Arriving in London in the late 1970s, I soon found myself part of a growing and dynamic church. South Lee Christian Church had been formed by an established church and a smaller house church joining together. It became one of the founding churches within Newfrontiers (then known as Coastlands). My wife and I were youth group leaders and then house group leaders over our years there.
Still a comparatively young Christian, I was hungry for
God's word and the three church leaders - John Houghton, Ian Wilkie and Phil
Rogers - fed me well. I learned so much from each of them.
Later, Roh and I would follow Ian and Angie Wilkie down to
Crawley to help with a church there, but much of my grounding came from those
early South Lee days.
John Houghton died last week. All three men of God have now
crossed the finish line.
I so appreciated John's teaching. Really, he was a
storyteller, and maybe I picked up a few tips along the way.
John's storytelling came out most impressively with a series
of children's fantasy books, called the Oswain Tales. As I understand
it, the genesis of these books came about when John was asked to tell stories
to children in the local Junior School. All four of our own children read these
books. My oldest boy, Nathan, now in his 40s, still has his signed copy of one
of John's books. My youngest daughter, Lois, was part of a school book-writing project
and was thrilled to receive a personal letter from John.
Small memories. But a big impact.
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John led various churches and latterly became better known
as an author and artist, creative to the last.
He helped me complete my dissertation in theology, and I
remember him being particularly challenging. His final communication with me
was quite recent. He had read some of my blogs on revival in Leicester and
wanted to encourage me to continue to write and record all that the Holy Spirit
was doing.
A husband and a father. A pastor, a preacher, an author and
an artist. A friend to many. A life well lived.
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