Name Margaret Reeson | Role Biographer | |
Books Pacific Missionary George Brown 1835-1917: Wesleyan Methodist Church | ||
Margaret Reeson (born 1938) is an Australian historian, biographer, and author, and prominent leader of the Uniting Church in Australia.
Contents
History
Reeson trained as a teacher, and began this career in 1957. She moved to Papua New Guinea in 1961, working in the PNG Highlands as a teacher and missionary. She married Reverend Ron Reeson in 1966, at the time a minister of the Methodist Church of Australasia, and they continued as missionaries in PNG's Southern Highlands Province. From this time came a deep feeling for the history of PNG and Australia's involvement in that land and its people, notably during World War II. At this time, she began her research and literary life with Torn between two worlds (1972), a book about the effect of Christianity on the native peoples of the Southern Highlands.
On return to Australia in 1979, for Ron to take up ministry with the Central Belconnen Uniting Church in the Belconnen area of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Reeson commenced studies as an historian, and used her interest in PNG to research the stories of missionaries there during WW2. This work on the lives of Christian women has resulted in various published biographies, biographical novels, and Australian social history books, and the award of a Master of Arts by research from the Australian National University.
Church leadership
Reeson had a de facto leadership role in churches and ministries where her husband was the minister and, from 1987, senior minister for the Presbytery of Canberra Region. However, she also undertook training as a Lay Preacher, and achieved recognition through active involvement in a number of church councils, working groups, Boards and task groups within the Uniting Church in Australia, notably its New South Wales Synod, and was appointed as Moderator of the Synod for the term 2000-2002.
Published works
Reeson's published work includes: