He was raised in a Christian home, the second of eleven children born to George and Mildred Martin. Although he always gave intellectual assent to the truths of Scripture taught faithfully by his parents and made repeated professions of faith in childhood (the result, he said, of a sensitive conscience and a fear of God’s judgment), it was not until his late teens that he was converted. His considerable native intelligence, zeal and energy—devoted till then to schoolwork, football and baseball—were now and for the rest of his long life to be harnessed for the cause of Christ. Knowing God through knowing Scripture and telling others about this God from his Word became his all-consuming passion. He spent endless hours reading his newly-purchased Thomson Chain Reference Bible, wearing it out within three years, preaching at the local Mission Hall and on the street corner in Stamford CT, and praying with other newly converted friends. He studied at Bob Jones University and Columbia Bible College, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1956.

He married Marilyn Hart in June 1956 and they enjoyed 48 years of happy marriage and were blessed with three children. Mrs Martin was called home in 2004 after a six-year battle with cancer. In 2006 Pastor Martin married Dorothy Chanski, a great support and blessing to him in retirement, who predeceased him in 2020.

Pastor Martin exercised an itinerant ministry from 1957 until the birth of the Martins’ first child, Joel, in 1961. This change in circumstances persuaded him that he needed to be at home much more than his itinerant ministry allowed. In September 1962 he received a call to be the pastor of a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in North Caldwell, NJ, about an hour from New York City. During these years he was discovering the doctrines of grace as he preached consecutively through books of Scripture. An instrumental figure in Pastor Martin’s developing understanding of biblical doctrine at this time was Ernest Reisinger (who was to become the first U.S. Trustee of the Banner of Truth Trust in 1967). Through Mr Reisinger, Pastor Martin read such books as The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink and The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen. After about a decade of reading, preaching, praying and thinking, Pastor Martin became unshakeably convinced that Reformed Christianity is nothing less than biblical Christianity and that it ought to bear the fruit of a deep and genuine piety. One of the texts that has informed Pastor Martin’s ministry is 1 Timothy 4.16: Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. He has preached and lectured and written on this verse countless times, but his own life and ministry stands as a living sermon on the text, as anyone who had the privilege of knowing him can testify.

Pastor Martin faithfully served the CMA church in North Caldwell from 1962 until 1966, but as his convictions developed in an increasingly Reformed direction he realised that he could no longer pastor in a denomination whose beliefs were so different from his own and so offered his resignation. The congregation however, refused his resignation! They loved and esteemed him and his teaching so much that they disbanded as a CMA church, leaving behind the buildings and parsonage. In September 1967 the church reconstituted with the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith as its subordinate standard and the name Trinity Baptist Church. This congregation was to become Pastor Martin’s life’s work, into which he poured every ounce of his strength and abilities for another forty-six years, seeing the church grow from small beginnings in the little rented building affectionately known as the ‘Cracker Box’ in Caldwell, NJ to the present large suite of buildings (incorporating a Christian School) in Montville, NJ. The name of Trinity Baptist Church and Albert Martin came to be inseparable in the minds of innumerable believers throughout the world who (like the present writer) owe an incalculable debt to the ministry of this servant of Christ and the church he shepherded so faithfully.

Ernest Reisinger not only introduced Pastor Martin to books but to men who would shape him—not least Iain H. Murray and Professor John Murray. As a result of these friendships Pastor Martin was first invited to preach at the Banner of Truth Ministers’ conference in Leicester, England at the age of thirty-four. When Professor Murray was invited to speak at the three evening meetings of the 1967 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference he replied, “If Al Martin is to be there I really think he should be asked to take the three evening services you propose for me. He is one of the ablest and moving preachers I have ever heard. In recent years I have not heard his equal. My memory of preachers goes back sixty years. So, when I say he is one of the ablest, this is an assessment that includes very memorable preachers of the past and present.”

Pastor Martin’s preaching gifts were continually sought after in family conferences, pastors’ conferences and other settings all around the world. His preaching ministry was multiplied exponentially through the work of the Trinity Pulpit (begun in 1971) sending out more than 800,000 cassette tapes of Pastor Martin’s recorded sermons to all parts of the globe. In 1977 Trinity Ministerial Academy began as a ministry of Trinity Baptist Church. Pastor Martin taught Pastoral Theology to generations of students at the Academy until it closed in 1998. Alongside these many and varied public ministries, Pastor Martin also came to be a kind of Pastor of pastors, as men sought his counsel on all aspects of pastoral ministry. He was a diligent and conscientious correspondent, carefully replying personally to every enquiry that came across his desk, as well as spending untold hours on the phone counselling pastors who needed his wisdom and encouragement. As a result he and his fellow elders decided to begin an annual Pastors’ conference where the recurring issues about which he was being consulted could be addressed in a more time-efficient way. This conference continues to this day and is one of the highlights of the year for many of those who regularly attend.

