Major was
ordained by
William Cowie, Bishop of Auckland, as a
deacon in 1895 and as a
priest in 1896. He served his
curacy at St Mark's Church,
Remuera in the
Diocese of Auckland between 1895 and 1899. While at Oxford, he was exposed to modernist theology,
liberal Christianity, and
historical criticism of the Bible. In January 1906, Major moved to
Ripon, Yorkshire where he had been appointed chaplain of the
Ripon Clergy College. That year, he was additionally appointed vice-principal of the college. In Ripon, he came under the influence of the
broad church Bishop of Ripon,
William Boyd Carpenter. In addition to his scholarly appointments, he maintained his parish ministry: first as curate of
North Stainley (1908 to 1911), then as
Rector of
St Michael's Church, Copgrove (1911 to 1919). In 1919, Major was made
Principal of the Ripon Clergy College: that year, he oversaw the move of the college from Yorkshire to
Parks Road,
Oxford, Oxfordshire, and its renaming as Ripon Hall, Oxford. He was a Select Preacher at the
University of Oxford in 1922 and at the
University of Cambridge in 1925. In 1924, he was awarded a
Doctor of Divinity (DD) degree by the University of Oxford: the DD is the most senior degree awarded by the university. He delivered the
William Belden Noble Lectures at
Harvard University in 1925. From 1929 until his death, he was also Vicar of
Merton, Oxfordshire. In 1933, he once more oversaw the moving of the college, and it relocated to
Boars Hill, a village on the outskirts of Oxford: this time, however, it retained its name. He kept the college open during the
Second World War, although with reduced students and some of the college's buildings were given over to be used as a hospital. Having become increasingly deaf, he stepped down as Principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford in 1948, and retired to the vicarage at Merton.
Views Major began his Christian life in the
Tractarian Anglo-Catholic tradition of his mother, then moved towards a
broad church position, before establishing himself as a
liberal Christian in the first decade of the 1900s. He was "sceptical of the
virgin birth, the
physical resurrection, and other miracles". His beliefs caused conflict with others within and without Anglicanism: there was an unsuccessful attempt to have him tried for
heresy in 1921, he was nicknamed the "Anti-Christ of Oxford" by traditionalist Anglo-Catholics, and a Baptist minister organised a series of anti-modernist meetings in reaction to his visit to New Zealand in 1928. Major was a major figure in the
Modern Churchmen's Union, which he had joined by 1910. In 1911, he founded its
Modern Churchman journal, and served as its editor from 1911 to 1956. ==Personal life==