Peter Hyatt, former trustee of CMS and SAMS, reflects on the life of former mission partner and chair of SAMS Patrick Coghlan ahead of a thanksgiving service.

Patrick fell seriously ill at home with COVID-19 in March 2020. He died in the Hallamshire Hospital on 20 April 2020. Five people were permitted to attend his woodland burial in May 2020.

After Patrick’s curacy under Robert Warren at St Thomas’ Church, Crookes, Patrick and Gill joined SAMS and were sent to north east Brazil in 1979. There he was Vicar of A Igreja do Bom Pastor in Salvador city and oversight minister to a rural church on the island of Itaparica, where two Scottish nurses and a local health assistant lived and worked. Nine years later Patrick and Gill were invited to Porto Alegre, south Brazil. Of these very fruitful periods, more will be heard at the Thanksgiving Service.

On returning to the UK and Sheffield Diocese in 1992, Patrick became vicar of St James’ Church, Anston (14 years), then of St Polycarp’s Church (six years) until retirement from full time ministry in 2013.

After a rest(!), Patrick helped to save Greenhill’s Community Library from local authority cuts. Later he chaired this, helping with Gill to bring new life and encouragement into its expanded range of activities, including beginning a mini-library on Lowedges Estate.

Patrick joined SAMS General Council in 1996 and was elected to its Board of Trustees in 1999, becoming its chair in 2004, when I was honorary treasurer. In Patrick, we had someone who would not flinch from difficulties. Among these was a concern as to where God was leading SAMS. In 2006, with the Board’s support, we commissioned a strategic review to reimagine our partnership with the South American church and to determine how best to deliver that partnership: as an independent agency? Or to consider prayerfully another sustainable model? God led us to appoint Bill Lattimer as consultant and then executive director. Through his research and wise counsel, we discovered to our great surprise and delight, in the course of several meetings with Tim Dakin and Bishop David Urquhart in Oxford, that CMS saw SAMS as an ideal merger partner. Many obstacles lay ahead, but with God’s help, Patrick’s quiet and steadying hand as our chair saw us through all of these to a full merger on 1 February 2009

Patrick and I became two of SAMS’s three representatives on the CMS Board. He retired in 2015. That Latin America remains a thriving wing of CMS’s worldwide activities is due in no small part to Patrick’s devoted life and witness to Christ’s church. Over these past two years, I have mourned the loss of an invaluable colleague and firm friend and keenly anticipate the sharing of our memories of him on Saturday 8 October.

Peter Hyatt was a trustee of SAMS from 1997 to 2021 and CMS from 2009 to 2021.

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Paul Thaxter, former international mission director of CMS, offers a personal reflection on the life of Rev Jane Shaw, who died last week.

The Rev Jane Shaw was, among other things, a gifted hospital administrator, a priest, a CMS mission partner, and a CMS trustee. She was a respected friend whom I looked up to. She was personally interested in individual people’s welfare. She was always very understanding of others. She had a lovely sense of humour that radiated a pragmatic lightness and an incisive mind. She applied her great intelligence to tasks both challenging and mundane.

I recently met Rt Rev Sami Azariah who allowed Jane Shaw to minister with full parish responsibilities in the Diocese of Raiwind, Church of Pakistan – the first and only woman priest to do so.

He was so proud to have allowed Jane to minister: one of only three women ordained into the Church of Pakistan. There were different opinions on this but Bishop Sami recalls that Jane was warmly welcomed, at the time, by her congregation and they accepted her.

Jane sensitively encouraged women’s ministry and supported gifted women into the ministry of Christ and his church. She also highlighted the plight of Pakistani Christians and how they are so often socially discriminated against.

Bishop Sami said about Jane: “She was my colleague, who was a disciplined ordained minister, who made every attempt to help me understand the important role of women in the life of the Church, especially the Church of Pakistan. The Church needs to understand and recognise their talent in its growth and unity.”

Jane often prayerfully thought of the places and people where she had worked. She was always mindful of others and understood her life to be one of humble encouragement of others. She was supportive of all those ordained within the Church of Pakistan, but especially the other women ordained at that time.

Jane was an ecumenical mission partner of Church Mission Society linking also with USPG, the Methodist Church, the Church of Scotland, and the United Church of Pakistan. She was ecumenical in the deeper sense of the term, linking with the church through the ages and across the world. She had a grasp and appreciation of church liturgy. For instance, she spent time researching the liturgy of the ancient Syrian Orthodox church in India, the Mar Thoma church. She was delighted also by the pioneering instincts and practices of Jonny Baker and the CMS Pioneer Training programmes. She was, to borrow a term from a former CMS Asia director Phil Simpson, “deeply rooted and profoundly open”. She was indeed a true radical in spirit because she was very aware of the church’s traditional heritage. She rightly described herself as a missionary priest.

In her working life she practised and taught health services management both in the NHS and overseas. Close to her heart was the need for the efficient allocation of resources to serve the local people. She never lost sight of the primary reason for the NHS which was to serve all people in the UK, particularly those who are vulnerable and often neglected.

She was also keen to see health care delivered well in international contexts and was always a wise adviser. She retained her interest in hospital administration until the end – often concerned with the outcomes of hospital work internationally as well as locally. She was a hospital governor in Bath and more locally linked to the Hospital of St John at Heytesbury.

As a retired priest living in Corton she shared in the ministry of the parish team. She was always open to the future and the shape that Christian community should emulate. She wanted to continue to have a healing ministry and spoke to me of the vital need to have healing hands, a compassionate heart and a reflective mind. She seemed indefatigable and served her local church well and was a keen home visitor in her community.

She continued to identify with the world church and, in retirement, she remained a passionate supporter of the Salisbury diocesan link with South Sudan, and served on the diocese’s Sudan committee. She circulated regular prayer requests for South Sudan, full of accurate political information, pastoral concern and the desire to live a life of Christian discipleship. She had a special affection for the diocese of Maridi where CMS mission partner Lynn Treanery served, led by Bishop Moses Zungo. She was delighted to visit the diocese and was constantly raising money and resources for the world church.

In her role as a CMS trustee, I loved her conscientious commitment to safeguarding, to good practice and to fulfilment of the Great Commission. Jane was always conscientious, diligent and delivered everything that was asked of her, often exceeding expectations with her rigorous, robust and well-reasoned work which always displayed exceptional clarity.

She was a reflective practitioner who inspired me by her life, her character, her sublime wisdom and practical love. She gave her time gladly to others like Debbie James, deputy CEO of CMS, who says: “She was a remarkable woman in so many ways and I hugely valued her prayer support, encouragement and wisdom when I became a director. She was also kind of enough to let me visit and stay over – and I enjoyed lovely apples from her orchard. She was an amazing gardener!”

Thank you, Rev Jane Shaw, for being a true disciple of our Lord Jesus and showing us how to live a life of sacrificial humble service.

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In June 2021, COVID-19 ended the life of Wichí activist leader Francisco Perez. But Perez’s legacy lives on in a hard-won land rights victory for the indigenous people of the Chaco, South America.

By Chris Wallis, mission associate

He spoke before hundreds. He met with presidents, state governors and countless parliamentary authorities. He defended his people’s land claim before the lawyers of the Interamerican Human Rights Commission in Washington DC and before judges of the Interamerican Human Rights Court in Costa Rica. He featured in newspapers, magazines and on television. But Francisco Perez was never attracted to the limelight. True to his Wichí roots, he always wanted to return home to the Chaco as quickly as possible.

In 1996 the glossy Argentine magazine Gente listed Francisco among the year’s celebrities and he was flown to Buenos Aires and accommodated in a five-star hotel. At supper, the waiter told Francisco that with the magazine paying, he could order anything he liked: champagne, caviar…. Francisco replied, “Iguana, please.” The large lizard is typical in the Chaco and considered good Wichí food. Francisco wasn’t easily impressed by the attractions of modern consumer society.

A man with a mission

He was also deeply imbued with Christian faith. After his death, Helena and I visited his widow, Liliana, and the family. Liliana recalled seeing him read his Bible and pray every evening. For me his commitment to bettering the situation of his people, in the face of many difficulties, was unmistakably his Christian witness.

In an interview around 1994, Francisco commented that, after three years in the 1960s studying in the Anglican Mission centre Mision Chaquena (with SAMS mission partners such as Maurice Jones, Barbara Kitchin, Kevin Bewley, Pat Harris and Jeanne Carter) and another three years studying and working in Tartagal, more than 200km away from his home in Alto de la Sierra, he returned to the Pilcomayo with the following intention: “I was keen to work, to help both my own kin and also those who were not, to do whatever I could to resolve their problems. I wasn’t thinking of working inside the church as a pastor, but independently alongside the church.”

I first met Francisco in 1979. He was living in Mision La Paz, on the Pilcomayo river, and working as a technical assistant for the Anglican Agricultural Development Programme, Iniciativa Cristiana. He travelled extensively, visiting Wichí and Chorote communities to support small agricultural and handicraft projects. He frequently made trips through dust or mud to take patients to the hospital in Tartagal, some 180 km away.

Bob Lunt, a linguist, had just arrived in La Paz to supervise the translation of the entire Bible into the Wichí language, a monumental task completed in 2002. Bob recalls that despite a heavy workload, every Saturday afternoon Francisco would meet with him, answer his questions and provide further instruction. Bob says Francisco “opened the door so that I could really learn the Wichí language”. Francisco’s dedication to his people’s language continued throughout his life. He was a founding and active member of the Wichí Language Council.

When I next met Francisco in 1990, his experience of dealing with white society had greatly expanded. He was elected onto the municipal council for two years and then appointed assistant environmental inspector, responsible for controlling logging in the area that was legally still all state land.

It was during this period that Francisco embarked on what I believe was his God-given mission: to gain recognition for his people’s right to claim legal possession of the lands of their ancestors.

After the return of democracy in Argentina in 1983 there were moves by the Salta provincial government to divide and sell off the State Lands (Lotes Fiscales) Nos. 55 and 14 (some 640,000 hectares). This is the territory of the Wichí and Chorote communities near the Pilcomayo River in Salta – Francisco’s homeland.

The long fight for land rights

The government wanted to move the indigenous people into small semi-urban plots of land, provide them with a few basic services and hand these ancestral lands over to cattle ranchers. Francisco recounted how government officials met with hand-picked Wichí community leaders, bamboozling them with a splendid barbecue and special offers to get their rubber stamp for the proposal.

Recognising the danger for his people, Francisco began visiting communities, seeking support for a counter-proposal. Interestingly, he first sought out the indigenous leaders of the Anglican Church, since he suspected that political leaders had sold out to the government. With the help of a local friend he composed a declaration which was signed by representatives of 15 communities and presented to the government in June 1984. This first formal petition emphasised the need for indigenous communities to retain their territory since the people’s way of life depended on the natural resources of the forest and river.

This initial land claim formed the basis for all future claims. In 1991, under Francisco’s leadership, a much more detailed claim was presented to the provincial government, in which the communities living in the State Lands No. 55 requested a single collective title to all the lands they occupied. Subsequently, other communities in the State Lands No. 14 adhered to the land claim, extending the total area included and the number of communities involved. The 1991 proposal was prepared with the backing of the Anglican Church and the technical support of a small team, including me and my wife. From this point onwards, support for the land claim was constantly provided by the social programme of the Anglican Church (as from 1994 called ASocIANA), which has included CMS mission partners such as Andrew Leake, Nick Drayson and myself.