If I may speak personally, I first encountered Pastor Martin through the Trinity Pulpit cassette tapes. I listened to his 90+ lectures on Pastoral Theology in the year before entering seminary and they proved to be an ideal preparation for my formal ministry training. Pastor Martin seemed not only to have read every significant work relating to pastoral theology and to have mined them for every gem of wisdom they had to offer, but to have distilled their riches and woven them throughout his lectures. No matter what the topic, Pastor Martin provided counsel that was biblically faithful and practically wise. I never dreamt that one day I would have the privilege of attending the Trinity Pastors’ Conference and getting to know the man whose voice and teaching had become so familiar to me, but thanks to Ted Donnelly’s gentle insistence I did attend each year and got to know the man behind the lectures.

I discovered that every word of these lectures had been hammered out on the anvil of pastoral experience over decades of faithful ministry, and that these lectures had been lived before they were taught. I’m thankful that Pastor Martin was able to commit them to writing and leave in his three-volume Pastoral Theology an enduring legacy for future pastors. Every page provides a window into Pastor Martin’s own life and ministry: for with a consistency that I have rarely witnessed, he has sought to practise every word he teaches. His own character and work commend his teaching and exemplify a saying he was fond of quoting: ‘The life of the minister is the life of his ministry.’

It was as a preacher, however, that Pastor Martin was most used, both in Montville and throughout the world. In the pulpit all his gifts and character were at full stretch—his hard-won understanding of whatever passage of Scripture he was expounding, through a lifetime of prayer and laborious study, his natural rhetorical powers reinforced by decades of reading the masters of preaching, the lucidity of his mind, the powerful logic of his argument, the passionate zeal for the truth, devotion to his Lord and love for those to whom he preached. He used to quote what was said of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, ‘He preached as if he was dying to have you converted’; Pastor Martin preached as if he was dying to have you either converted or sanctified. And supporting his preaching was the scrupulous consistency of a man determined to keep a clear conscience before God and men. By God’s grace he was enabled to finish his race well and keep that clear conscience to the end.

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Heb 13.7)

The post Pastor Albert N. Martin (11 April 1934–7 April 2026) appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Paul was born in Blackpool in 1940, where his parents attended the Baptist Tabernacle. He remained of a conservative Calvinistic outlook for the rest of his life; he once joked that the volume How Helm Has Changed His Mind would be a slim one. The Tabernacle in Blackpool was significant for another reason: At its services, Helm got to know Judith—they were married in 1962.

After studying philosophy, politics, and economics at Worcester College, Oxford, Paul was offered a job at the University of Liverpool; he remained in the Department of Philosophy for nearly thirty years until 1993. While at Liverpool, he had Christian fellowship at various Baptist chapels.

In 1989, tragedy struck: Judith died of cancer, leaving Paul to finish bringing up their four children, the youngest of whom was still at home. In 1993, Paul became Professor of the History and Philosophy of the Christian Religion at King’s College, London, and in 1994 he married Angela, with whom he had a daughter. In the year 2000 Paul took early retirement from King’s, but the next year moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he became the inaugural J I Packer Professor of Philosophical Theology. Paul retired for a second time in 2005, but was lured back out of retirement again, this time by the Highland Theological College.

Academically, Paul was at ease in three spheres: He was by instinct and mental constitution a philosopher, and his logical acumen and ability to make sharp distinctions were well respected on the seminar floor, but he also wrote much on various aspects of systematic theology, particularly the doctrine of providence, and on historical theology, especially Calvin and the Reformed scholastics. He was an inspiration to his doctoral students, who found in him a personal example as well as a source of academic knowledge.

Paul’s output was prodigious: he wrote sixteen books and edited a further nine, not to mention hundreds of articles, chapters, and reviews. He was also much in demand as a conference speaker, both in the UK and the USA. But Paul never let the honours he received go to his head. He was just as likely to be found feeding the tortoises, gardening, or taking on all comers in table tennis as he was to be leafing through academic tomes. He was always modest about his accomplishments and wrote many commendations for others’ books.

