13 Facts About Bill Burnett

Bill Bendyshe Burnett was a South African Anglican bishop and archbishop.

Bill Burnett was archbishop of Cape Town from 1974 to 1981.

Bill Burnett was the son of Richard Evelyn Burnett, a British-born bank manager, and his wife, Louisa Martha Dobinson.

Bill Burnett married Sheila Fulton Trollip at the end of World War II in 1945 when he was 28 years old.

Bill Burnett died in Grahamstown, South Africa, on 23 August 1994.

Bill Burnett was made deacon in 1946 and ordained priest in 1947.

Bill Burnett served as chaplain at Michaelhouse from 1950 to 1954.

Bill Burnett became Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein in 1957, and later served as the first general secretary of the South African Council of Churches when it was formed in 1967 from the old Christian Council of South Africa.

However, in 1979, Bill Burnett was the Archbishop of Cape Town and thus president of the Anglican Provincial Synod and , he voiced a challenge to the Synod.

Bill Burnett spoke from the chair, saying that he disliked having to apply for permits, but he thought it was part of his role in keeping the institutional church going.

Bill Burnett was quite prepared to see the institutional church die, and if that was what synod really wanted him to do, he would do it.

The synod failed to meet the challenge, and Bill Burnett retired before the next one met.

Bill Burnett had opened to door a chink, but the church did not want to escape from the trap.