JOHN STEWART GRAHAM (1939-2019)
One Saturday in the mid-1990s, John Graham was walking through the Sydney suburb of Bondi, distributing leaflets for an event at Bondi Presbyterian Church.
Coming on a Jewish home, John decided not to interrupt their Sabbath, and continued along the road. But each step troubled his conscience. Retracing his steps, he knocked the door. It was opened by a lady who, listening to what he had to say, commented that as her’s was a very orthodox home the family wouldn’t be attending church, but, nevertheless, invited John inside and introduced him to her husband. The man stated six objections to Christianity. John, a canny Scot, acknowledged them all, but added they were too large to respond to off-the-cuff then and there. ‘Why don’t I come back,’ he suggested, ‘when we can address each issue in turn?’
The following Saturday, John found himself at a large table, around which leading men from the synagogue were gathered. So began a long series of studies in which John led the group first through some Psalms, then John’s Gospel and finally Paul’s letter to the Romans. Why did orthodox Jews want to study the Bible with a Christian minister? Perhaps, it was partly out of curiosity. But two incidents suggest that for some at least there was more to it. One week, someone asked, ‘What is our greatest hope?’ Caught on the hop, and not, at the time, noting the ‘our’, John blurted out a trite formula about having our sins forgiven, peace with God and hope of heaven. ‘But, is that all?’ came the slightly irritated response, adding ‘I have been reading Colossians 1.27, “Messiah in you, the hope of glory.”’ Then, one of the group found themselves terminally ill in hospital. Called to the bedside, John was asked, ‘Tell me simply, as if you were explaining to an eight-year-old, what you believe about salvation by faith in Jesus.’ This was John’s last conversation with that person.
Rev. John Stewart Graham was born on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, on 24th December 1939, the fifth and youngest child of godly parents. Following education at Tongue primary school and Back Junior Secondary School, John became an apprentice motor mechanic with John Mitchell & Son Ltd., Stornoway. Later, work in Manchester brought him into contact with Jewish people. He returned to Lewis.
In 1964 John married Katie Macleod. The family was blessed with two daughters, Katherine and Margaret. John now believed himself called to Christian ministry among the Jewish people and in preparation gained a Master of Arts degree at the University of Aberdeen and the Diploma in Theology at the Free Church College, Edinburgh. Graduating in 1978, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Lewis, joined Christian Witness to Israel, and the following year, moved to Sydney, Australia, where he and Katie worked among the Jewish people.
John also served the Sydney South congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA), but a growing sympathy by some for theonomy placed the relationship under strain. John reacted strongly to these errors but adopted a position at variance with the Westminster Confession of Faith, which led to difficulties with the Free Church, especially his home Presbytery of Lewis, though not with CWI. The society retained John’s ministry because its basis of faith not only included the Westminster Confession, but also the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, with whose teaching John complied.
Leaving the PCEA, John and Katie joined Bondi Presbyterian Church, strategically placed at the heart of the Jewish community, but, at the time, vacant. John was accepted into the PCA in 1997, and inducted as minister of Bondi, thus combining congregational ministry with evangelism in a strategic Jewish area. John continued to minister at Bondi until prevented by illness. He died on 31st October, 2019.
Following a service at Maroubra Presbyterian Church, John’s body was interred beside that of his granddaughter, Isla, at Robertson Cemetery. He is survived by Katie. A close ministerial friend, Rev Bruce Christian, said of John, ‘I was always very impressed, encouraged and blessed by John’s godliness, his commitment to the authority and infallibility of Scripture, his faith and perseverance [towards] the many Jewish people with whom he shared the Gospel, and his complete dependence on the grace of God in Christ in every aspect of his life and work. John was a clear-thinking man of conviction and courage, and this came out in all his conversations.’
By Rev. John S. Ross
Retrieved from The Record – February 2020, published by Free Church of Scotland.