We can so easily forget things, especially as we grow older. But we need to recall from time to time those who had a positive influence in our lives. Even more so, those whose ministry influenced the lives of hordes of people throughout the world. One such person was Canon Jim Glennon whose Ministry had such an impact on thousands of people in many parts of the world.
When searching for a file on my computer I came across this file which formed the substance of the tribute I paid to him as his successor at his funeral service in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney on Wednesday 22 June 2005. I share it now as a reminder to many people how the Lord used his ministry to impact the lives of thousands of folk and how the Healing Ministry in St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney has continued unbroken for over 66 years.
THE TRIBUTE
It’s a privilege to give a tribute to Canon Jim Glennon at this service. Because he was essentially a private person I want to share with you some things that you may have known about him.
1. HIS OWN QUICK THUMBNAIL SKETCH OF HIS LIFE
- Jim Glennon was born in 1920 in Sydney, Australia and educated at Randwick High School, Moore Theological College and the University of Sydney.
| He was ordained in the Anglican Church in Sydney in 1951 and he served two curacies in Haberfield and Darlinghurst in Sydney. |
| He went to England where he was on the staff of the Parish Church of Birmingham, St Martin’s-in-the-Bull Ring, where Canon Bryan Green was the Rector and where he received his main pastoral training. |
| Following this, he was for a time at St Augustine’s College, Canterbury before returning to Sydney in 1955. |
| At this time he qualified as a Social Worker at Sydney University, specialising in casework and the psycho-social development of children. |
| Following this, and for seven years, he taught Pastoral Method at Moore Theological College and supervised senior theological students in clinical pastoral education in Sydney hospitals. |
| In 1960, Jim Glennon became involved in the Healing Ministry of the Church, initially through reading Agnes Sanford’s book, “The Healing Light”. He said as a result of reading that book, “I came to see that our Lord healed today in the same way as He healed in the days of His earthly ministry because He is the same now as then”. |
| In 1988 he completed 33 years on the staff of St Andrew’s Cathedral and was responsible for the weekly Wednesday night Healing service for 28 years. He quoted Canon Michael Harper as once saying of the Healing service – “This must be one of the most famous services in the world”. |
| 2. THE MINISTRY HE EXERCISED |
| He was a man of the Word. Canon Glennon had a deep evangelical love of the Word of God. He loved to teach the Bible and to show how God’s word had answers to our human problems. It was not unusual to hear him saying over and over again, “The Bible says..” and then begin to quote many passages from memory to prove his point. |
| He was a man of prayer. In his time on the Cathedral staff he tried to make most lunch hours a time when people could come and pray with him in the Chapel. His office was filled with people coming to seek his counsel and to have him pray for them. When I invited him to minister at the HM Centre I would often see him sitting in the garden in deep meditation and reflection before a speaking engagement. Then he would come in and speak for an hour or so with no notes whatever and his teaching would flow forth from him, punctuated with many anecdotes and illustrations from real life situations. People would ring him from all over the world, sometimes even in the wee hours of the morning to ask him to pray for them. And he did. |
| He was a man of faith. He really believed that God would answer prayer and provide for the needs of His people. When he encouraged the purchase of the property for the Healing Ministry Centre in 1985 he believed that God would provide the finances in a very short time, even when others thought he was misguided or had lost touch with reality. He really believed God would answer prayer for physical and emotional healing. |
| He was a man who cared about people. I would not be surprised if it were to be discovered one day that he had been one of the most effective evangelists that this country has ever seen. No matter where I have been in the various states of Australia or in some of the states of America there have been folk who told me that they came to Christ through his ministry. He wanted people saved, he wanted them healed, he wanted them getting on with life serving the Lord. He encouraged them. Strongly! Often very strongly! |
| He wanted the message of Christ to go out to a needy world. He became a very experienced missioner and conducted teaching missions on the Healing Ministry throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The tributes in the Service sheet today collated in such a short time show how his life and ministry impacted on so many different people around the world. |
| Testimonies are still coming in from people in many nations who were blessed through his ministry. |
| He wrote his books to share his insights on healing with people around the world. His book “Your Healing is Within You”, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in Great Britain and has sold 100,000 copies and is still being published today. His second book “How Can I Find Healing?” was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1984. |
| He was tenacious. Many of us were astounded when he came to preach at an Anniversary service some years ago. A few days before he had been at death’s door in hospital. He arrived too weak to climb up into the pulpit. But as he preached sitting down he got stronger and stronger preaching as boldly as he had ever done. Later he mingled with the people and then left the Cathedral striding out as though he never been sick. It was quite remarkable. |
| 3. PEOPLE THOUGHT HIGHLY OF HIM. |
| He was delighted to be made a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours List in 1987 for “Service to the Community and to religion, particularly at St Andrew’s Cathedral”. He was humbled by that public recognition of his ministry. He wore his AM badge proudly on every occasion. |
| A former Primate of the Anglican Church in Australia, Archbishop Grindrod wrote; “I would judge that no other Anglican in his generation has made so significant a contribution to the Healing Ministry”. |
| A former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, in a message to mark the retirement of Canon Glennon in June, 1988, wrote in part – “For 28 years Canon Glennon has been engaged in the Healing Ministry and there are thousands of people who will be grateful for what he has brought to them. Jim Glennon has shown that healing lies at the heart of the Christian gospel, for true healing is intimately related to wholeness. In the past years Canon Glennon’s ministry has extended far beyond Australia, and there will be many who at this time, like myself, will give thanks to God for a unique and distinctive ministry exercised with quiet compassion”. |
| He could win the affection of those who had come to know him for just a short time. He did it recently with the nursing staff at the Prince of Wales hospital. Canon Jim went into the hospital with very little personal effects. Consequently he had to wear the basic hospital garments. They didn’t fit well. There was a yawning gap at the back of the (back to front) night-shirt he wore. A nurse walking along behind him passed him, turned around and cheekily said to him, “Nice butt!”. How would a bachelor, a private person, a modest man take such a cheeky comment? He saw it as really an affectionate rather than an offensive remark. He thought it was funny and humorous enough to share with those who came to visit him. There was often a twinkle in his eye. He shied away from getting too close to people, because as he once said he found it hard to pray for people if they got too close to him. But he did love affection that came in very different ways, even from a cheeky little nurse who felt free enough to tease him. |
Canon Jim Glennon, misunderstood by many, feared by some, loved by thousands, but mightily used by God in His kingdom purposes in this world.
No.602. Canon Jim Holbeck’s tribute to Canon Jim Glennon at his Funeral Service in 2005. Posted on Sunday 30 August 2026
holbeck 