Up until the final favourable judgement of the Interamerican Human Rights Court (IHRC), on 6 February 2020, Francisco never allowed himself to be diverted from the goal of a single territory under a single title for all the communities. He persevered despite threats and attempts to dissuade him with tempting offers.

Francisco always looked for peaceful means to come to an agreement. The Gordian knot in reaching a solution with respect to legal possession of the land was, and still is, the presence since the beginning of the last century of criollo (non-indigenous) settlers, whose cattle roam freely across all the lands occupied by the indigenous communities. Francisco was always clear that a solution for his communities also necessarily meant a solution for the criollos, but he maintained that their own lands needed to be free of criollos and their animals. At a conference in Germany in 1996, he explained: “We don’t want to be at odds with the criollos, we don’t want to come to blows with them. No. In our claim for the land it’s not that we say that they don’t also need land. We don’t suggest that they have no right to the land, and that all the rights are on our side. This is not our idea. We maintain that they also need land, but for the peace of our communities their lands need to be separated from ours. Then they also will be at peace to develop their own way of life”.

Re-grouping with rivals

Around the year 2000, it became apparent that a major shift in the land claim strategy was necessary. Up until that time the indigenous organisation Lhaka Honhat, of which Francisco was the general coordinator, had campaigned exclusively for the recognition of indigenous rights, with the objective that the government should first delimit the lands of the indigenous communities and then allocate individual plots of land for the criollo families in the adjoining area. However, since the government had failed to take any steps in this direction, using the apparent conflict between the two groups as an excuse for inaction, a new approach was considered. With the aid of another trustworthy NGO working alongside the criollo families, it was proposed that Lhaka Honhat work towards achieving joint agreements with a criollo organisation regarding the distribution of the two State Lands – presenting the government with a united front.

This meant working with the people who were perceived by the Wichí as the root of the conflict. It was by no means an easy shift for Francisco and he had to convince the rest of the indigenous leadership of Lhaka Honhat to go along with this change. Some were clearly not happy about having to deal with the criollos. There was always an undercurrent of suspicion that the criollos would cheat them.

And so from 2001 onwards, with the accompaniment of ASocIANA and the legal advice and backing of CELS, a human rights organisation based in Buenos Aires, for nearly 20 years Francisco led a gruelling process of countless and often very tense meetings: with criollos on the one hand and lengthy and tedious meetings with government officials on the other. He also had to repeatedly present and defend the indigenous people’s claim before members of the Interamerican Human Rights Commission and finally the Court itself.

Francisco lived to see the legal battle won in 2020, but challenges remain. There are some 280 criollo families, along with their animals, that need to be relocated outside the indigenous communities’ lands and until the location of their respective plots is clearly defined it is impossible to conclude the delimitation of the whole indigenous territory. The Wichí people are often frustrated by the long drawn-out process. Understandably they want to know exactly what is and isn’t their land.

Land too late?

Beyond land distribution, there are other difficulties to navigate. Much has changed since Francisco embarked on defending his people’s land rights. When I recall early gatherings in the 1990s, I see the people sitting on the ground under the Algarrobo trees and I hear one speaker after another insisting that they depended on both the forest and the river, the forest for the honey, wild fruits and animals they hunted, the river for their fish. Francisco would say, “Maybe a few of you will one day get a government job as a health worker or an assistant teacher in the primary school, but what will the rest of you live off? We need the land, because it is the land of our ancestors, of our people’s history, and it provides us all that we need for our living.”

Back in 1984, only a handful of Wichí had completed primary education and none had finished secondary education. Today there are hundreds of Wichí attending secondary schools in the Pilcomayo area. Nearly all families receive monthly subsidies from the state, and many now live in government-built housing, with television, a freezer and other furnishings. Outside you will probably see a motorbike and its owner is likely to have a mobile phone. Consumer society has made huge inroads into the traditional Wichí way of life and children leaving school today don’t have the same expectations their parents had or the same attachment to the lands of their grandparents.  

