James WAY

WAY, JAMES (b. Morchard Bishop, Devon, England, 17 June 1804; d. Adelaide, SA, 14 Aug 1884). Bible Christian minister.

The son of a tradesman, Way was baptised in the parish church and for a few years attended the elementary school in Morchard Bishop. Aged eighteen he was converted in the Bible Christian chapel by a woman preacher, Ann Guest. 'The prayer and class meetings were my college.' He became a local (lay) preacher, walking many miles to services in villages in Devon. Way entered the paid itinerant ministry of the Bible Christian church in 1826. He was so poor that he was forced to walk to his first appointment, a distance of 120 kilometres carrying his library of three books - a bible hymn book and dictionary. He served 24 years in Bible Christian circuits in England and was president of the Conference in 1847.

Bible Christian work in SA began in 1849 on the initiative of some Cornish miners working on the Burra copperfield. A church was built and a plea was sent to England for ministers. Way after some hesitation agreed to go out as superintendent of the mission. Along with his wife Jane (née Willis) and four children he arrived in Adelaide in Nov 1850. His eldest son Samuel (q.v.) remained behind to continue his schooling. Conscious of his own lack of education Way was always eager to provide opportunities for his children. A young minister, James Rowe, accompanied Way to SA.

Rowe was sent to Burra while Way began services in Bowden near Adelaide. Almost immediately the question arose as to whether the Bible Christians should apply for state aid. Way was implacably opposed: 'I would rather pack up and go back to England.' Within a few months he gathered a congregation and built a church in Bowden. Way went himself to Burra in 1859 and during his ministry a revival took place among the largely Cornish families. Altogether he served in seven circuits, in a number of which he was responsible for establishing congregations. He was for 14 years superintendent of Bible Christian missions in SA and Vic. His leadership prepared the way for the formation in 1877 of an autonomous South Australian Conference.

Way was an earnest preacher with a great love for the Bible. He had a strong sense of his own commissioning and sought to impart to the ministers who came under his care the dignity and responsibility inherent in their calling. In an address at the ordination of a young minister, for example, he exhorted him, 'Live in the constant expectation of your coming Lord. Give due prominence in your ministrations to Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.'

Soon after Way's death in 1884 the Bible Christian Conference launched an appeal for a boys' school. This was eventually opened in Adelaide in 1892 as Way College with Dr William Torr (q.v.) as headmaster. This survived until Methodist union in 1900 when it was merged with Prince Alfred College. There is a memorial window at Annesley College, the successor to Way College.

A D Hunt, This Side of Heaven: A History of Methodism in South Australia (Adelaide, 1985); Bible Christian Conference (UK), Minutes, 1885; Bible Christian Magazine (UK), Nov 1876; Bible Christian Magazine (SA), Aug 1867, Nov 1884

ARNOLD D HUNT