Above all, Paul was a man of solid and unswerving Christian faith, who held firmly to the doctrines of grace as he found them in the Christian Scriptures even when faced with personal tragedy. Among the many tributes that have poured forth since he died, it’s noteworthy that many outside the Christian faith, as well as his fellow believers, have appreciated his great integrity, kindness, and good humour.

Paul is survived by Angela, his five children, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his brother Philip.

Daniel J. Hill is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool.

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‘During the past week the church of God, and the world at large, have sustained a very serious loss. In the taking home to himself by our gracious Lord of the Earl of Shaftesbury, we have, in my judgment, lost the best man of the age. I do not know whom I should place second, but I certainly should put him first — far beyond all other servants of God within my knowledge — for usefulness and influence. He was a man most true in his personal piety, as I know from having enjoyed his private friendship; a man most firm in his faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; a man intensely active in the cause of God and truth. Take him whichever way you please, he was admirable: he was faithful to God in all his house, fulfilling both the first and second commands of the law in fervent love to God, and hearty love to man. He occupied his high position with singleness of purpose and immovable steadfastness: where shall we find his equal?

If it is not possible that he was absolutely perfect, it is equally impossible for me to mention a single fault, for I saw none. He exhibited scriptural perfection, inasmuch as he was sincere, true, and consecrated. Those things which have been regarded as faults by the loose thinkers of this age are prime virtues in my esteem. They called him narrow; and in this they bear unconscious testimony to his loyalty to truth. I rejoiced greatly in his integrity, his fearlessness, his adherence to principle, in a day when revelation is questioned, the gospel explained away, and human thought set up as the idol of the hour. He felt that there was a vital and eternal difference between truth and error; consequently, he did not act or talk as if there was much to be said on either side, and, therefore, no one could be quite sure. We shall not know for many a year how much we miss in missing him; how great an anchor he was to this drifting generation, and how great a stimulus he was to every movement for the benefit of the poor.

Both man and beast may unite in mourning him; he was the friend of every living thing. He lived for the oppressed; he lived for London; he lived for the nation; he lived still more for God. He has finished his course; and though we do not lay him to sleep in the grave with the sorrow of those that have no hope, yet we cannot but mourn that a great man and a prince has fallen this day in Israel. Surely, the righteous are taken away from the evil to come, and we are left to struggle on under increasing difficulties.’

The post ‘He Lived Still More for God’: Spurgeon’s Eulogy for Anthony Ashley-Cooper (Lord Shaftesbury) appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

In the late 1950s Humphrey was a student at London Bible College, a reader of the early Banner of Truth Magazine, and someone who was both influenced by and came to love Puritan writings. Like a number of students, Humphrey volunteered his spare time to work at the Banner of Truth in Chiltern Street. Following on from his student days, he then became a full-time employee of the Trust.

I recently came across a note from one of my predecessors who was assessing the staff at that time and passed the comment that there were times when perhaps more work could be done if there was a little less theological discussion! Humphrey was one of that early group of employees who were excited by and dedicated to the rediscovery of the Reformed faith that was taking place.

Over the years, Humphrey was involved in many aspects of the work of the Trust. He was influential in developing contacts in the USA, which eventually led to the formation of the Banner of Truth organisation and building of offices and warehouse in Carlisle, PA. But perhaps the thing that he was most influential in was his exacting standards when it came to book production. Today, we aim to produce books that are known for the quality of their content, but also books that are known for the quality of their production; books that by their physical appearance and construction speak well of the high value that we place on their contents. Humphrey set himself to attain production standards that it has been said were ‘unrivalled in the book world’. Those standards that Humphrey set are still part of the Banner of Truth Trust DNA today.

When the Banner of Truth moved to Edinburgh in 1972, Humphrey moved too. And the move was to bring more change to the life of Humphrey. Known in the office as a ‘confirmed bachelor’ he found his heart won over by a young lady, and Humphrey and Ruth were married and in time God blessed their marriage with four children.

Humphrey also became one of many men who have worked at the Banner, and then gone on into the ministry. Initially, he was called as the part-time pastor of Bellevue Reformed Baptist church in Edinburgh, before going full-time after his retirement from the Banner of Truth in Oct/Nov 1999.

In time, Humphrey was to leave Edinburgh and move back South to England and while the inevitability of passing time and geographic distance meant that in recent years our contacts with him were much reduced, we are grateful to him for his contributions to the work of the Trust during his 40 years or so of service, and the memories that we have.

It was a pleasure to have worked with him and a privilege to have known him, and while sympathising with his family in their loss, we are also rejoicing with them in the knowledge that Humphrey is now in the presence of his Saviour, whose gospel he did so much to promote during his years of life here on earth.

The post Humphrey Mildred (1934–2023), A Tribute appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

On 4 March I lost my father-in-law, my friend, my mentor, my Pastor, my colleague in the ministry and seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland—the man who under God has had more influence on me for good than any other: Ted Donnelly. Ted was a lifelong friend of the Banner of Truth, ever since he first began attending the Leicester Ministers’ Conference in 1969. He served as a Trustee of the Banner from 2010 until 2021, when his health had declined to the point where he had to step down.

A full obituary and appreciation of Ted’s life and involvement in the work of the Banner of Truth Trust will appear in next month’s magazine, and I don’t want to duplicate what is said there. Instead I want to share the main points of the two messages I preached the day after his death in the congregation he pastored for thirty-five years and where I have served for the last ten. The text for that momentous day in our life as a congregation was Hebrews 13.7: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The Bible warns us not to put our trust in mortal men—not even princes, the greatest and most powerful of mortal men (Psalm 146.3-4). Ted Donnelly was a prince in the Church of Jesus Christ—an outstandingly gifted preacher and pastor, but ‘The best of men are men at best’ – only the Lord is strong and mighty to save. And yet the same Scriptures also exhort us to remember our leaders and not to forget their teaching and example. How then should we respond to the death of faithful leaders in the church?

1. Remember

We are to remember them, and the tense of the verb means we are to keep on remembering them. It is easy to forget because life is busy and we get preoccupied and distracted by other things. But how should we remember past leaders? Not by idolizing or idealizing them, which would be all too easy to do. Remembering them doesn’t mean pining for them and wishing them back. We don’t honour their memory by refusing to accept new leaders, especially if they don’t have the same degree of gifts as their predecessors. Perhaps that was an issue for the readers of this letter—especially if their previous leaders had been apostles! I had big shoes to fill coming after Ted Donnelly, but imagine replacing the apostles Peter or Paul! Verse 17 makes it clear what the attitude to current leaders ought to be: Obey your leaders and submit to them…

The whole point of remembering former leaders is not so that we will be stuck in the past but more useful, devoted, holy church members in the present.

In particular we are to remember former leaders for their preaching. That is the particular characteristic of their leadership that is singled out by the writer: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Of course they did all kinds of things for their flock, but above all they spoke the word of God to them—from the pulpit, from house to house, in small groups and one-to-one, in season and out of season.

Ted Donnelly was preeminently a preacher, and those of us who had the privilege of sitting under his regular exposition of the word as our Pastor were blessed with a rare gift from the Lord. If you ever heard him preach at a conference, or listened to his messages online you will have known something of this: suddenly just a simple phrase or question or single word cast a flood of light on the passage being preached so that you saw wonderful things out of God’s law that seemed so obvious that you wonder how you didn’t see it yourself. Ted always said that one of the greatest compliments a preacher could ever be paid after a sermon was, ‘I don’t know how I didn’t see that before!’

You may have enjoyed a spiritual feast listening to his preaching at some special event or other, but how thankful we his congregation were to sit under that preaching twice each Lord’s day, week after week, year after year. To be preached to by our own Pastor who knew us, loved us and tailored his sermons with us in mind—our families, our struggles, our congregation in our community. How many times we were challenged, rebuked, comforted, encouraged, stretched in our understanding and searched in our consciences—very often all in the same sermon!

One of the Lord’s greatest blessings to his people is to give them a faithful Pastor who will love his flock, pray for them, care for them and preach the Scriptures to them. To be given a Pastor of exceptional giftedness is an unusual privilege. But it also brings a correspondingly great responsibility. Jesus said that much is expected from those to whom much has been given. He said this to the cities where he, the Son of God incarnate, had preached with authority and power like they had never heard before, warning his hearers that they had a much greater accountability before God than places like Sodom and Gomorrah who had never heard such preaching.

