Ken Short

Kenneth Herbert Short, AO (6 July 1927 – 19 October 2014) was an Anglican bishop in Australia. He was the Bishop of Wollongong and then Bishop of Parramatta and Bishop to the Australian Defence Force. He was appointed dean of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney in 1989. He was a missionary, pastor and military chaplain.

The Right Reverend Ken Short, 2010

Early life

Kenneth Herbert Short was born to Cecil Short and Joyce Ellen (daughter of Herbert Begbie, sometime Archdeacon of West Sydney) on 6 July 1927 in Nairobi, Kenya. His family returned to Australia and settled in Tasmania, where Cecil was rector of St George’s Battery Point from 1931.[1] In January 1934, Cecil was appointed rector of St Andrew's Church, Wahroonga, and the family moved to Sydney.[2]

Short went to school at Trinity Grammar School, Summer Hill and Barker College.[3] At 19, he joined the Australian Army with an officer's commission and served with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan from 1946 to 1948. He was made lieutenant in 1946. He studied for the Anglican ministry at Moore Theological College, Sydney. He married Gloria Noelle Funnell (daughter of Ernest Henry Funnell and Violet Isobel Baldock) on 28 January 1950.[4]

Ministry

Short was ordained in 1952,[5] and served the Parish of Pittwater before going with the Church Missionary Society to Tanzania.[6] He and his family remained there until 1964, founding the Msalato Bible School in Dodoma, where he was principal from 1961.[7]

Returning to Australia, Short was appointed general secretary to the Church Missionary Society in New South Wales. He stepped down in 1971 and served as rector of St Michael's Vaucluse for four years.[8]

Short was consecrated a bishop on 1 April 1975,[5] and served as area Bishop of Wollongong from 1975 to 1982, the Archdeacon of Wollongong from 1975 to 1979, and of Camden from 1975 to 1976. He was also an examining chaplain to the Archbishop of Sydney from 1971 to 1982. He was then Bishop of Parramatta from 1982 to 1989 and concurrently Bishop to the Australian Defence Force from 1979 to 1989.[9] During that time, he was Army Chaplain General (1979–1981) holding the rank of major general.[10] In 1989, Short was made Dean of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.[11]

In 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary, Short was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to "Religion, particularly as Anglican Bishop of the Australian Defence Force."[12] In 1989 he was made a chaplain of the Order of St John.[13]

Retirement

After retiring in 1992, Short filled various roles, at St John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, as Bishop of Wollongong, and in parish ministry in Hobart, Geraldton, Berry and Kangaroo Valley. He also was acting state secretary of the Church Missionary Society in Victoria and then New South Wales. He also pursued his interests in carpentry, fishing, photography and bird watching.

Death

Short died on 19 October 2014 in Wollongong. He was survived by his wife Gloria,[14] three children (Kathy, David and Marion), eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.[15]

References

1. "REV. C. C. SHORT: Welcome at St George’s: An Inspiring Address" The Mercury 27 January 1931. Retrieved 14 April 2014
2. “The New Rector” The Sydney Morning Herald 30 December 1933. Retrieved 14 April 2014
3. “Two Assistant Bishops Named” Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 1974. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
4. "Family Notices." The Sydney Morning Herald 26 October 1946: 32. Retrieved 14 April 2014
5. "Meet the assistant bishops" in Southern Cross, September 1981. pp. 28–29
6. “Church History” W. A. Drain. Newport Anglican Church. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
7. “McCann Mission Today Newsletter 32, August 2011” McCann Africa Mission. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
8. “Women’s Section” Sydney Morning Herald 4 May 1975. Retrieved 14 April 2014; “Two Assistant Bishops Named” Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 1974. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
9. "Parramatta Bishop." "Parramatta Bishop." The Canberra Times 29 Apr 1982. Retrieved 14 Apr 2014; “Defence Anglicans Prayer Diary” Archived 2014-02-05 at the Wayback Machine “Defence Anglican Prayer Diary 2013”, Defence Force Anglican Chaplaincy, p. 4. Retrieved 14 April 2014
10. "Vietnam Tested Chaplain’s Ability", Sydney Morning Herald, 31 December 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
11. “History: Dean of Sydney” St Andrew's Cathedral. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
12. “Quiet Australians” The Order of Australia Association. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
13. “Annual Report 2011” St John NSW. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
14. "Gloria Short". Sydney Morning Herald. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
15. "Kenneth Short". Sydney Morning Herald. 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2015-01-30.