During both World Wars he resigned from active ministry within the Methodist Church of Australasia because of his opposition to his nation's military engagement.
[1] It was said of him on his death, that "he sought and found an expression for religious faith that satisfied both the demands of the spirit and the temper of the age ... for all his gentle modesty he was inflexibly firm and courageous in maintaining his convictions.
[7] Webb chose service to the church over a career as a lawyer and became a graduate student at the Wesleyan Theological Institution which was then still based in the grounds of his Alma Mater, Newington College.
[8][9] The recruiting sergeant in Hay asked Webb to encourage young men in his congregation to support the war effort.
Webb eventually found "the moral implications of Christian doctrine" inconsistent with those of the Methodist Church and he resigned from the ministry.
He returned to the Central Methodist Mission in Sydney without pastoral charge before moving to Moss Vale in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
During this period Webb did not work as a minister but tried to support his family by teaching elocution, farming and selling fruit and clothing door-to-door.
As Australia was again at war Webb considered "that his pacifist principles were not consistent with his work in the church" and he again resigned from ministry.