His first book, The Church of England in Loyalist New Brunswick 1783-1825, published by Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, is the public release of the work which led to the conferring of his PhD by The University of Wales, Lampeter in 2002.

Hebb is a Nova Scotia native who has served in the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton since his ordination in 1985.

The major achievement of his book is to correct a common misconception in that the Fredericton Diocese, which encompasses the province of New Brunswick, did not become its own entity until 1845 so many assume that establishment and life of the Anglican Church in New Brunswick was just a reflection of the situation in Nova Scotia.

People unfamiliar with either the basics of historic Anglican life with respect to Episcopal government and ties to the Church of England or the central role of the British-based Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) are given a clear and basic exposition of the facts by Hebb.

In fact, that is the hallmark of Hebb’s style. He presents the facts in a lucid and basic fashion, avoiding either excessive editorializing or inaccurate revisionist history in his presentation of those facts.

As such, the contemporary reader learns that the actual establishment of the church in loyalist, pre-confederation New Brunswick had little to do with the legislated establishment of the Church of England in the colony by Great Britain.

It had far more to do with the tireless and faithful efforts of SPG in providing funds to a colony and a way of life that the London-based group did not fully understand. Equally tireless and faithful were the efforts of Rt. Rev. Charles Inglis, Bishop of Nova Scotia and the first Church of England Bishop placed in the North American British colonies, and the associated efforts of the priests he literally and figuratively placed in the field.

The seeds they planted still bear fruit today. Hebb’s book gives an accurate portrayal of the people who planted those seeds, and the efforts and sacrifices they made in those noble efforts.