The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Whenever it was Ted’s turn to lead the intercessions on a Sunday morning there were several phrases which became familiar to us because he always used them.  One was his reference to the Church of England as the ‘Reformed Catholic church, established in this land’ and the other was his reference to the departed as ‘those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light.’  And often there was a slight crack in his voice as he said those words.  It is a phrase taken from the introduction to the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols written by Eric Milner White for King’s College Chapel.  It goes on to refer to,’ that multitude which no man can number, whose hope was in the word made flesh, and with whom, in this Lord Jesus Christ we for evermore are one.’

Ted served well the Reformed Catholic  church established in this land – here at St John’s as a long standing member of the PCC – for many years with Rachel beside him-  a Church Warden from 1979 -1983, the originator of our voluntary rate request to all the households of the parish, the author of the Church Music Trust, as a frequent host of Lent Groups and much, much more, not least the fact that every Sunday morning the clergy sit on chairs made by the mouse man of York (Kilburn) which were donated by Ted and Rachel in celebration of their golden wedding anniversary.  Ted also served the wider church as a Church Commissioner from 1990 to 2001, managing the Church’s investments and property, clergy salaries and pensions, and the reordering of parish boundaries.  He was also on the Legal Advice Commission of the General Synod dealing, as his Telegraph obituary puts it  ‘with knotty problems of ecclesiastical law.’ He was also the patron of two livings in the Portsmouth diocese – a responsibility he took with great seriousness.

But giving the church practical and clear minded advice was not Ted’s only concern.  In the words of our  reading from Colossians he let the word of Christ dwell in him richly using both  the Jerusalem Bible and the Greek New Testament which he always brought with him to a Bible Study along with at least one commentary.  Ted was always a challenge to any of the clergy leading that group! He was also a keen follower online of the thought of the controversial American Bishop Jack Spong as well as being a devotee of CS Lewis.

But above all, as the crack in his voice betrayed whenever he referred to ‘those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light,’ Ted’s was an Easter faith.  He found any focus on Good Friday and the Crucifixion a little difficult – perhaps because that was a controversial subject – and he had lots of objections which he would like to have put to St Augustine and St Anselm, Luther and Calvin.  By contrast, Ted held to a faith which was affirmative, all embracing, hopeful, and celebratory, a faith which could be taken with the sound of trumpets.

And so now we pray for him and with him as he enters that greater light together with all whose hope was in the word made flesh.  We pray for him as he comes before God and, as Paul puts it, fully understands even as he is fully understood.  And in that understanding he will see with gratitude all that grace enabled him to achieve in his life, he will receive forgiveness for all he did wrong or failed to do, and he will know the love which we express for him in our prayers and our continued memories as we celebrate the life of this valiant pilgrim.