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William J. Richards, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1942.

Photo courtesy of Mel Lemke.

Richards, William John (1903–1988)

By Milton Hook

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Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: January 29, 2020

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William Richards was an evangelist and church administrator in a number of conferences in Australia and New Zealand. At the time of his retirement he was the president of the Trans-Tasman Union Conference.

Early Life

William John Richards was born on November 17, 1903, at Waitara in the Taranaki region of the North Island, New Zealand. He was reared by Seventh-day Adventist parents, and at the age of 15 enrolled at the Oroua Missionary School, which was not far from his home. He studied at the school until 1922, but there is no record of the completion of any particular course.1

Richards’ service schedule notes that he entered denominational employment in April 1923. He assisted in evangelism in the South Island of New Zealand until the end of 1924.2 He felt the need for further formal study, so he completed a few units during 1925 at the Australasian Missionary College.3 At the end of the school year he returned to New Zealand to marry Annie Linda Johnson on October 14, 1925. She was a fellow New Zealander, born in Wellington on November 22, 1904.4

Evangelist and Administrator

Following their marriage William and Annie traveled to South Australia in response to an appointment to engage in evangelism. They remained until 1927. Their first child, Elva, was born in Adelaide in 1926. The years 1928 and 1929 were spent doing similar work in the South New South Wales Conference. During 1930 and 1931 Richards engaged in evangelism in the Kyogle district of the North New South Wales Conference. A second daughter, Valmai, was added to their family at this time.5

Throughout the 1930s Richards nurtured churches in the South New Zealand Conference. At a camp meeting in Christchurch he was ordained on January 15, 1938.6 The annual conference session was held at the same gathering and Richards called for the vote to accept the Westport church into the conference family, suggesting he was instrumental in its formation.7 He remained in New Zealand throughout the war years, first in the North New Zealand Conference, 1939 through 1943, and then as president of the South New Zealand Conference, 1944 through 1946.8

In 1947 Richards transferred to Australia under appointment to be president of the West Australian Conference.9 He held this position until 1955.10 Between 1956 and 1959 he was president of the North Queensland Conference.11 He returned to the North New South Wales Conference in 1960 to care for local congregations12 before being elected president of the conference, 1962 through 1967.13 His final appointment was as president of the Trans-Tasman Union Conference, 1968 through September 1970.14

Final Years

William and Annie Richards made their home on the Central Coast of New South Wales. In semiretirement he assisted with stewardship promotion in an unofficial capacity at the North New South Wales Conference office for three years. He died in the Gosford Hospital on June 30, 1988.15 Annie eventually entered the Charles Harrison Nursing Home, Cooranbong, NSW, where she died on October 6, 1997.16

William Richards’ years of service are remarkable not only for their longevity but also for the fact that they were spent entirely in pastoral care and church administration. It was the custom that candidates for the ministry would begin their service by doing some colporteur work, but William was not required to follow that path. Furthermore, it was considered advisable that prospective church administrators in Australia and New Zealand first gain some experience in the Pacific Islands so that they would be better informed when in positions of influence. Richards’ entire ministry was in Australia and New Zealand. The fact that he did not graduate from any ministerial or academic course was another anomaly. He apparently relied on his intuitive skills.

Sources

Craig, Ronald D. “Life Sketch: Pastor W. J. Richards.” Record, August 20, 1988.

Craig, R[onald] D. “William John Richards.” Record, August 20, 1988.

Mitchell, T[homas] A. “South New Zealand Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, February 14, 1938.

Moe, R[ex], E[rnie] Lemke, and H[arold] Roberts, “Annie Linda (Johnson) Richards.” Record, November 15, 1997.

New Zealand Government. Marriage Certificates. Wellington, NZ: Department of Internal Affairs.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1924–1970.

William John Richards Work Service Record. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Wahroonga, NSW. Folder: “William John Richards.” Document: “William John Richards Work Service Record.”

Notes

  1. Ronald D. Craig, “Life Sketch: Pastor W. J. Richards,” Record, August 20, 1988, 14.↩

  2. William John Richards Work Service Record, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Wahroonga, NSW (Folder: “William John Richards”; Document: “William John Richards Work Service Record”).↩

  3. Craig, 14.↩

  4. Ibid.; New Zealand Government, Certificate of Marriage no. 8370 (1925) (Wellington, NZ: Department of Internal Affairs).↩

  5. William John Richards Work Service Record.↩

  6. Ibid.↩

  7. T[homas] A. Mitchell, “South New Zealand Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, February 14, 1938, 6.↩

  8. William John Richards Work Service Record.↩

  9. Ibid.↩

  10. “West Australian Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1955), 75.↩

  11. E.g., “North Queensland Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 82.↩

  12. E.g., “North New South Wales Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1960), 84, 85.↩

  13. E.g., “North New South Wales Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1962), 87, 88.↩

  14. E.g., “Trans-Tasman Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1968), 102.↩

  15. Craig, 14.↩

  16. R[ex] Moe, E[rnie] Lemke, and H[arold] Roberts, “Annie Linda (Johnson) Richards,” Record, November 15, 1997, 14.↩

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Hook, Milton. "Richards, William John (1903–1988)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=583G.

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Hook, Milton. "Richards, William John (1903–1988)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 29, 2020. Date of access March 21, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=583G.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Hook, Milton (2020, January 29). Richards, William John (1903–1988). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 21, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=583G.

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