Alan Walker (theologian)

Sir Alan Walker OBE (4 June 1911 – 29 January 2003) was an Australian Christian minister, theologian and evangelist.

Walker was:

• involved in the formation of the World Council of Churches
• Superintendent of the Methodist (later Uniting Church in Australia) Wesley Mission, Pitt Street, Sydney, 1958–1978 and one of the founders of the National Christian Youth Convention (NCYC) in 1955 and Lifeline in 1963
• first world director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council, 1978 to 1988
• involved in founding the World Methodist Evangelism Institute (located at the United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, 1982.
• Principal of the Pacific College of Evangelism, now the Alan Walker College of Evangelism, in Sydney, 1982–1995.

In 1986, Walker was awarded the World Methodist Peace Award and, in 1997, was one of the 100 people named as an Australian Living Treasure.

Walker was married to Lady Winifred Walker (1916-2006) and they had four children. Lynette overcame hearing difficulties to marry and have a daughter. Bruce became a parish minister, most notably at Broadwater Road Uniting Church in Brisbane. David became a psychologist and practiced as a staff counsellor at Westmead Hospital. Christopher became a minister and is currently the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship in the Uniting Church. All three sons earned Master of Divinity degrees at Garrett Theological Seminary in Chicago. Christopher went on to earn a PhD at the Claremont School of Theology (affiliated with Claremont Graduate University) in Los Angeles supervised by the process theologian John B. Cobb.

Biographies

• Don Wright. Alan Walker: Conscience of the Nation. ISBN 0-85910-836-8. 
• Harold Henderson. Reach for the World: A Biography of Alan Walker, Discipleship Resources, Nashville Tennessee, 1981. No ISBN !. 

External links

• Alan Walker College of Evangelism
• Sir Alan Walker, World Methodist evangelist, dies at 91, World Faith Network
• Alan Walker Remembered, ABC Radio International's The Religion Report
• Alan Walker: A Many-Faceted Man Of God, John Mark Ministries
• 'A Study in Word and Deed' (Harold Henderson's eulogy for the Reverend Sir Alan Walker, Wesley Centre, Sydney, 11 February 2003)