No, not king David this time, but Ashforth of whom it has been said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n“Consider the ministry. You will have lots of time for reading, and will be able to run your own show by thirty.\u201d Such was the claim made by the Rev. David Ashforth, coordinator of the West London Chaplaincy, an ecumenical student ministry at various colleges in West London (UK), including my own Royal College of Music, in the late 1970s. His hope was that at least a few of us students might consider post-graduate study in theology and possibly ordination. Most would continue in sciences, mining, engineering or as with myself in the arts. David made his appeal at a time when many churches in Western Europe and North American still had buildings and could financially support the staff to run their programmes. There was an inkling however, even then, that things were about to change.<\/p>\nKen Gray, a recently retired Anglican priest and Cathedral Dean living in Kamloops, BC Canada<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Coco had wondered from time to time what had happened to David. What was his proper name. It never quite came out of the forgettory that we call a brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was whilst listening to Gavin Ashenden<\/a> that Coco at the last remembered his name, David Ashforth, and it crossed his mind, or what is left of it, that perhaps this man knows him. Gavin is speaking in this presentation about the failure of one particular man, and one who ought to know better, to cry: Christ is risen<\/em><\/strong>. Coco would have thought however that this particular man is one who should be among the respondents to the cry with the response: Christ is risen indeed<\/em><\/strong> rather than one who initiated the cry. The fault therefore lies more with the leaders of the Anglican communion who failed to cry with a unified voice: Christ is risen<\/em><\/strong> to which he could have properly responded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning to Google, Coco asked the question, but Google found no links between Gavin and David, it did though find Ken Gray’s article, It\u2019s all about leadership \u2014 Life in my little town \u2013 The church blog<\/a>, which seems to suggest that the David Ashforth he knew is the one Coco also knew though a few years later than Coco. It is an interesting article. Many of Coco’s peers and friends from Imperial went into the ministry, most as Anglicans and in recent reflections have said similar things to Ken as in “Another group .. continues to leave parish ministry \u2026 [to serve] in universities, in health care settings, in prisons and in schools. \u2026they did not find \u201ca good fit\u201d for their skills, \u2026 [they] have followed the allure of academia, [etc]” They found a lack of energy (euphemism, Coco considers, for willingness) to commit to the slog. This is not just within the Anglican communion, but amongst the non-conformists also. It is undeniable that there are always exceptions.
David ran, perhaps supervised is a better description, AngSoc at Imperial. Memories fade, but he and Coco must have met along with others once a week during the years they were both there. They did not always agree: Your doctrine is most harsh<\/em>, still rings in Coco’s ears. Had David never read Samuel Rutherford’s letters? See what love the Father has poured out – lavished – upon us1<\/a><\/sup>. See how Rutherford uses the Song of Songs to promote the love of God, and provokes the responses of love and adoration in his children. See how the King is overcome, is entranced, enthralled, when his bride comes into his presence even when she turns up sweaty, unkempt and badly in need of a wash2<\/a><\/sup>! But as iron sharpens iron3<\/a><\/sup>, so his teaching helped to shape and sharpen this writer.
So the question now is – though we are reminded not to ask for whom the bell toll. Coco must also depart4<\/a><\/sup> – is David still with us, or has he completed his race and now waiting in the presence of the Lord for the glorious resurrection when he shall make all things new?
A recently officially retired friend said to Coco: Anglican ministers never retire, they just move on to something new but without pay.<\/em> So, may the Lord be with Ken Gray, to strengthen his hand in his ministry as he continues to study to shew himself approved as a faithful teacher of his Word5<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n
- Behold\u00a0what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that\u00a0we should be called children of\u00a0God!\u00a01 John 3:1<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- O my love, you\u00a0are as<\/em>\u00a0beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as\u00a0an army<\/em>\u00a0with banners!
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have\u00a0overcome me.
Song 6:4-5<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>- As<\/em>\u00a0iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Proverbs 17<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>- Auf Wiedersehen<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No, not king David this time, but Ashforth of whom it has been said: Coco had wondered from time to time what had happened to David. What was his proper name. It never quite came out of the forgettory that we call a brain. It was whilst listening to Gavin Ashenden that Coco at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Behold\u00a0what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that\u00a0we should be called children of\u00a0God!\u00a01 John 3:1<\/a>\",\"id\":\"8fc06845-8bc3-400e-98c2-7bdc108dce18\"},{\"content\":\"O my love, you\u00a0are as<\/em>\u00a0beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as\u00a0an army<\/em>\u00a0with banners!
Turn your eyes away from me, for they have\u00a0overcome me.
Song 6:4-5<\/a>\",\"id\":\"e88f23b3-4850-4a1f-a114-8cdfb9b963ac\"},{\"content\":\"As<\/em>\u00a0iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Proverbs 17<\/a>\",\"id\":\"32fff6a6-c9e0-4695-aa09-8b92313ca130\"},{\"content\":\"Auf Wiedersehen<\/a>\",\"id\":\"c2f4f256-0138-4d39-84e5-84bb911cb7c6\"},{\"content\":\"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15<\/a>\",\"id\":\"bb660769-c698-47db-bf58-8a44cf05ee58\"}]"},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3522,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions\/3522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.purechocolate.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}