Charles Curwen Walker (1856–1940) was a
Christadelphian
The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the ...
writer and editor of ''
The Christadelphian
''The Christadelphian'' is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association (CMPA). It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it ...
Magazine'' from 1898 to 1937.
Biography
C.C. Walker was born near
Diss, Depwade Rural District,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
on February 18, 1856, son of a landowner. His middle name "Curwen" indicates his descent from the aristocratic Curwen family of Ewanrigg Hall,
Dearham
Dearham is a village and civil parish in the Allerdale district of Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, near the Lake District National Park in England. It lies about east of Maryport and west of Cockermouth.
According to the 2001 censu ...
,
Cumberland. At the age of 13 Charles Walker accompanied his father in emigration to Australia, where Walker subsequently worked as a surveyor at the goldfields of
Ballarat.
In 1881 C.C. Walker returned to England to manage the sale of one of his father's properties and made a visit to childhood friends and relatives, the Sutcliffe family, in
Haworth
Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages inc ...
in West Yorkshire. The son of the family, Charles Sutcliffe, had been baptised as a Christadelphian at
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...
in August 1880. While Walker was staying with them Charles's sisters Ellen and Edith were also baptised. The Sutcliffes talked at length to Walker and gave him books to read on the long ocean voyage home to Australia, including ''
Christendom Astray'' by
Robert Roberts. Disembarking from the ''Aristides'' in Melbourne on 24 September 1881, he sought out the Christadelphians there before travelling home to Ballarat. The leading brother at the Windsor Ecclesia was Henry Gordon, an immigrant from
Dominica,
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, and Walker requested baptism and informed him that a future wife would soon be sailing from England to join him. Early in September, 1881, Walker made a visit to Melbourne, and was baptised by Henry Gordon in the latter's home in
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
.
In August 1882 sisters Ellen and Edith Sutcliffe of Haworth arrived in Melbourne, and Charles and Edith were married. The couple moved from Walker's parents home in Ballarat, to the Melbourne suburb of
Prahan. Walker later set up a Christadelphian Book Centre in Melbourne, and sent an order for literature to
Robert Roberts in Birmingham which was the largest single order the Christadelphian Office in Birmingham had ever received up to that time.
In 1887 the Walker family returned to the UK, via
Palestine, partly at the urging of Robert Roberts to supervise the progress of funds Christadelphians were giving to the
Laurence Oliphant's appeal for the
Rosh Pinna
Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...
Jewish settlement at
Al-Ja'una
Al-Ja'una or Ja'ouna (Arabic: الجاعونة), was a Palestinian village situated in Galilee near al-Houleh Plateau, overlooking the Jordan Valley. The village lay on a hillside 450–500 meters above sea level, 5 kilometers east of Safad near ...
. On his return Walker was soon authoring a monthly feature, "The Jews and Their Affairs", showing particular interest in the emergent movement for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Walker visited Palestine three more times in 1901, 1902 and 1914 in the company of
Frank Jannaway.
In 1898, following the death of Roberts, C.C. Walker took over the editorship of ''
The Christadelphian
''The Christadelphian'' is a Bible magazine published monthly by The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association (CMPA). It states that it is 'A magazine dedicated wholly to the hope of Israel' and, according to the magazine website, it ...
'' magazine. He was the second, and last, editor to run the magazine as an individual, though he received support from several capable brethren including
Henry Sulley. In 1934 he proposed to turn the magazine over to an association of nine brethren including
W.H. Boulton as the ''Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association Ltd'' (CMPA), which in 1937 took over management and, on Walker's recommendation, employed John Carter as the new editor.
The period 1898-1937 was a difficult time for the Christadelphians (see
history section in main article), and consequently for Walker as editor. He inherited from Roberts a controversy with John J. Andrew in London, which between 1898 and 1908 turned into a permanent breach, with a substantial part of the body in America separating as the
Unamended Christadelphians
The Unamended Christadelphians are a "fellowship" within the broader Christadelphian movement worldwide, found only in the United States and Canada. They are, like all Christadelphians, millennialist and non-Trinitarian. The term ''Unamended Chri ...
led by
Thomas Williams of Chicago. Although Walker had a gentle and moderate temperament, as often shown in his articles and editorials, he was unable to prevent a further separation of the influential Clapham meeting in South London, led by his former travelling companion to Palestine
Frank Jannaway, and most of the remaining North American Christadelphians, into the
Berean Christadelphians The Berean Christadelphians are a Christian denomination.
History
In Britain the initial cause of the 1923 schism resulting in the formation of the Berean Christadelphians was concerning service in the police. Following the leading role taken by ...
fellowship in 1923.
However, from 1923 the remaining "Central" Christadelphians had a time of relative peace and ''The Christadelphian Magazine'' continued to report growth in Britain and overseas. Also in mentoring
John Carter to take over the position of editor Walker found someone who was able to contribute substantially to the reunions of almost all of the Christadelphian movement into one group in the 1950s. He died on April 3, 1940.
Publications
* ''The Old Testament Doctrine of Eternal Life. A brief examination of many passages ... in which ... the doctrine of a future life'' 1906
* ''Job - An attempted “consideration” in the light of the later work of God in Christ''. 1923
* ''Rome and the Christadelphians - Being a reply to “Christadelphianism” by J. W. Poynter, etc.'' 1923
[James William Poynter 1885-?]
* ''Theophany - the Bible doctrine of the manifestation of God upon earth in the angels, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and hereafter in "the manifestation of sons of God"'' 1929 reprint 1967.
* ''The Ministry of the Prophets: Jeremiah. His word and work in the divine guidance of the nation of Israel''. 1935
* ''Witness for Christ. Selections from the writings of C. C. Walker''.
ith a portrait.post. 1943
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Charles Curwen
Christadelphians
English Christians
1856 births
1940 deaths
People from Diss, Norfolk