Presuming that the process of distributing and titling the land will eventually be completed – the IHRC has given the state six years to finish the process – what will the younger generation do with the almost 400,000 hectares that will belong to all the indigenous communities? How will they make use of the natural resources? Will the valuable wood be sold to outside speculators? How will the different communities decide these things together? Will they continue to abandon the ways of their forebears for the lure of convenience?  

Before he died from coronavirus in the Tartagal hospital on 6 June 2021, I know these changes were on Francisco’s mind and he hoped the church would guide Wichí families in this generational crisis. Many of us continue to share his concerns.

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The post Remembering Francisco Perez: a Wichí leader’s long road to land rights appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Bishop Patrick Harris, former bishop of Northern Argentina and of Southwell and Nottingham, and one-time secretary of Partnership for World Mission for the Church of England, died peacefully at the age of 86 on 26 December in Cheltenham General Hospital.

By Nick Drayson

Pat was well known to the CMS family, having served as a SAMS missionary from 1963–1980 and subsequently been heavily involved in many aspects of promoting world mission, including helping draft the well-known “Five Marks of Mission” and offering invaluable help in the setting up of the merger between CMS and SAMS.

He will be remembered as an outstanding and much-loved leader in the church, but above all as a friend and mentor to many, many other leaders around the world.

His family writes:

Patrick was a man of deep faith, with strong convictions as a Christian since his Army days as a young officer. From there he went to Oxford to study law, and after attending theological college, he was a curate at St Ebbe’s, Oxford, from 1960–63.

From 1963, he spent 17 years in Northern Argentina among the Wichi people. One key role he had was to prepare the first indigenous clergy for ordination, of which there have now been many. This led to the ordination of the first Wichi and Toba bishops.

He was consecrated as bishop of Northern Argentina in May 1974. He was strategic in developing multifaceted mission work in Argentina among both rural and urban churches. He developed study by extension for All Nations, and pursued advocacy for indigenous land rights and social justice throughout his ministry in Argentina. He encouraged and empowered many.

Church planting developed in the Spanish-speaking towns and cities. A large social development came into being, financed by worldwide relief agencies. He believed passionately in mission outreach, making sure that training in Scripture and a life of prayer was key.

He loved the people of the diocese. The Wichi named him ‘Käjyentes’ which translates as ‘the one who makes us happy (or makes us laugh)’. He lived closely among them, in very primitive conditions, and constantly travelled – initially on his horse Ebbo – through the arid dust of the Chaco. All this very much formed and shaped him into the person of deep humanity that he became.

On our return to the UK in 1980, for educational reasons, we spent five very happy years in the large parish of Kirkheaton, Huddersfield, with a wide social mix of people. This gave him grounding in the Church of England. Next, for two and a half years, he headed up Partnership for World Mission.

He travelled extensively to many overseas countries and was responsible with Bishop Bill Flagg for setting up the new Province of the Southern Cone, which was inaugurated in 1981. He brought together various mission agencies, and helped establish the College of Evangelists.

He was a member of the cross-party South Atlantic Council, which was established to restore relationships with Argentina after the 1982 Falklands War.

In 1988, Patrick was invited to be the ninth bishop of Southwell. This was a diverse responsibility of many parts, with the large cities and towns, but also villages, coal mining and rural communities. Again, evangelism was a heartbeat. Care and support for clergy were central for him, ordination of many women and the development and use of the laity.

Their years of retirement in Cheltenham saw a close involvement with the University of Gloucestershire working with, among others, Chinese, Angolan, Latin American, Russian, Indian students and a Muslim family from Egypt.

The Wichí people, with whom Pat first worked in Argentina, responded to news of his death with sadness, mixed with immense gratitude.

