Bosse, the English Language Liturgical Consultation, World Methodist Council, World Council of Churches, Christian Unity Working Group, the Victorian Casino and Gambling Authority, Centre for Ecumenical Studies, Cambridge Society of Australia, Fellow of the School of Historical Studies Melbourne University, Queen’s College Council, Fellow of Queen’s College, Editor of the Australian Journal of Liturgy, Professorial Fellow of Charles Sturt University, President of the Cornish Association of Victoria, and member of the Council of the Genealogical Society of Victoria. He has written some seven books and edited both editions of Uniting in Worship. On top of all that he has visited, worked in, or represented one body or another in — Colombo, Cairo, Rome, Geneva, Parish, the UK, Bangalore, Mysore, Madras, Kottoyam, Agra, Jaipur, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, the USA, Canada, Vienna, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Bangkok, Singapore, Romania, Bucharest, Bulgaria, Greece, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Jordan, Italy, Tonga, Finland, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Samoa, South Africa, Spain, Sicily, Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, Ghana, Nigeria, Russia, Antigua and Jamaica. And on top of all that, he’s had two audiences with the Pope! Susan and Robert have two children and three grandchildren. Head and shoulders portrait of Rev. Dr Robert Gribben."Rev. Dr Robert Gribben", "Church & Nation"rev. dr robert gribben; liturgy; theological hall melbourne

John Thomas was born at Worcester, England in 1796 and he became a blacksmith at Hagley, Worcestershire before becoming a Methodist and he soon started to preach. He married Sarah Hartshorn who predeceased him in 1867. He was accepted by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) in 1824 and he became a pioneering missionary to Tonga (the Friendly Isles) in the South Pacific. He sailed first to Australia, and eventually arrived in Tonga in 1826, together with his wife and fellow missionary John Hutchinson.Initially he preached in Hihifo, Tongatapu from 1826 to 1828 and then moved to the island of Ha’apai in 1829. He baptised the chief Taufa’ahua Tupou in 1831 and enthroned him with English rites as the first King of all Tonga in 1845. Although the WMMS withdrew from Samoa in 1839, Thomas advocated its re-entry and he supported the King’s policy of sending Tongan Wesleyan missionaries to Fiji and Samoa. John Thomas also persuaded the Australasian Wesleyan Conference ( which took over the Pacific region from the British in 1855) to reverse the London Missionary Society’s decision regarding Samoa. John Thomas had 2 periods in Tonga from 1826 to 1850 and 1855 to 1859. Following a visit to England his influence with King Tupou waned in the 1850's and he retired to England and became a supernumerary minister at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, where he died in 1881. His wife Sarah had been a partner in his missionary work until she died 14 years earlier than he did. John Thomas’ name is honoured by having one of the 12 dormitory houses of Toupou College in the capitol of Tonga named after him. John Thomas House is House #1, and it is customary for the Head Prefect to reside in this dormitory. B & W engraving from a photograph of the Rev. John Thomas, formerly missionary in the Friendly IslandsRevd. John Thomas, Formerly Missionary in the Friendly Islands, Engraved by J. Cochran from a Photograph.rev. john thomas, methodist, tonga, friendly islands, wesleyan, missionary, wesleyan methodist missionary society