Hebden Taylor pages
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E L Hebden Taylor (1925-2006)
Revd Eustace (aka Stacey) Lovatt Hebden
Taylor is an Reformational Anglican vicar (b 1925 in Katanga, Belgium
Congo - the son of missionary parents). He has served in the Royal Navy
and as a missionary in Alaska. He has been the rector of St Matthews,
Montreal, Holy Trinity, Langley, UK and Greengates, Bradford, UK. He
became the professor of History and Sociology at Dordt College.
Christopher Hebden Taylor writes:
"E. L. Hebden Taylor
was born in a mission station and registered at Katanga, Belgian Congo
on July 25, 1925. My grandfather died at a young age in Switzerland
while raising funds for the Congo Mission that he was on furlough from.
My grandfather went to the mission field from Cambridge even when he
was close to a medical degree he did not tarry but obeyed the Lord. He
was with Willie Burton. My father spent time in the English boarding
schools before WWII as Grandmother kept on in the Congo even after her
husband had passed. Being the son of a single parent missionary there
was no money so the Cambridge education seemed to be out of the
question. Then along came WWII and my father enlisted in the Royal
Navy. He spent time on a destroyer patrolling the North Sea as escort
for resupply ships to Russia. After the war the English made a law that
all servicemen would have their tuition paid by the government. My
father being the scholar and blessed with a bright mind passed all
exams and was admitted to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. After graduating
with honours he was off to Vancouver to work with the Hudson Bay
Company. At the Anglican church he met my mother and they soon were
wed. My father heard the call for the Anglican ministry and entered a
seminary. Then with my mother headed off as a missionary to the people
in the Yukon. From there they lived in Quebec and Ontario at numerous
parishes before he decided to return to England in 1963. We went on the
Empress of England and had to be on the lookout for Russian subs as the
Cuban missile crisis was underway. In England we eventually were at St.
John's Church in Greengates, Bradford, Yorkshire. The vicarage was a
fine place to grow up. But father wrote some of the books you refer to
and Dordt College of Sioux Center, Iowa offered him a professorship. So
the family of 8 and the family dog headed off from Shannon Airport to
Chicago and Sioux Falls. The family dog only came because the generous
people of England gave us the money to buy Telka's fare. Thank you
English people for your love of pets. I hope I can repay you someday by
telling you of the Love of our Saviour Jesus for each of us. So in Iowa
the Englishman and family found ourselves surrounded by Dutch Americans
who were more Dutch than American. Father was always on Kingdom
business whether calling long distance to his friends around the world
or tapping away on the old typewritter whilst drinking his Tea. There
are many stories of my father that could be told but the greatest story
of all is his love for Jesus and the Kingdom of God. I have total
respect for my father and the dedication he gave to God to do God's
work in his life. So I pray the words of my father's books will bring
greater knowledge leading to wisdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ."