sometime Methodist Local Preacher ...
I became a member of the Methodist Church at East Finchley (EFM) aged 26. I had attended the Junior Church there but left when I was 11 continuing my journey into faith through ‘Christian Fellowship’ at school. It was the theatre group at EFM that drew me back and an opportunity to read a play in two of a series of four services led by Bernard Braley. He remains influential in my spiritual life and preaching until today, although he died in 2001. I was so captured by Bernard's unconventional style of preaching that I returned to the church.
Bernard took my membership classes rather than the minister as his wife, who was also about to come into membership, preferred that her husband did not take them. Bernard had the sort of mind you had to run to keep up with. He darted from thought to thought often leaving sentences unfinished so that you could fill-in the words that were left unsaid. Then off he would go with another idea with who ever was listening in tow.
Not long after I received my call. Unusually, I attended three services on a Sunday after Easter. At each of the services the reading was Peter's reinstatement by Jesus. I realise now that would have been the set reading for that Sunday but I had been the only one to attend each of the three services and I felt God was speaking directly to me. 'Feed my sheep' was the calling. The trouble was that I did not know what it meant.
I prayed about it (and continue to pray about to make sure I am on track). At first I thought it meant becoming a steward at EFM. I certainly didn't believe it was a call to preach; I lacked the skills and intellect to do that, surely. Eventually, as senior steward I became responsible for organising services either as local arrangements or when preachers were unexpectedly absent. Some said I had an aptitude for it and I felt increasingly that the services lacked the one think that I was not allowed to do, which was to preach.
I was encouraged into training to become a local preacher. I arrived somewhat late but, perhaps, the years spent looking after EFM's spiritual and practical needs as a steward had been preparation. I became an accredited Methodist Local Preacher in 2007.
I still believe that it’s not me up there leading worship but the Holy Spirit inspiring me. The Spirit inspires me as I write and create and devise the worship services I am appointed to take. I am pleased with the responses I get, for those who have inspired and taught me and for the triune God I serve and, maybe just the tiniest bit for myself. That is because I get a great deal of joy from being able to express my faith: in the preparation as well as the delivery.
sometime actor ....
I have been acting for as long as I can remember. I have a vivid imagination and as a child my games were filled with imaginary worlds, people and stories.
As an adult I have joined several theatre groups. First, the one attached to EFM where I learned my craft from the wonderfully talented Barbara Clarke. But since that closed I have acted with Brookland Players, The Guild Players, Mathew Dickinson Productions, Tetherdown Players and Theatre in the Square.
I have played a wide range of characters in plays as diverse as pantomime and children's drama, Chekhov, Arthur Miller, Shakespeare, Tony Harrison's mysteries, Ayckbourn, Pinter, Coward, John Mortimer, musical review, Edward Bond, radio theatre pastiche, Tom Stoppard, Rattigan, T S Elliott, Christopher Fry, Shaw and Dickens.
I direct as well and enjoy almost every part of the theatre process. This experience has come in useful with my preaching. Voice production; knowing how to make you voice heard and sound interesting is a skill used in both areas of my life. A drama adjudicator once said that she had often listened to preachers and thought they would make good actors. Of me, when playing a vicar, she thought that I was totally convincing as a preacher.
By far the most significant piece of drama in which I was involved was Tony Harrison's 'The Mysteries' which I performed with both The Guild Players and Mathew Dickinson Productions playing the role of Jesus.
John Savage, another brilliant director, cast me although he didn't know me at the time. I had the most wonderful time work on the play with the members of the Guild Players. I made many friends. Most of all I grew in faith through the experience. I had seen the plays at the National Theatre and had witnessed the power of the story on audiences made of people of faith and none. Working with a cast of mostly Christians, in front of a mainly Christian audience and in a church hall was an extraordinary spiritual experience. It was an experience I have used in my preaching several times.
Three years later, I got a call from Mathew Dickinson who needed someone to play Jesus as his had dropped out due to work commitments. It took little persuading. Again, I worked with a remarkable group of Christian people and made many friends. It is 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' and I have been privileged to be part of two companies telling the story.
In my time I have played many Biblical characters Peter, Andrew, Thomas, God, Caiaphas, John, a host of characters from Old Testament and Satan on one occasion.
As I am true to my faith, I have a talent in drama that is God given and I must use it in His service. I do use it to entertain others but it is invaluable in my preaching, at church and in spreading the Word of God.
sometime Promenader …
I have been attending the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts since 1976 and have held a season ticket since 1982. My education in musical appreciation has almost entirely been carried out at the Royal Albert Hall. This is the great legacy of the Proms; it broadens a classical music outlook. I have experience concerts and music I would never have otherwise attended.
But it is so much more than the music. It is making friends (some I only see at the concerts) who share the same interest, it is enjoying the vibrant atmosphere, it is learning to get along with people who would drive you mad in any other place and it is raising money for some great musical causes. I am a trustee of Promenaders’ Musical Charities and was its chairman for three years.
and work ...
