Rt. Rev. Bishop Oswald McCall, D.D., Litt.D

Dr. McCall came to St. Andrew’s-Wesley in 1943.

Like his predecessor Dr Norwood, he was an Australian and had served in the First World War. He came to us having spent several years at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley California, summer preacher at City Temple in London, New First Congregational Church and professorship at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago.

To quote from the biographical sketch in Reflections, “He was an outstanding preacher, orator and lecturer [and a prolific writer.]He had an inspired….sense of history and a theology that could meet the challenges of the forties. Society was in turmoil during and after the war. Each year at the annual meeting names of members who would not return home were read. Life as it had been would not be seen again. ….To the people seeking meaning, reason for life and an affirmation of their faith. He brought fresh insights, fresh images and a fresh vocabulary….

“Dr. McCall, through his own faith and his unique style of presenting that faith could reach both those more mature people struggling to retain their faith and the young people who were still striving to form their beliefs. The youth and students of the city were appreciative of his intellect, and poetic insights.”

In 1948, a Wednesday evening Supper Club was formed with an initial attendance of 50 young adults who met for supper, discussion and attendance at Wednesday evening Chapel Hour. By 1950 the mid-week lectures had proved so popular that they were moved from the chapel to the sanctuary.

During his time at St. Andrew’s, the ministry to children thrived: CGIT, Boy Scouts, Trail Rangers, and other mid-week programs; Sunday School and Junior Choir.

Over 100 children attended summer camp at “Sanwes” owned by St. Andrew’s –Wesley on Keats Island. It was sold to the United Church in 1951.

Dr McCall was a pioneer in what we now call “Progressive Christianity”: he was convinced that the then current vocabulary of Christianity was barren and dead. His poetic mind created a new language, new images and words with which to understand the presence of God.

In one of his final messages to the congregation in 1951 he stated: “I’m trying to point out that the old gods are dead. The world needs a new religion, not a Christianity cluttered up with medieval concepts….”