n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 4
was the pastor of the Sower’s Chapel there, before returning to Australia.
In addition to leading the Brisbane New Church he was president of the
Australian Association. Since 2004 he had lived in retirement in Brisbane with
his wife, Beverly (Topham).
A beautiful memorial address by the Rev. Ian Arnold appears on page 329.
Here are excerpts from a eulogy delivered by Les’ good friend, Dr. Kenneth
Barns:
“For many of us, Les was our first introduction to the New Church.
Since then, we’ve grown in the Church, spoken to others, learned from
other ministers, and supported each other. So our understanding of the New
Church, and what it means to us, have grown since those first moments –
those first meetings we had with that ebullient bearded man. And yet, when
I think back, there are still some features of Les’ approach to religion that are
quite distinctive, that are unique to him, rather than to the New Church more
generally.
“Les embraced being a salesman and loved motivational writers. I tell
friends, ‘He sells religion like he’s selling a used car,’ in the nicest possible way.
Like any salesman, Les had unbounded energy, and he would see the good in
any situation. He knew the world was full of diamonds, and that we should
embrace and enjoy them for what they are and not feel guilty for it. How could
a loving God order things otherwise?
“The image Les loved to portray of the origin of the New Church were
when the Lord summoned his twelve disciples and sent them out into the
spiritual world to preach the gospel anew. Les was always explicit in saying
that it was the twelve disciples who were with the Lord in the world, which
means that Judas was there.
“There are parts of us that let us down, that we are hurt by, that we are
disgusted by, and that we are ashamed of. But Les wanted to reassure us that
even our Judas – the part of us that is fallible and weak – is part of what the
Lord loves, is part of us that the Lord works with, and is part of us that can be
redeemed and serve its role in the Lord’s plan for our life.
“He gave us all a vision of this material world, not as the devil’s playground,
or as the valley of the shadow of death, but instead this world is a wonderful
diamond mine. It’s a place where we can experience wonderful things, and we
should do just that!
“His vision was that all of our experiences that go before us , all of our
years in the Lutheran Church, or the Catholic Church, or whatever else we
may have done, are things that live in us today. Our past, our mistakes, our
learning experiences, aren’t things to be shunned and regretted; they aren’t
things that we should shrug at and say, ‘I wouldn’t do it again, but I’ve learned
from it: I’ve become stronger from it.’ Instead, they are all things that, as we
376