As I was researching NAVIGATING STRANGE SEAS, I came across a sad quote from FWB: “I have always been a lonely man.” Added to this, in his meticulous journal entries toward his latter days, he occasionally noted, “No-one came today.” Yet despite his loneliness, he never focussed on himself when he was around people. To be sure, times have changed and leaders are far more encouraged to be transparent with people today than they were a few generations ago. Yet there is something both real and commendable in the cross which Pastor Boreham bore, and I dare say, many other pastors have discovered that they must bear too.

The Pulpit of Scot’s Church, Melbourne where FWB ministered for 18 years

I am blessed to have ministry colleagues from within many denominations and church traditions whom I consider friends. I am even more blessed to be in a church where I am loved and cared for. But as a pastor I still must bear the pastor’s cross. As I observe how F.W. Boreham did this, I am inspired and encouraged. In spite of his own frailties and challenges, he continued to minister to others. He never referred to his near fatal accident when he was but a teen, and he certainly never let on from any of his pulpits or with his pen of the near debilitating effects of that devastating injury (he was hurled under a freight train and lost his right leg). He resisted the temptation which each pastor must overcome and refused to be codependent upon his pulpit.  

His own health was not his only struggle. FWB had five children (4 daughters and one son who was his second youngest child.) His second youngest daughter had developed meningitis soon after being born which had left her mentally retarded. This presented the Borehams with many late night vigils and bedside watches. It was Boreham’s style to refer to himself through the stories of others. He once wrote of a pastor who would preach with great fatherly tenderness and grace and whenever he was particularly tender and particularly emphasizing God’s enabling grace, his people knew that it had been a long sleepless night of nursing his ill child. Boreham did this sort of thing often through his alter ego, John Broadbanks, when he wrote about some of the challenges which pastors face in their ministry.

One of the most touching examples of this was when the Rev. John Broadbanks’ wife was battling with his neglect of her because he was so caught up in his pastoral ministry duties. In his autobiography, My Pilgrimage, Boreham steps out from behind his alter ego and narrates this episode from his own ministry. This was the decisive moment in which FWB determined that the pastoral ministry would never be a cause for him to neglect his family and in particular, his wife. 

As a pastor, Boreham initially struggled with learning how to conduct small-talk with others – particularly women. He had to learn how to do this. He then struggled with preaching to an older audience which knew more about life and the Christian walk than he did. His mentor, J.J. Doke, guided him into the solution to this problem. As the demands of ministry increased and his popularity grew, the neglect of his wife intensified. Rather than allow marital conflict to crush him, he humbled himself and allowed himself to be corrected. As more children came along and his family grew, he faced the difficulties of their health, financial provision and due attention. His literary efforts became a part of the financial solution and would eventually free him to be able to deal with each of these pressures. When he moved to Melbourne he initially discovered a pastorate where people were resistant to having their pastor ‘pry’ into their lives and yet wanted to know that he cared. He learned how to resolve this, but the price was his own loneliness. All this was despite his growing popularity and phenomenal international acclaim. And while the price of this fame was growing hidden loneliness, and surely not enjoyable, it seems that this was a cross which Pastor Boreham was prepared to bear, and millions are grateful that he did. Fellow pastors, we may not each have millions influenced by our pastoral charges, but the few dozen which most of us will care for through our counsel, our pulpits, and our example, present us with a cross which we should gladly bear all for the sake and glory of our Lord who bore the ultimate Cross for them as well. 

Andrew Corbett