One of ABM’s former missionaries, Fr Charles Helms, has died. His funeral will be held on Thursday 25 June at 1.00pm at Christ Church, Warracknabeal, followed by Warracknabeal Lawn Cemetery.

We have received tributes from the Revd Norman Hart, Euroa, Victoria and from the Rt Rev John Kafwanka, Bishop of Northern Zambia.

Fr Norman Hart writes:

The Revd Charles Helms died recently.  He was a much respected and loyal servant of Christ who exercised much of his ministry under the auspices of the Anglican Board of Mission, serving the church in Papua New Guinea and Zambia.

The Rev’d Charles Henry Helms died recently in his 97th year.   Charles lived his early life on the family farm near Avenel.  Like many people called to ministry he faced the difficulty of choosing between serving God or working the family farm for his parents.  When his parents sold the farm and retired to Euroa, Charles was free to serve God.

Charles was accepted as a candidate for ministry and began his studies at St Columb’s Hall, Wangaratta.  Fr Charles was ordained as a Deacon in 1962 and Priest in 1963.  His first position in the church was as Assistant Priest to Holy Trinity Cathedral, Wangaratta.

Fr Charles was then called to serve the church primarily as a Teacher, preparing men for ministry.  first at St Columb’s Wangaratta followed by six years at Newton College, Dogura, PNG.

A short sojourn in Wangaratta was followed by eleven years at St John’s Seminary, Kitwe, Zambia.

Returning to Australia Fr Charles was the Dean of All Saints’ Cathedral on Thursday Island in 1993 before taking up a position as Assistant Curate in Footscray for five years.

The last 26 years Fr Charles resided in Warracknabeal in the Diocese of Ballarat.

Charles was a faithful agent of the Anglican Board of Mission.  His spiritual life was sustained by many years as a member of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd.

Charles was an avid collector of art and loved to travel to distant and unusual places.  His home in Warracknabeal was a wonderful jumble of his life experiences Russian Icons, prints, oils, watercolours, framed and in drawers, different styles and periods all mixed in together.

He had a wonderful sense of humour and a joy in serving God, he loved the church and its liturgy.

Charles kept in touch with his family and many friends and was often on the road visiting them.

Charles’ passing may seem like a loss but in God’s economy nothing is ever lost.  Charles touched the lives of so many people who in their turn changed lives of more folk than can be counted.   Charles’ life is like the stone dropped into a pond in which the ripples of his influence travel for generations to come.

He was a joy to know.  Farewell, Good and Faithful servant. May you Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory, Amen

The Revd Norman Hart
Euroa, Victoria
June 2026

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The Bishop of Northern Zambia writes:

Remembering the Revd Charles Henry Helms, OGS

The Revd Charles Helms was initially invited to come to Zambia in 1981 by the Bishop of Central Zambia, Robert Selby Taylor, a fellow member of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd (OGS), who previously had served as the 3rd Bishop of the Diocese of Zambia (1941-1951) when Zambia as a country was a Diocese, and retired Archbishop of Cape Town and Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (1964-174), now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA).

When Fr Charles arrived in Zambia in 1981, the Anglican Church had no theological institution in existence as the previous Provincial institution, St John the Baptist Seminary, had closed down in 1972. This meant that Fr Charles was to start from the scratch to establish a new theological institution to train Zambia priests. He took on this task, and in 1982, the current St John’s Seminary in Kitwe, was born on Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation campus using “borrowed” infrastructure, and Charles as its first Rector/Principal. Student training was a joint arrangement with the United Church of Zambia who had all the infrastructure including staff at its UCZ Theological College (now UCZ University). Fr Charles became part of the faculty of the UCZ Theological College until he left Zambia in 1992.

In the meantime, with the support of the Bishops and the Anglican Church in Zambia, Fr Charles had embarked on mobilising funds to build the Seminary infrastructure on the plot of land allocated to the Anglican Church by MEF, opposite UCZ Theological College. A one storey block was built which housed 9 rooms for single students, a library, a kitchen, 3 classrooms, a living room, and a chapel. Other buildings included five two-bedroom flats for married students.

By the time Fr Charles was leaving Zambia he had trained in excess of 30 Anglican ordinands among them was one of the first students, the late Revd Dr Andrew Musonda Taulo Mumba, who took over from Fr Charles as Rector/Principal of St John’s Seminary.

Fr Charles left Zambia a very satisfied person for how God had used him to pioneer a new theological institution in Zambia to train both ordinands and others in theological education. Among those Fr Charles had trained are: Bishop Derek Kamukwamba (retired, Central Zambia), Bishop Robert Mumbi (retired, Luapula Diocese), Bishop William Mchombo (former Bishop of Eastern Zambia and current Bishop of Upper Shire, Malawi), and Bishop John Kafwanka (current, Northern Zambia).

Fr Charles is fondly remembered and missed by many in Zambia for the profound positive legacy, which will live on for many years to come. As a Church in Zambia we give thanks for the life lived and his service to the Anglican Church in Zambia. While we mourn his passing, we are also grateful for the gift he was to the Anglican Church in Zambia and to many others, and we now commend him to rest in God’s eternal grace.

Rt Revd John Kafwanka
Bishop of Northern Zambia
June 2026