Long-haired Curates Suspended In Aust.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32120, 16 October 1969, Page 13

Long-haired Curates Suspended In Aust.

(N.Z. Press Association-Copyright) BRISBANE, October 15. An Anglican curate who has been suspended because of his long hair, said in Brisbane today that he hoped sincerely to remain in the ministry.

The Rev. Austin Parry, aged 28, and a fellow-curate the Rev. Malcolm Bell, aged 25, have been suspended from the Toowoomba parish church, because of "their appearance and attitude,” which, some parishioners say, were driving people away from the church.

Mr Parry’s wife, Lorraine, who was the 1966 Great Barrier Reef Coral Queen, said today that she supported her husband’s attitude towards long hair, and thought that it was a purely personal matter.

Mrs Bell said that, she, too, supported her husband in all his beliefs and actions. Mr Parry hopes to see Archbishop Strong, the Anglican Primate of Australia, while he is in Brisbane. “I am not intent on hurting the church,” Mr Parry said tday. “I am concerned about the ministry of the church not hurting people—Christianity itself."

The Mayor of Toowoomba (Alderman Nell Robinson) said that she had met both curates and loathed their hair.

A parishioner, Mr Malcolm Newnham, commented: “I have five sons and I make them conform to reasonable haircuts. I certainly objected to the curates’ haircuts—they were just too way out. In my opinion, their appearance made the church a laughing stock. But they are two excellent blokes, and I would be delighted to have them back if they looked tidy.”