Charles Benson BARNETT

BARNETT, CHARLES BENSON (b. Port Cygnet, Tas, 4 Dec 1870; d. Sydney, NSW, 3 April 1941). Bible college principal.

Son of Henry Samuel Barnett and Rebecca Cane, Barnett obtained the degree of Associate of Arts (2nd class) from the Tasmanian Council of Education in June 1888. Following studies at Angas College, Adelaide, in 1894 he travelled to China as a missionary with CIM. In October 1899 he was ordained in the chapel of the LMS in Shanghai under the orders of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches. The following year, at the Seaman's Mission Chapel, Yokahama, Japan, he married Elizabeth Ferguson, a newly arrived CIM missionary.

As a missionary, Barnett had an effective ministry in Bible teaching. He also had a knowledge of medicine, particularly of herbal medicine, and was greatly loved for his compassion in ministering to the sick. When the Boxer rebellion began, he was involved in rescuing missionaries from the hands of rebels. Returning to Australia in 1907, Barnett held pastorates in Tas until 1915, when he accepted the position of Assistant Director, and later Acting Principal of Angas College. In 1915 - 16, the College was taken over as an Infectious Diseases Hospital, and Barnett moved to Sydney to look for a suitable place to establish a college tor the training of missionaries and church workers. The Sydney Missionary and Bible College was commenced at Croydon in April 1916 with an initial enrolment of 8 students. This college is now the oldest missionary training centre with a continuous history in Australia. In 1916, Barnett stated the aim of the College: 'The SMBC is an attempt here in Australia, to meet a very definite and deep need by providing the opportunity for any young man of consecrated life and character, to fit himself by definite study, and training in the knowledge of the things of God, for any service he may wish to undertake. Not only is it an attempt to hold open a door for such young men as may feel the hand of God upon them, but it is an attempt to provide a place where they may find a congenial spiritual atmosphere, where they may gain such experiential knowledge of God, that they shall truly "know Him", and go out and be strong and do exploits as a result of that knowledge'. Barnett remained principal until he resigned in 1937 owing to ill health. He is remembered as a man of scholarly ability, gentle humility and unswerving faith in God.

China's Millions, Feb 1915; East Asia Millions Centenary Edition, April/June 1990; 'The Story of the Missionary and Bible College, Sydney', 1936; Joan Skillicorn, 'Rev Charles Benson Barnett', unpublished paper, nd; D Parker, 'Fundamentalism and Evangelical Protestantism, 1920-1980', PhD thesis, University of Queensland, 1982

SELECT WRITINGS:

Authority or Anarchy, Which? (Annandale, nd)

SUE EMILSEN