Reverend Hilda May Abba
Also known as: Reverend Hilda May Abba, Hilda May Blackham
Born: 30 May 1918
Special Achievements:First woman in Australia ordained as Theological Lecturer (Pitt Street Congregational Church, Sydney: 1951)
Additional Information:1936: Hilda May entered Homerton College, Cambridge, where she qualified as a teacher.
1943: Attained a Bachelor of Arts (hons) in History at Sheffield University, UK.
1948: Appointed Tutor at Camden College, Sydney, NSW
1951: Attained Bachelor of Divinity at Melbourne College of Divinity and ordained at Pitt Street Congregational Church, Sydney, on 8 October 1951.
1952: She became Lecturer in Church History, United Faculty of Theology, St Andrew's College, University of Sydney, and Minister of Balmain Congregational Church, Sydney.
1955: Returned with her family to the United Kingdom
1955-1976: Hilda was the head of religious education in various technical, comprehensive and grammar schools in the United Kingdom.
1977: Hilda and her husband returned to Australia to take up a joint ministry in the Hampton Uniting Church Parish, Melbourne.
1980: Began another joint ministry at St John's Uniting Church, Essendon, Melbourne.
1982: Joint Ministers of St John's Uniting Church, Cowes, on Phillip Island, Victoria.
MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILLIATIONS
Hilda May Abba was a member of the Society for Old Testament Study (in the United Kingdom), the Fellowship for Biblical Studies (Australia), the Australian Federation of University Women and the Australian College of Education.