Peter Foxhall
Encyclopedia
Peter Christopher Foxhall (born 7 February 1941) is an Australia
n clergyman, evangelist and author, who was born in St Neots
, Huntingdonshire
(now in Cambridgeshire
), England
.
, and Joan Hilda Woodruff, Foxhall was placed into foster care by his mother after rejection by her family, serious illness and a botched operation rendered her unable to care for him. He spent many of his early years transiting between foster homes and orphanages, until he was finally taken in permanently by a semi-dysfunctional family
in Chiswick
, a district in west London.
in 1958, Foxhall saw active service in Malaya
during the Malayan Emergency
. He was posted to HQ Far East Asia Command in Changi
, Singapore
, where he met his future wife, Antoinette De Marche "Anne" Aldworth. The two were married in England in 1964, but Anne died a few days after the birth of their first son, Austin. Following moves by the authorities to make his newborn son a ward of the state, Foxhall sought and was granted a compassionate discharge from the RAF, and he and his son immediately boarded a boat to Australia.
before relocating with his parents-in-law to Townsville, Queensland
. While working as a librarian at James Cook University
, he met Glenda Jill "Jill" Pender, whom he married in February 1968. The couple relocated to Adelaide
, South Australia
, where Foxhall obtained work at a printing company, rising quickly to a managerial position despite his lack of formal education. The couple had four children: Alexander, Melanie, Michelle and Madeleine.
front man Peter Furler
) and Michael Spyker. The aim of Rainbow Ministries was to evangelise Australian children through lunchtime "Rainbow Clubs" in state-run schools. While having a definite gospel
focus, these clubs had a strong emphasis on fun for the children. Foxhall took over the running of Rainbow Ministries, and soon after left the CRC and joined the Assemblies of God
, in which he was ordained an itinerant minister. In 1984, the family relocated to Nambour, Queensland
, where Foxhall assisted Bill Furler in establishing an AOG congregation at Mooloolaba. Weekly worship at the church was led by the original members of the Newsboys. However, Foxhall's heart was not in it, as he had become passionate about evangelising children. Consequently, he relocated Rainbow Ministries headquarters to Nambour and began to travel extensively, running seminars and starting Rainbow Clubs up and down Australia's eastern seaboard.
Foxhall's ministry spanned about 20 years, taking him throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea
and the United Kingdom
. While he predominantly spoke to churches, inspiring people to take up children's ministry, his greatest joy was teaching and evangelising children, and he always jumped at the chance of taking a Religious Education class or running a lunchtime club.
, before retiring in 2001. He recorded some of his memoirs in Odd Socks: God's beloved eccentrics, in 2003. He currently lives in a small town on the Darling Downs with his wife. So far, their five children (including Austin, Peter's son from his first marriage) have given them 21 grandchildren. Their eldest son, Austin, is a laboratory technician in Gladstone, Queensland
; their second son, Alexander
, is a children's author; their eldest daughter, Melanie Cameron, is a professional musician; their second daughter, Michelle Garside, is head of a primary school, and their youngest daughter, Madeleine Tiller, is a journalist and published author. Madeleine wrote "Pied Pastor: the life story of Peter Foxhall" in 2004.
Foxhall was reunited with his mother in 1999. She is currently living in Apollo Bay, Victoria
, where she receives weekly phonecalls and occasional visits from her long-lost son. In June 2008, Foxhall discovered he had a half-sister living in England. The two plan to meet for the first time in 2009.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n clergyman, evangelist and author, who was born in St Neots
St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
, Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
(now in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
), England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Childhood
The illegitimate son of Raymond Graham Foxhall, a (purportedly married) clerk from LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Joan Hilda Woodruff, Foxhall was placed into foster care by his mother after rejection by her family, serious illness and a botched operation rendered her unable to care for him. He spent many of his early years transiting between foster homes and orphanages, until he was finally taken in permanently by a semi-dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, a district in west London.
RAF career
Joining the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
in 1958, Foxhall saw active service in Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
during the Malayan Emergency
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
. He was posted to HQ Far East Asia Command in Changi
Changi
Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport/Changi Air Base, Changi Naval Base and is also home to Changi Prison, site of the former Japanese Prisoner of War Camp during World War II which held Allied prisoners captured in Singapore and Malaysia...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, where he met his future wife, Antoinette De Marche "Anne" Aldworth. The two were married in England in 1964, but Anne died a few days after the birth of their first son, Austin. Following moves by the authorities to make his newborn son a ward of the state, Foxhall sought and was granted a compassionate discharge from the RAF, and he and his son immediately boarded a boat to Australia.
