John W. Searle

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John William Searle (29 March 1905 – 7 July 1969) was an Australian minister and educator. He served as the second Principal of the Melbourne Bible Institute (now the Melbourne School of Theology) from 1944 to 1963. Born in Normanby, Yorkshire, he moved to Australia in 1925. He studied at MBI (1928–1930) and the University of Melbourne (1934–1939). He became a Presbyterian minister and served in Queenstown, Tasmania (1940–1941). He later became Vice Principal at MBI and then took over as Principal when C. H. Nash retired. Rowland Ward noted that Searle stayed loyal to the founders’ vision and to Nash, his mentor. Like Nash, he faced opposition from people unsympathetic to the Evangelical faith, but he did not become embittered.