TO THOSE who knew him and worked with him, the late Simon Barrington-Ward, former Bishop of Coventry, was a man of immense wisdom and kindness, who combined a seeming hesitancy with an acute understanding of faith. He was the kind of bishop rarely appointed now, never an incumbent, but with a background in Eton, Cambridge, and National Service, and a lecturer in Nigeria, and Dean of Magdalene College, Cambridge, before going to CMS.
It was his time as general secretary, after the principalship of the CMS college at Crowther Hall, that made him a figure of national stature in the Church, his Newsletters a platform for thinking through the post-colonial place of mission in the Church. Despite the apparent lack of parish experience, his was actually a career of remarkable breadth and pastoral depth — let vacancy-in-see committees note — which infused his theology with a realistic appreciation of the challenges faced by faith today.
Graham Kings and Ian Randall have not written a conventional biography, but produced a stimulating collection of essays surveying the whole range of Barrington-Ward’s ministry and thought, drawing on the recollections of those who worked with him and knew him well, including members of his own family.
His daughter, Helen Orr, now herself a priest, gives personal insight into his family life, including some lovely stories. His son-in-law, James Orr, provides what is really the intellectual heart of the book, a reflection on Barrington-Ward’s perhaps surprising engagement with the thought of the German philosopher Hegel, and his ensuing friendship with the late philosopher Gillian Rose. Somehow, for Barrington-Ward, themes that wove in and out of his ministry and life — including brokenness; the importance of the “great exchange” between God and humanity; and the erasure of the individual by rampant individualism — coalesced in the sense that he made of this dense and seemingly abstruse thinker.
Other essays include an excellent survey of his CMS Newsletters, and a piece by Philip Seddon on his encounter with Orthodoxy, and especially his interest in the Jesus Prayer.
diocese of coventry/lawrence mortimerBishop Barrington-Ward in 1992
But it is not very helpful or fair to single out just a handful of essays. The quality of all is excellent, and they are very readable, to boot. Concluding with four pieces by Barrington-Ward himself, one of which is a formerly unpublished and edited autobiographical discussion of his life in mission, without question this book is a great tribute to a man of outstanding theological and spiritual gifts.
Through his life, ministry, and thought, the contemporary reader can see in a new light issues and problems that continue to influence the Church today: the nature of mission, the impact of religious pluralism, individualism, and secularism, and the creeping spectres of managerialism and instrumentalism, among others.
So this is more than a study of a life: it is a searching exploration of the situation of the Church today.
The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris is the C of E’s National Adviser for Ecumenical Relations.
Exchange of Gifts: The Vision of Simon-Barrington-Ward
Graham Kings and Ian Randall, editors
Ekklesia £14.99
(978-1-7397551-0-2)
Church Times Bookshop £13.49