Dyason, Alfred John (1880–1963) and Mathilde Annette (Williams) (1883–1939); later Rhoda Helen (Joynt) (1906–1976)
By Marye Trim
Marye Trim, Ph.D. (Loughborough University, Leicestershire, England), retired in 2008 as a Senior Lecturer in Australia, England, India and Thailand, also at the University of Western Sydney and Loughborough University. A New Zealander, married to Pastor John B. Trim with five adult children, she supported his pastoral and leadership roles for over fifty years. Trained in journalism and creative writing, she has published books, stories, poems and inspirational articles world-wide, also 21 significant academic publications.
First Published: January 28, 2020
Alfred John Dyason was an inspirational leader for Sabbath School, Home Missions, and Youth in five Australian states and New Zealand.
Life and Service
Alfred John Dyason was born at Collingwood in Victoria, Australia, on October 31, 1880.1 He is remembered for his ability to bond with church members, loving them and striving through thirty-six years of service to inspire and lead. His unique talent for creative compositions in poetry and gospel songs amplified his service.2
He married his first wife, Mathilde Annette Williams, in 19023 and worked in business as a manufacturer.4 During 1911 they read and were persuaded by the book, Great Controversy.5 The next year they joined the North Fitzroy Seventh-day Adventist Church after studying the Bible with Pastor H. Mitchell and through baptism by Pastor C.H. Parker.6 The following year, in March 1913, they moved to Avondale where Alfred studied at Australasian Missionary College and began in management at Sanitarium Health Food Company,7 a role he continued for twelve years from 1913–1925, in Australia and New Zealand before his call to conference ministry.8
Alfred’s wife, Mathilde, was born in Richmond, Australia, on February 11, 1883, and died in May 1939, in the Sydney Sanitarium, following illness, aged 56, a “passing greatly regretted.”9 Mathilde is remembered as an exemplary Christian woman, “well known and greatly loved throughout the Australasian Division.”10 She is especially remembered for her happy and bright nature, her warm-heartedness, earnestness, and sincerity, her gift of singing and readiness and willingness to be of Christian service with her husband in Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand.11 Two of their four sons were ordained for ministry, Pastor Lennon Anton whose field was largely Home Missions, and Pastor Arthur Prescott12 who is remembered, like his father, for dedication to youth work and for his talent of song, by which he resembled his mother.
In 1940, Alfred married Rhoda Helen Joynt, born June 23, 1906 in Auckland, New Zealand.13 In 1922, she and her brother Robert had become Seventh-day Adventists through the evangelism of Pastors J. W. Kent and W. J. Richards in the Auckland area of New Zealand.14 She later studied at the missionary colleges in Longburn, New Zealand and Avondale, Australia. There she was known for her involvement in the Sabbath School and for her help with other young people in homiletics.15 After graduation from office work training, she worked in the Division office at Wahroonga in the Youth Department, and also as a secretary at the New South Wales and New Zealand Conference office16 where she proved be efficient and loyal, of a happy and helpful nature, assisting departmental directors and conference presidents.17 After marriage to Alfred, ever a gracious and talented Christian lady, she supported her husband for twenty-three years during his ministry as Sabbath School Secretary in New South Wales and Queensland, and during his retirement in 1949 in Dromana, Victoria. When Pastor Dyason was called from retirement to work again in the Victorian Sabbath School Department, she gave voluntary service as his secretary.18 As his health declined she lovingly cared for him in Cooranbong where they had moved in 1960. Like her husband, she possessed a talent for writing verse, as is shown in a final poem which expresses her rich faith:
Life’s sun which long has risen
Is setting now I know.
My vital flame is flickering
And burning very low. . .
Through Jesus I shall conquer
For I shall live again
Dear Lord to love you evermore.19
After living for a time at Kressville at Cooranbong and Camellia Court, Hornsby, she died in the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital on January 1, 1976. At her funeral at Camellia Court she was remembered by her mentor Pastor J. W. Kent and by Pastor L. C. Naden, for “kindly concern for others and courage in serious health,”20 her bright flame extinguished at sixty-nine years of age.
Ministry
In 1928, Alfred was invited to join the Victorian Conference Sabbath School Department as assistant secretary.21 “Anything but home missions,” he had told the Lord,22 yet that is exactly where he excelled. His friendly, visionary nature endeared him to all he met, thus enabling him in local conference departmental leadership in Home Missions, Sabbath School, and youth work with Missionary Volunteers. His influence extended into Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and New Zealand.23 His ordination to gospel ministry took place in 1942.24 He continued in active leadership until his formal retirement in 1949.25
Other talents for which he is remembered were his ability to write poetry and songs, his work being published both within and without the Adventist Church.26 Some of his poems, many of which were used in sermons and rallies, were printed in the Australasian Record. Examples are The Meek27 and Time Marches On.28 The latter is addressed to young people:
Time marches on! The pioneers who led the way
Are growing few; but the Spirit of the Living God
Who showed the way in early days still leads . . .
A world of woe still beckons to the youth to rise . . .