I don't define myself by the work I do: my job is in finance. It is there for me to earn a living and to do the things I enjoy doing. That is not to say I don't consider it important. I work hard and do my job well. It just not the most important part of my life.
and love ...
I have a wonderful, generous and loving partner in Graham. We met on holiday in Gran Canaria in 2004. Holiday romances should be avoided, shouldn't they; holiday romances don't work, do they; holiday romances never last, will they. Well this has lasted and I love him more now than I did then and do so more and more each day.
He has found faith with support but with no prompting from me. He has found his niche at EFM and now people say, 'What did we do before Graham came?' that makes me smile.
There will be some who object to my sexuality and I respect that, just as I hope that others will respect my point of view that it is not wrong. I have a lot of support from my church that appreciates the gifts I bring and the commitment I have to the work and mission of the church.
influences ...
Bernard Braley - I have already mentioned that Bernard was instrumental in my developing faith. He was also my mentor during my local preacher training until his death. He was unconventional, brilliant and a great encourager. I took the last service he attended at EFM, not long after I had started taking services on my own. As always, his words were considered, pertinent and constructed to lift my self-esteem (he extended this to all preachers no matter their experience). Amongst other things he taught me the importance of hymnody in worship and how to think beyond the surface of matters theological. He said that he would much rather talk about God with an atheist than many professing Christians because at least the atheist had thought about it. He would rather members of a congregation disagree with every word of his sermon rather than respond with an anodyne, 'nice hymns,' because at least they had listened and responded. Bernard tested me. At one service, instead of the sermon, he suggested we interview one another. I had no idea what questions he would ask except it would be about the theme for the service. It was nerve-racking but it worked and I grew in confidence. He tested the faith and theology of congregations and challenged them. He often pulled folk to the front to people his examples. It was often uncomfortable to be in that position but ultimately rewarding; no one dropped off or let their minds wander, they were to busy trying to keep up with his speed of light intellect. Bernard never preached a sermon; he preached a service.
Brenda Dunstone - Brenda took over as my mentor during my training. Brenda was one of the people who had encouraged me into preaching. Like me, she had not believed that she had a gift to preach but was persuaded that she had the ability. This gave encouragement to me who was equally doubtful. If there was a female equivalent to Barnabas then it was Brenda; a daughter of encouragement.
Revd. Dr. The Lord Leslie Griffiths - This feels like name dropping but Leslie was our minister for a short (too short) while. Leslie's preaching is inspirational. He grounds theology in the reality of life. He uses the time he has available economically. Even in the few minutes of 'Thought for the Day', a sermon of 15 or 20 minutes or a speech lasting an hour, every word, sentence and paragraph is constructed for maximum impact. His passion is evident, his faith infectious and his affability appears inexhaustible. At the time the Methodist Church was discussing 'Human Sexuality' (which in the main turned into an endless debate on whether homosexuals should be accepted into the church) he was the first person in the church to whom I came out. He said to me that he was honoured that I had done so and that meant a huge amount to me.
Revd. Steve Chalk - This isn't name dropping as I have never met him but his writing and broadcasting has been influential. He is another cleric whose theology is grounded in the every day and in ordinary people. His books 'He Never Said' and 'The Lost Message of Jesus' impressed me. He dispels some of the myth and nonsense that has clouded the Good News message, which has brought it to shame and ridicule. He provides pertinent and clear examples from his own experience to strengthen his arguments and clarify the simple theology on which his faith is based. Time and again I find myself saying, 'Why couldn't I see that before, it is so obvious now'. Too often we are looking to find the message that lies hidden in the depths of the theological jungle and fail to see the elephant standing in the foreground. Steve Chalk points out the elephant.
William Barclay – He dedicated his life to “making the best biblical scholarship available to the average reader” and his 17 commentaries on the books of the New Testament part of the result of this aim. They have a great depth of background information and yet are written in terms that we can all understand. I find them essential starting place when I try to understand the text on which I am to preach.
Revd. Mark Wakelin – Mark and his wife, Judith, came to EFM when he came to manage The Guy Chester Centre Methodist mission in Muswell Hill, North London. Mark’s talents as an exceptional preacher were soon discovered and EFM was privileged to benefit when he led worship. He brought joy to worship and a sense of wonder. He spoke effortlessly and with such engaging good humour and above all such passion in his faith. I invited him to preach at the service where I was recognised as an accredited preacher. It was one of the most powerful sermons I have ever witnessed.
Others … Revd. Richard Watson who introduced me to ‘Alternative Worship’ and who also has a grounded theology and an irreverent sense of humour. Revd. Ian Bell who has an ease of style the masks the power of his preaching. Revd. Fred Pratt Green, who I met only once but, who is one of the greatest hymn-writers of modern times.