Oliva Torres, a young lay leader in the Chaco, wrote these words: “I give thanks to God for choosing Patricio to teach the Good News to our indigenous peoples. Today his servant has gone into his presence. Sadness in many of the places where he walked, but his footsteps remain, and we are trying to follow them. Joy for those who really know the Lord. May the Lord Jesus Christ comfort his family.”

Those who knew him remember how he delighted in his children and grandchildren, had a wide range of interests from wildlife to sport – and had a terrific sense of humour. He leaves a wife Valerie, and three children, Jonny, David and Rachel. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time.

Pat was held in enormous affection everywhere he went, and was an inspiration to all who served under his leadership. It is perhaps no surprise that many of those who worked in Argentina as lay missionaries ended up in the ordained ministry, thanks to his influence and guidance. His funeral will be held on 22 January 2021, and in due time there will be a service of thanksgiving for Bishop Patrick’s life and ministry in Southwell Minster.

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The Church Mission Society community joins with people all over the country and all over the world in mourning the death of former CMS general secretary Simon Barrington-Ward.

Below are some words of tribute from the CMS community’s Episcopal Visitor, The Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth as well as from other members of the CMS family.

The Right Reverend Simon Barrington-Ward, former Bishop of Coventry, has died at the age of 89.

The current Bishop of Coventry, the Right Rev Christopher Cocksworth said:

Today, Holy Saturday, Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward died. Simon was Bishop of Coventry from 1985 to 1997, and was dearly loved. Indeed, he remains in people’s hearts across the Diocese. Many people across the Diocese of Coventry were ordained or first licensed or confirmed by him. Bishop John worked closely with Simon during his curacy and, like many of us, has many stories to tell of Bishop Simon’s faithful and loving ministry. 

Before coming to Coventry, Bishop Simon was my Spiritual Director and, throughout my time as one of his successors, Simon’s example has been an inspiration. I learnt so much from him and I join with the Diocese of Coventry as a whole in being indebted to this kind and holy Father-in-God. 

Bishop Simon taught me to pray a very simple prayer, called “The Jesus Prayer”. He told me that, like him, I would need to use it during the day as bishop “to come up for air”. We give thanks for this person of prayer who knew how to dwell in the presence of God, and who will now breathe the sweet and pure air of the new creation. And we pray for his dear wife Jean, for their daughters, Helen and Mary and for the whole family.

First published on the Diocese of Coventry’s website. 

Simon Barrington-Ward studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Westcott House, before being ordained in 1956.

He served as chaplain at Magdalene College; then spent three years lecturing at Ibadan University (Nigeria), before returning to Magdalene in 1963, this time as a Fellow and Dean.

He was the General Secretary of Church Missionary Society (CMS) from 1975 to 1985, and was also Chaplain to the Queen from 1984 to 1985.

“I am living with a lot of questions. But it is only by asking the ‘impossible’ questions, and facing them, that real growth comes.” Simon Barrington-Ward, captured at Partnership House, Waterloo, the former offices of CMS, in a series of pictures for a 1980 article in Yes magazine. Wallace Boulton, who wrote the article, described him thus: “He has none of the detached aloofness often associated with academics. He is ‘Simon’ to everyone at headquarters and is easily approachable – that is if he has not already made the first approach himself in his relaxed, outgoing way.”

From 1985 to 1997, he served as the seventh Bishop of Coventry. He was consecrated a bishop by Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, on All Saints’ Day 1985 (1 November) at Westminster Abbey.

After his retirement from Coventry, he continued as a bishop with pastoral care of the University of Cambridge, and an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Ely,

Bishop Simon returned as an honorary assistant chaplain of Magdalene College, where he was an honorary fellow since 1987, and a chaplain to the staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

He was knighted as a Knight Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 2001.