Working in Australia
Foxhall worked for a time at the Island Lagoon facility in Woomera, South AustraliaWoomera, South Australia
The town, or village, of Woomera is located in the south east corner of the Woomera Prohibited Area ; colloquially known as the Woomera Rocket Range...
before relocating with his parents-in-law to Townsville, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. While working as a librarian at James Cook University
James Cook University
James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The university has two Australian campuses, located in Townsville and Cairns respectively, and an international campus in Singapore. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland—proclaimed in 1970—and the...
, he met Glenda Jill "Jill" Pender, whom he married in February 1968. The couple relocated to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, where Foxhall obtained work at a printing company, rising quickly to a managerial position despite his lack of formal education. The couple had four children: Alexander, Melanie, Michelle and Madeleine.
Conversion
Jill Foxhall became a born-again Christian in the early 1970s. Despite his initial resistance, Peter followed soon afterwards. Joining the Christian Revival Crusade, a Pentecostal denomination, Foxhall was soon appointed as an elder of their local congregation. He left his job to work for the church as an administrator and counsellor (for considerably less pay), and also spent two years as superintendent of the Sunday school.Ordination and itinerant ministry
In his latter years with the CRC, Foxhall became involved with Rainbow Ministries, a non-denominational, non-profit organisation run by Bill and Rosalie Furler (the parents of NewsboysNewsboys
Newsboys are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia. They have released 15 studio albums, six of which have been certified gold...
front man Peter Furler
Peter Furler
Peter Andrew Furler is an Australian musician, songwriter, producer, and record executive but is best known as the former lead singer for the Christian rock band Newsboys.-Biography:...
) and Michael Spyker. The aim of Rainbow Ministries was to evangelise Australian children through lunchtime "Rainbow Clubs" in state-run schools. While having a definite gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
focus, these clubs had a strong emphasis on fun for the children. Foxhall took over the running of Rainbow Ministries, and soon after left the CRC and joined the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, in which he was ordained an itinerant minister. In 1984, the family relocated to Nambour, Queensland
Nambour, Queensland
The area now known as Nambour, was first settled in 1870. The town was then called Petrie's Creek. In 1890 the Maroochy Divisional Board was established...
, where Foxhall assisted Bill Furler in establishing an AOG congregation at Mooloolaba. Weekly worship at the church was led by the original members of the Newsboys. However, Foxhall's heart was not in it, as he had become passionate about evangelising children. Consequently, he relocated Rainbow Ministries headquarters to Nambour and began to travel extensively, running seminars and starting Rainbow Clubs up and down Australia's eastern seaboard.
Foxhall's ministry spanned about 20 years, taking him throughout Australia, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. While he predominantly spoke to churches, inspiring people to take up children's ministry, his greatest joy was teaching and evangelising children, and he always jumped at the chance of taking a Religious Education class or running a lunchtime club.
Retirement
In the late 1990s, Foxhall took up a position as children's pastor at Spring Street AOG in Toowoomba, QueenslandToowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...
, before retiring in 2001. He recorded some of his memoirs in Odd Socks: God's beloved eccentrics, in 2003. He currently lives in a small town on the Darling Downs with his wife. So far, their five children (including Austin, Peter's son from his first marriage) have given them 21 grandchildren. Their eldest son, Austin, is a laboratory technician in Gladstone, Queensland
Gladstone, Queensland
- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...
; their second son, Alexander
Alexander S. Foxhall
-Life:Foxhall was born to Peter Christopher Foxhall and Glenda Jill "Jill" Foxhall née Pender in 1969, the eldest of four children of that marriage, his father having a son by his first wife....
, is a children's author; their eldest daughter, Melanie Cameron, is a professional musician; their second daughter, Michelle Garside, is head of a primary school, and their youngest daughter, Madeleine Tiller, is a journalist and published author. Madeleine wrote "Pied Pastor: the life story of Peter Foxhall" in 2004.
Foxhall was reunited with his mother in 1999. She is currently living in Apollo Bay, Victoria
Apollo Bay, Victoria
Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town has a population of 1380....
, where she receives weekly phonecalls and occasional visits from her long-lost son. In June 2008, Foxhall discovered he had a half-sister living in England. The two plan to meet for the first time in 2009.