Michael Boyd Challen (born 27 May 1932) is a retired Australian

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop, active in the second half of the 20th century. Challen was born in 1932 and attended Mentone Primary School and Mordialloc-Chelsea High. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1955; and entered Ridley College, Melbourne to train for the priesthood. He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1958. After a curacy in

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

he was Director of the Melbourne Diocesan Centre from 1963 to 1969. Moving to Perth he became a missionary in the

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

and in 1976 became

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of the country regions of Western Australia. The following year he became

Assistant Bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

of Perth, serving until 1991. He was then Executive Director of the

Brotherhood of St Laurence The Brotherhood of St Laurence is an Australian not-for-profit organisation working toward an Australia free of poverty. The Brotherhood (as it is colloquially known) has its headquarters in Melbourne but provides services and programs across Au ...

until 1999. In retirement, Challen was criticized by a 2012 inquiry into the institutional sexual abuse of boys in the care of Anglican residential homes for his role in allowing an offender to resign rather than reporting the matter to police. Challen's failure to act at this time was later cited as a critical factor in enabling the offender to go on to a long period of sexual offending as a junior cricket coach.

References

University of Melbourne alumni 20th-century Australian Anglican priests Archdeacons of the Country Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Perth Alumni of Ridley College, Melbourne Living people 1932 births {{Australia-Anglican-bishop-stub