The People's Church

While creating this web site I had two outstanding bits of advice.  One was from the late Revd. Professor Colin Gunton, Associate Minister to Brentwood URC and an outstanding world class theologian, Gardener, family man, lecturer, mentor and friend.  He said that many church web sites talked not enough about God, and religion.  This web site is dedicated to him, and I hope there is enough about God and religion.  The second bit of sage advice was from Kees Maxey, friend and social activist.  He said that what made a church was not the building but the people.  This page of the web site is for him. 

People of the Brentwood United Reformed Church

Every couple of months this part of the web site will talk of some of the people involved in our church.

As a United Reformed Church the Minister arrives and moves on over a relatively short period - perhaps five or six years.  So many Ministers contribute in their own way to the development of the Church.  In Brentwood we were very fortunate.  Not only did we have some very good Ministers but we had an Associate Minister - The Revd. Professor Colin Gunton, who sadly died in 2003.  There is not enough space on this page to describe the achievements of Colin, it would take a web site all of its own.  But to us he was just Colin.  The Associate Minister who stepped in during periods of interregnum, Who ably chaired the Church Meeting, who was the rock on which the theology of our little church was founded and a friend and mentor to all who knew him.  If, as Kees said, the Church is made up of people rather than buildings I would rather like to think of Colin as a foundation stone, one of several, but without which the Church would be much less strong.  Colin was one of the country's leading theologians - arguably one of the most influential theological thinkers of the last twenty years.  He made our pulpit one of the best known in the country!  His legacy lives on in the many Ministers, writers and fellow theologians who followed him and, as we do at Brentwood URC, value his great works.

Unveiling of a picture of the late Revd. Professor Colin Gunton in the William Hunter Room at Brentwood URC

Details of the major theological works that Colin published can be seen here.  For the Church in Brentwood we were honoured by the publication of Colin's work "Theology through preaching" a volume containing a number of sermons that we were lucky enough to have Colin preach to us.

There continues to be much discussion in academic circles on Colin's enormous influence on English theology, , see for example this.  There was also a conference on Colin on the 10th September 2007 with papers by Stephen Holmes, Robert Jenson, John Colwell ( who we are honoured to have preach here from time to time) and Douglas Knight.  The full extent of Colin's profile can be seen by entering his name in to Google.  He may have been promoted in to the heavenly hosts, but his work and teachings live on; Praise the Lord.

Brentwood URC has also been lucky in having the Revd. Sheila
Maxey for a period of Ministry.  She later became Secretary for Ecumenical Relations for the URC and was Moderator of the entire URC.  Sheila has lived in Brentwood for many years and despite her obligations and commitments to the URC nationally has always supported Brentwood URC. 

The former Moderator of the General Assembly, The Revd. Sheila Maxey (background) and Rosalie Brentnall, Elder, at the start of morning worship.

Abe and Tina Farmer are two of the unsung heroes of our church.  They have run the 5th Brentwood (URC) Scout Group for as long as I can remember (so for at least 15 years).  Hundreds if not thousands of boys and young men have been helped by their efforts.   

Let us give thanks to the Lord for the many people who, week in and week out perform duties such as flower arranging, meeting and greeting in the Vestibule, being vestry elder and looking after the presiding preacher, reads the notices, reads the lesson, run the crèche and young peoples groups and makes the coffee at the end of the service.  Some of these people are:

Pat Benham, Gillian Tytherleigh, Margret Gazely, Elaine Austin, Tony and Margret Cheer, Sue Stevenson,. Rosalie Brentnal, Hilary Lloyd,. Steve Burns, Stanley Francis, Mary Tate, Bill Crisp, Tina Farmer, Valerie Robinson, Gabrielle Crowther, Jean and Moses Tsingano, Jin and Saly Bealey Jenny Mayo, Jim Statford, Charles Steynor, Clive and Caroline Rudkin, Rev S Maxey, Kees Maxey; and many more who give off their time.

We were much saddened by the untimely death of Peter Benham.  He was a rock in our church; his contributions to the life  of our community are to many to be numbered.  At a personal level he was a friend and a sage source of advice to all who knew him.  To quote from our Church magazine: "In the church we benefited enormously, not only from Peter’s commitment and friendliness but also from his technical and artistic skills.  The results of these are still here for us to enjoy in the kitchen, the store cupboard, the office and we also have the pictures of the church building on the front cover of the magazine, the design of several leaflets and, of course, the beautiful Christmas scenes which adorn the apse window each year.  A particular achievement was the superb Pastorate Profile Book designed and produce by Peter when we were seeking a new minister.

He will be very much missed and is remembered with love and in our prayers.  We also remember in our prayers, his wife Pat, who stood shoulder to shoulder with him throughout life and his final illness.  Our condolences and prayers are with her.   We give thanks to God, the Father almighty for a Christian life, well led, for a Christian solder promoted unto glory. Amen.

Let us give thanks to God who through his Son Jesus Christ and with the guidance of the Holy Ghost has allowed our church to be blessed with so may of the unsung heroes of God's army on earth - praise the Lord, praise the Lord indeed.  Amen.