Cecil Frank Gribble (12 June 190315 September 1995) was an Australian

Christian minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

who was President General of the General Conference of the

Methodist Church of Australasia The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia. It existed from 1902 to 1977, when the Uniting Church in Australia was formed. It did missionary work in Australia through two organisations: the Methodist Overse ...

1964–1966.

Birth and early life

Gribble was born in

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australi ...

, and trained as a pharmaceutical chemist. In 1924 he was accepted as a candidate for ministry and attended

Queen's College (University of Melbourne) Queen's College is a residential college affiliated with the University of Melbourne. It is a residential community of 300 students who attend the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Victorian College of the Arts and Monash University Fa ...

. He Graduated with an MA (Hons) in 1931 and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

Clerical career

He had appointments to congregations in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

Cobram Cobram is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is on the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Cobram along with the nearby towns of Numurkah and Yarrawonga is part of Shire of Moira and is the administrative cen ...

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, and Launceston before

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. From 1939 until 1942 Gribble was Principal of

Tupou College Tupou College is a Methodist boys' secondary boarding school in Toloa on the island of Tongatapu, Tonga. It is located on the Eastern District of Tongatapu near the village of Malapo. The school is owned by the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga. Est ...

and then from 1943 until 1945 he was Director of Education in Tonga. Within the Methodist Church in Australia he was Assistant General Secretary for Overseas Missions before becoming General Secretary. In 1958 he was the Australian representative at the World Conference of the

International Missionary Council The International Missionary Council (IMC) was an ecumenical Protestant Christian missionary organization established in 1921, which in 1961, merged with the World Council of Churches (WCC), becoming the WCC's Division of World Mission and Evangeli ...

. In 1961 he was a delegate to the World Assemblies of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and in 1968 at

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

. Gribble was Chairman of the Executive Committee of

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

Council in 1964 and 1965. From 1974 until 1995 he was a

supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more common ...

living on the northern beaches of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Family and death

He was married to Isabel Overend the daughter of the Rev. & Mrs H.A. Overend in 1933. His wife predeceased him in 1985. They had two sons and one daughter. Gribble died while travelling in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...

parish at Dee Why, New South Wales, is named in his honour.

Honours

* 1958:

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE)It's an Honour: OBE
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gribble, Cecil 1903 births 1995 deaths Australian Methodist ministers Uniting Church in Australia people Australian Protestant religious leaders Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Members of Newington College Council Australian expatriates in Tonga 20th-century Australian Methodist ministers