A. Harold Wood

Reverend Dr A. Harold Wood OBE (1896-1989) was an Australian Methodist then Uniting Church Minister and missionary to Tonga where he was principal at Tupou College. He was also Principal of Methodist Ladies' College, Kew, Victoria. He was a qualified as a barrister in Victoria. He was also a musician and chaired the ecumenical committee to produce The Australian Hymn Book (published elsewhere as "With One Voice") published in 1977 ISBN 1-86371-150-3. He was married to medical Dr Olive K. O'Reilly and, after her death in 1975, to Dora Walker. His younger son Rev. Dr H. D'Arcy Wood was President of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church between 1991-94.

Harold and Olive Wood spent thirteen years in Tonga, developing a special fondness and love for the people and the country and well acquainted and respected by the Royal Family and others. From 1924 to 1937 he was Principal of Tupou College, then in Nafualu. Under his leadership it grew from 30 students to almost 400 boarders, becoming the biggest school in the country. He supported the late Queen Salote with legal advice in her work to reconcile two Methodist factions.

As an educator, he wrote books on Tongan history and geography which are in the 2000s still used in secondary schools as textbooks. He took over the training of candidates for church ministry. At his instigation, scholarships were offered by the Tongan government to successful students to go to Australia for further education, and to Fiji for medical training.

He was a keynote speaker at the first National Christian Youth Convention held in 1955.

On his return to Australia, he was an advocate for the union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches leading to the formation in 1977 of the Uniting Church in Australia. His doctoral thesis, "Unity Without Uniformity", showed a longstanding interest in church union.

Until his retirement he was Minister at the now Deepdene Uniting Church, which he had caused to be renamed St Paul's.

He has been honoured:
*the mainly Tongan congregation in Auburn, New South Wales naming their church after him - Harold Wood Auburn Uniting Church
*Lindsay Falvey dedicated the book "Religion and Agriculture: Sustainability in Christianity and Buddhism" ISBN 0-9751000-2-5 to him

A biography by Rev. Ian Breward is due to be published in 2008.

Publications

*"History and geography of Tonga", (1943), Auckland. By Authority.
*"Church Unity Without Uniformity: a Study of Seenteenth-Century English Church Movements and of Richard Baxter's Proposals for a Comprehensive Church", (1963), London. The Epworth Press.
*"Overseas Missions of the Australian Methodist Church. Volume One: Tonga and Samoa", (1975), Melbourne. Aldersgate Press
*"Overseas Missions of the Australian Methodist Church. Volume Two: Fiji", (1978), Melbourne. Aldersgate Press
*"Overseas Missions of the Australian Methodist Church. Volume Three: Fiji-Indian and Rotuma", (1978), Melbourne. Aldersgate Press
*"Overseas Missions of the Australian Methodist Church. Volume Four: North India (Lucknow-Banaras District", (1980), Melbourne. Aldersgate Press
*with Margaret Reeson. "Overseas Missions of the Australian Methodist Church Volume Five.: Papua New Guinea Highlands: A Bridge is Built: A Story of the United Church in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea", (1987), Sydney. Uniting Church Commission for Mission

External links

* [http://www.latrobe.edu.au/anthropology/tonga/THANEWS/tha1289.htm#INDEX7 "Tongan History Association Newsletter" notice of death of A. Harold Wood]
* [http://www.iid.org/publications/Religion_Agriculture.pdf Lindsay Falvey "Religion and Agriculture: Sustainability in Christianity and Buddhism" PDF]
* [http://deepdene.unitingchurch.org.au/ Deepdene Uniting Church]