I first met Simon in 1973 when he was on his first visit to Iran and I was being considered to take on the publishing work of an Iranian inter-church publishing house – Iran and his friendship with Bishop Hassan Dehqani-Tafti meant a great deal to him and he was a valued adviser to Bishop Hassan when he was obliged to remain in Britain after the Islamic Revolution. I was at Crowther Hall for his last term as Principal – and then worked with him when I joined the CMS 157 staff and became Regional Secretary for the Middle East and Pakistan. We had memorable Secretaries meetings each week and the two long weekends each year away at St Julian’s under Simon’s leadership were inspiring and invigorating times. It was at one of those summer weekends that the term ‘mission partner’ first emerged in a discussion that wanted to hold together the  missionary calling but to emphasise that it was carried out  in partnership with local churches.

One of Simon’s great themes was the Interchange of gifts, experience, spirituality and resources, deriving from the exchange of the gifts of God with those who follow Jesus. Consequently it was under his leadership that mission in Britain, particularly through the bringing of Christians from the global south to minister in Britain was established and developed.

I recall his depth of spirituality (the Jesus Prayer was so important to him), his brightness of thought and devotion, great sense of fun and humour (his singing (and acting out) of Burlington Bertie for example at Crowther Hall) and that sense when speaking to him that you had his full attention. He was a man without guile who inspired so many.

John Clark, former CMS communications director

We remember Simon well from our time at Crowther Hall when he was General Secretary of CMS. He used to spend long evenings with us and others who were there at the time, sharing with us and telling stories and giving us so much in depth teaching…. We are so grateful to God for all that we learnt from and through Simon, for his life and the depth of his ministry. May he know Christ’s love surrounding him…. We pray for Jean and the family at this time.

David and Jane Fulford, part of the CMS Asia forum

When I joined the staff of CMS in 2001 the Society was undertaking a mission spirituality review which was chaired by +Simon Barrington-Ward, a former CMS general secretary. He brought both a rich mission understanding and a very deep spirituality to bear on our prayerful discussions. Furthermore, his delight and wonder on the transformative nature of the Jesus Prayer when applied personally and sincerely made a real impression on me and led me to adopting it as part of my prayer life.

Along with Max Warren and John V Taylor he steered CMS into new forms of mission in the worldwide church. Bishop Simon was also a great advocate for interchange of Christians from everywhere to everywhere and developed pioneering programmes that enabled many Christian leaders from elsewhere in the world to serve in mission in Britain in his time as General Secretary (1975-85). He wrote a prayer that has now become the CMS Community Prayer. This prayer has been of much help to me and to our many partners around the world whom I have shared it with recently as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bishop Simon had so much gentle spiritual gravitas and wisdom. He has been a wonderful gift to CMS and the wider church.  We remain truly indebted to his Christian life of service.

Paul Thaxter, CMS director of international mission

I have known Simon for 54 years (!) from my undergraduate days studying Pt II Theology. He was for many years a kind of spiritual father to me, whom I loved, and from whom I learnt so much, not least early on concerning the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest culminating privileges of my life was to spend three weeks in pilgrimage on Mt Athos with him in 2011, and then to help write a Grove Booklet on our visit. 

After being Chaplain, then Dean of Magdalene College, he was made Principal of Crowther Hall in the Selly Oak Colleges, where I met him again, then General Secretary of CMS, then Bishop of Coventry. In retirement he returned to Cambridge to become an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Ely, and honorary assistant chaplain of Magdalene College, where our Nicholas and Jess also got to know him. 

Fullness of joy and glory is now his. Tears of joy are now our sign of gratitude.

Philip Seddon

The CMS Community prayer, written by Simon Barrington-Ward

Lord, as you have entered into our life and death
and in all the world you call us into your death and risen life,
forgive us our sins;
and draw us we pray,
by the power and encouragement of your Spirit,
into an exchange of gifts and needs,
joys and sorrows,
strength and weakness
with your people everywhere;
that with them we may have grace to break through every barrier,
to make disciples of all peoples
and to share your love with everyone
for your glory’s sake.
Amen.

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