Oral history 5) A truly Baptist experience

 

Many descriptions survive of Baptist Church House in Holborn, London, but my experience of climbing the steps under John Bunyan’s stature, pushing open the large oak doors, passing Spurgeon’s statue in the black and white tiled entrance, opened a new world. I could hardly believe that I was working there! Ascending the stairs, past different departments, the Shakespeare Room (where we held worship) and the stunning Council Chamber, I reached my own office.  Room 32 which, though I shared it with the Stewardship Dept. overseen by Ungoed Davies and Jim Findlay, was rarely used by them.  A desk, old typewriter, paper, carbon paper was waiting for me. Fortunately, I had taught myself touch typing in my early teens, so I could cope with being my own secretary.  Instantly, I was catapulted into a crash induction course about what it meant to belong to the national Baptist family. Beginning the same day as the new General Secretary, David Russell I know he was definitely better prepared than me!  So much was to happen to change the direction of my life. In summary, I note four key aspects.

First, personal changes.  As a newcomer I was treated with extraordinary kindness by all the staff. My role with student work was placed within the Youth Department. Its head, Peter Tongeman, gave me immense freedom. However, in my first month, Peter suffered peritonitis and David Russell sent me in his place to chair an International Baptist Student Conference in the Baptist seminary, Ruschlikon, Switzerland.  Having only traveled abroad once before (briefly to Paris) I suddenly found myself leading a small group of chosen British students to join others for (what proved to be) an intensive conference.  Suddenly I was chairing sessions, discussions and even preaching.  What rash assumptions were made about my competences!  Most significantly, one of the British party was a recently orphaned student called Carol Bentall.  Utterly swept off my feet by her, we were married after 11 months.  Carol was to prove the single best thing that has happened to me and my ministry, next to my relationship with Jesus Christ.  Inevitably, this developing romantic relationship added yet more sheen to my happy BUGB memories.

It needs to be added that Carol’s teenage conversion under Frank Goodwin’s ministry at Chatsworth BC, West Norwood, led to her leadership in the large youth group. She describes how the church became her family when her mother died, giving Carol profound support in every way. Out of her experience, she was so positive about how a local Baptist church could express love in action. Actually, her presence in Switzerland owed everything to the church’s practical support.  Her positive experience of the local Baptist church was to prove vital for the future.

Second, organizational experience. Quickly, I learned the Union’s main accountability structures: specialist committees reporting to Main Committees onto General Purpose and Finance Committee and ultimately to the Council. My first Council Meeting in 1967 remains imprinted on my mind. The Chamber (where the British Council of Churches was formed) had a parliamentary feel, with circular seating around staff at a central table. I was to witness many key Baptist leaders in action.  With high quality debate, I grew to know names of individuals, their favoured seats, points of view, and likely interventions. Several memories still hold of key dramatic moments. I had no idea that British Baptists comprised such a range of gifted people. All the time I was imbibing Baptist life and making connections. Networking it would be termed today.