Alan Walker: the man who founded Lifeline

One of the main goals of genuine Christians is to be more Christlike. That is to say, to become more like Jesus. For Reverend Sir Alan Walker, this meant loving people like Christ did and standing up to any social injustice he saw. Ordained into the Methodist Church in 1935, Walker studied for the ministry in London, UK, but returned to New South Wales, Australia, where he held various minor appointments.

As a devoted and outspoken pacifist, the start of WWII made his opinions unpopular and he was transferred to the small mining town of Cessnock. There he became aware of a conflict between the locals and the owners of the mines. Walker decided to do an in-depth study of the sociology of the town and wrote the book Coaltown, published in 1944.

Unlike many other academic authors, Walker was not afraid to take a strong political stance and champion the underdog. Issues that are now taken for granted were, at the time, very controversial. His stance for human rights as well as his ability to speak well were noticed and in 1948, Walker was chosen as part of the Australian delegation to discuss the first draft of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The end of WWII made his pacifism even more unpopular, and he was “rehabilitated”, being transferred to Waverley, NSW, where he built on his passion for preaching “where ordinary people go” in public spaces. Walker was known to be approachable; he would answer the phone at all hours of the day or night and often gave a quote to any journalist who called him.

He strongly opposed gambling and drinking and wasn’t afraid to speak out on issues—even if his opinion was unpopular. He openly opposed White Australia Policy, the Cold War, apartheid and the Vietnam War. He was also very outspoken for racial equality, frequently quoting Martin Luther King during the late 1960s and ’70s. 

on the silver screen

In the late 1950s, Walker started a television show called I Challenge the Minister. In it, he challenged people to ask a question that he would then answer. Unlike a lot of religious leaders at the time, Walker did not brandish a Bible like a talisman and begin each answer with a quote.

Instead, he talked about the issue from a practical perspective and gave a well-thought-out answer with biblical grounding. This show still holds the record for most popular religious show in Australian television.

In 1958, he was transferred to what was then called the Central Methodist Mission (now Wesley Mission). During his 20 years there, the church had a period of remarkable growth. Walker introduced many projects, including residential hostels, school for seniors, a singles society (who awarded Jim McLaren, a Catholic priest, “single of the year” in its first year) and Vision Valley Conference Centre, among others.

He had a true love for people and community and wanted to help as many people as possible. Walker told Wesley Impact! magazine in 1961, “Today there is a larger need; moral, psychiatrical, personal, emotional. People and homes are breaking down constantly under the pressure of today’s life. Moral and spiritual poverty take their place beside physical poverty. To the Central Mission come an endless stream of people at the end of their tether.”

turning point

Late one Saturday night in 1961, Walker received a phone call from a man in distress.  The man described how unbearable his loneliness was, how he was broke and how he had nothing left to live for.

Walker talked the man into meeting face-to-face rather than taking any action immediately but before the meeting took place, the man took his own life

Walker responded by gathering 30 people together to pray and during that prayer meeting, the idea was suggested for a 24-hour counselling team, able to respond to other such crises. Thus, Lifeline was born.

There was plenty of work to do to turn the idea into reality but with a dedicated team, the first Lifeline centre was opened on March 16, 1963, by Sydney Lord Mayor Harry Jensen. Two hundred volunteers spent six months training and Sydneysiders made good use of the hotline with 1000 calls in the first month alone. Lifeline was such a success that it spread throughout Australia.

In 1966, Walker started Lifeline International and took his counselling service overseas. By 1973 almost every capital city in Australia had a Lifeline presence and 100 cities internationally had crisis hotlines affiliated with Lifeline. New York City alone had 80,000 calls during its first year. These days, Lifeline is one of the most well-known crisis hotlines; its phone number can be found in many places showing people where to find help when they need it.

walking the walk

Walker wasn’t just vocal about his convictions—he lived them. One of the most difficult things Christ instructed His followers to do is found in Matthew 5:44: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Walker not only accepted this ideal—he internalised it.

There is, historically, tension between Protestants and Catholics, especially on matters of belief and Walker had led Protestant marches through the centre of Sydney. This put him at odds with the Catholic diocese of Parramatta, Sydney, who responded by getting to know Walker. It would have been a strange sight to see these two leaders of religions who were trying to influence their communities in sometimes opposing directions, having conversations together.

Stranger still, those conversations developed into a friendship and through the years, whenever he had a question about something that was happening in the Catholic Church, Walker would ring the bishop of Parramatta, Bede Heather, to ask his opinion, which he was happy to give.

Later, Heather would say of Walker, “I came to know Alan quite well, especially in the ’90s when we became not very close friends, but good friends.”

One of Bishop Heather’s warmest memories about his religious rival and friend was the annual invitation from Walker to give a talk to the students at the Pacific School of Evangelism about the Roman Catholic approach to evangelism.

later life

When Sydney Morning Herald decided to reintroduce the racing guide after it had been absent for some years due to wartime restrictions, Walker strongly opposed the decision. The chairman of the paper, Warwick Fairfax, met this opposition by inviting Walker to lunch. When it was over, Walker walked away with an invitation to regularly write articles for the Herald.

These articles were rarely censored and instead, when Fairfax disagreed with Walker, he would write an article himself and put it on the same page so the two opposing views could be seen side-by-side.

In 1955, Walker was honoured through appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for service to the Waverley Methodist Mission. In 1981, he was knighted for “services to religion”. In 1997, Walker was named as one of 100 people recognised as an Australian Living Treasure. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for “service to Australian society”. 

Walker died in January 2003, leaving a legacy through his actions, the projects and missions he helped, the convictions he shared fearlessly and most of all the demonstration of the way Christ loves people, that will live on for generations.