Tribute to Bishop Dudley Foord

Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney Media Release September 12, 2013

Statement by the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, on the death of Bishop Dudley Foord

'We are bereft of a great saint'

It was with great sadness that we in the Sydney diocese received the news of the death of Bishop Dudley Foord.

Dudley Foord exercised an outstanding ministry as a rector of two Sydney parishes (Kingsgrove and St Ives), where his passion for evangelism was infectious.

Always prepared to rethink parish ministry and revitalise both Christians and church structures with a gospel-minded focus, Dudley was chieflyresponsible for bringing Evangelism Explosion to Sydney.

However, Dudley's interests were not merely parochial, he was also Dean of Students and lecturer at Moore College, directed Men's Conventions at Katoomba and post-ordination training in the Diocese, as well as acting as a consultant in church planting.

His gifts were rightly recognised by the Church of England in South Africa and Zimbabwe, as they elected him to be their Presiding Bishop in 1984. However, after returning to Sydney he continued in active ministry, including an incumbency in South Liverpool, until ill health prevented him in his late 80s.

Dudley and his wife Elizabeth were a team. Frequently ministering together as well as separately, they modelled both servant-mindedness and personal godliness in their marriage.

We are bereft of a great saint, whose confidence rested entirely in God's grace and whose aim was always to glorify the Lord Jesus.

Our prayers are with Elizabeth and the family.