Alfred’s poem, The Meek, appears on the front page of the Australasian Record beside an article title, “The Shaking Time – A Fierce Struggle.” After exhortation, the writer concludes: “God’s chosen people will stand unmoved,” and Alfred’s verses stand in descriptive support:
Yes, blessed are the meek who follow on
To know their Lord, and humbly at His feet
With patience sit, and daily learn His will
That they should do to others as they would
That others do to them. Yea, blessed are
The meek, for God hath chosen them to dwell
With him for Aye.
A generation of Adventist children and youth grew up singing Alfred’s songs, such as the rollicking campers’ song:
“Oh it’s good to be a cheery JMV
And be happy all the livelong day.
Oh it’s good to know that we are brave and free
And that is how we mean to stay.
Oh it’s good to lie beneath the starry skies
And to listen to the rustling breeze.
When the roll is called up yonder
Here am I, with the cheery JMVs.29
Adults were also included in Alfred’s repertoire and ‘’Rally to the Sabbath School” frequently rang out at camp-meetings and other occasions. Alfred’s own joy in the Lord was conveyed in his songs and was infectious.
Later Life
After his retirement in Victoria, aged sixty-nine, Alfred continued to support church programs and continued his literary and musical compositions. During these years he also visited Pastor Arthur Dyason who was principal of Fulton Missionary College in Fiji, an event which brought him much joy in seeing his youngest son’s Christian service, more young lives changed, and the progress of God’s work.30 However, his health deteriorated with age, but he was lovingly cared for by his second wife, Rhoda. It was said that he was a patient sufferer, with always a cheery word to those about him.31 Even as his health declined, Alfred continued to write creatively. He once smilingly confided to a friend that when he was confined to bed his creative muse was more active, a cause to rejoice.32
He died at the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital on July 2, 1963 aged eighty-two years. Pastor L. C. Naden, president of the church in Australasia conducted the commemorative service before Alfred Dyason was farewelled at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium.33
Thank God for sleep and the night
Calm, sweet, restful, profound;
Then dawn of Eternity’s glorious light;
Thank God for sleep and the morn.34
A final tribute stated:
He proved himself to be an active, enthusiastic and successful worker. . . He was loved and appreciated by his associates and by all who came within the ambit of his influence.35
Sources
Anderson, A. W. “Sr. A. J. Dyason,” Australasian Record, June 12, 1939.
Dyason, A. J. “Thank God for Sleep.” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963.
Johanson, E. J. “Pastor A. J. Dyason,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963.
Johanson, E. J. “Dyason. Alfred John obituary, Australasian Record, August 5, 1963.
Knight, A. W. “Dyason, Sister Mathilde Annette Obituary,” Australasian Record, June 12, 1939.
Naden, L. C. Dyason, “Rhoda Helen Joynt obituary, Australasian Record, February 23, 1976.
Turner, W. G. “Life Sketch of Sister R. Dyason,” Australasian Record, March 1, 1976.
Notes
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E. J. Johanson, “Pastor Alfred John Dyason obituary,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 15.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid↩
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E. J. Johanson, “Pastor A. J. Dyason,’ Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 14.↩
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Ibid.↩
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A. W. Anderson, “Sr. A. J. Dyason,” Australasian Record, June 12, 1939, 7.↩
-
Ibid.↩
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Service Record at South Pacific Division, Australia.↩
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A. W. Knight, “Dyason, Sister Mathilde Annette Obituary,” Australasian Record, June 12, 1939, 7.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid↩
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W. G. Turner “Life Sketch of Sister R. Dyason, “Australasian Record, March 1, 1976, 12.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Naden, L. C. “Dyason, Rhoda Helen Joynt Obituary,” Australasian Record, Feb. 23, 1976.↩
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W. G. Turner, “Life Sketch of Sister R. Dyason, “Australasian Record, March 1, 1976, 12.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.↩
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“Dyason, Alfred John,” Service Record at South Pacific Division.↩
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Personal knowledge of the author, a colleague in ministry of Alfred Dyason and Rhoda, circa 1952.↩
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E. J. Johanson, “Pastor A. J., Dyason,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 14.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Personal knowledge of the author, a colleague in ministry of Alfred Dyason and Rhoda.↩
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A. J. Dyason, “The Meek,” Australasian Record, April 13, 12936, 1.↩
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A. J. Dyason, “Time Marches On!” Australasian Record, September 13, 1948, 1.↩
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Personal knowledge of the author, a colleague in ministry of Alfred Dyason and Rhoda, circa 1961 - 64.↩
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EW. J. Johanson, “Pastor A. J., Dyason,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 14.↩
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Ibid.↩
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Personal knowledge of the author, a colleague in ministry of Alfred Dyason and Rhoda, confided to the author and reiterated by Rhoda Dyason to the author after A. J. Dyason;’s death.↩
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E. J. Johanson, “Dyason, Alfred John Dyason Obituary,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 15.↩
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A. J. Dyason, “Thank God for Sleep.” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 14.↩
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E. J. Johanson, “Pastor A. J. Dyason,” Australasian Record, August 5, 1963, 14↩