So if the Lord has given you faithful leaders in the past who preached the word of God to you, remember them above all by responding to that preaching. What have you done with the riches God has lavished upon you? Maybe you can remember every series your former Pastor ever preached—you have notebooks with almost verbatim transcripts of every sermon. Maybe you were moved to tears time and time again by his preaching. But what are you doing with all that spiritual treasure? Does your zeal for the Lord, your personal holiness, your commitment to Christ and his church correspond to all you’ve been given? We will have to give an account of how we have stewarded the resources the Lord has given us. So many brothers and sisters throughout the world put us to shame by their zeal and love for the Lord and the lost, who survive on little scraps of teaching here and there. And what of those who sat under faithful ministry like Ted Donnelly’s and yet never responded to the gospel they heard preached so powerfully and clearly? How fearful will their judgment be on the last day.

2. Reflect

Hebrews 13.7 exhorts us to reflect on something as we remember our leaders: consider the outcome of their way of life. We are to carefully observe not just their words but their actions, their lifestyle—the kind of men they were. Some leaders, tragically, are very able, powerful, passionate preachers with an international reputation but their way of life contradicts their message. They preach Christ for what’s in it for them—for money, fame, power or influence.

Ted Donnelly was not like that. He lived a simple life of holiness. He wasn’t perfect, but he was consistent in his godliness. I shared a study with him for three months while my wife and I lived with her parents while we began ministry in our first congregation and no better ‘on the job training’ could be desired! I was able to observe carefully his way of life and the outcome of it. How he got up early for his personal devotions, took some exercise and was at his desk in good time. How he laboured hard in the study preparing for preaching and teaching. How he fielded numerous phone calls dealing with all kinds of pastoral matters. Often I found him on his knees praying. He was always available for people who were going through a crisis or in need of guidance. He and his wife were exemplary in hospitality, opening their home to strangers and friends alike. He didn’t leave himself much spare time, but what little he had was spent on simple pleasures like reading or walking, watching sport or a movie, usually with his wife or family. The lion share of his life was given over, in one way or another, to the work of ministry.

He served the Lord with gladness, labouring hard for six days and delighting in the Sabbath. I never heard him complain about his workload or saw him shrink from difficult or unpleasant responsibilities. He could easily have spent every week of the year touring the world on the conference circuit, but his priority was the flock over which God had made him an overseer. Ted despised the cult of the celebrity preacher. He was one of those men who could be the main speaker at a conference, holding hundreds spellbound as he preached the word of God with power and clarity, but during the day was happy to sit and talk to anyone who wanted to chat or ask his advice.

Hebrews 13.7 especially calls us to reflect on the outcome of the way of life of our past leaders. It may refer to the outcome of their way of life in this world. Where did their life of self-denial and sacrificial service lead? A life of tedious misery and drudgery? Not at all! It produces a full, happy, fruitful life. A holy life is a happy, fulfilled life. That was certainly Ted’s experience. He wouldn’t have exchanged it for all the riches in the world.

Or it may refer to where our past leaders are now, in glory. John Brown puts it like this: ‘Reflect on how your departed leaders are standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed with white robes and with palms in their hands, worshipping the Lamb. These had the rule over you and have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.’ In other words, ‘Reflect on where they are now and what bliss they are experiencing! Do they regret a single second of pain and effort for Christ in this world? Not one bit! This is the outcome of their way of life!’ What an incentive to remember their example and so follow them to glory. Which is the final thing the text tells us…

3. Replicate

Imitate their faith.We are not to become clones of our leaders and to imitate them in every respect, but we are to imitate their faith. This may mean one or all of three things:

(i) Imitate their strong faith in God. Ted Donnelly had to endure many hard providences in his life, not least over the last thirteen years since he was struck down with encephalitis. The Lord spared his life at that time and gave him a miraculous measure of recovery, but his health was never the same again and his retirement was blighted by several other serious illnesses over the course of these years. He didn’t understand them, but he never doubted the Lord’s sovereignty, wisdom or goodness. That is the essence of strong faith—trusting God when we don’t understand why he does what he does. We should imitate that faith when we see it in our leaders.

(ii) Imitate their firm adherence to what they believed. That seems to be the focus of v9: Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings… Ted Donnelly was as unshaken in his doctrinal beliefs on the day of his death as on the day he took his ordination vows as a minister of the Gospel. As we remember faithful servants of the past, let’s recommit ourselves to the truths they taught us and the faith they contended for so earnestly.

(iii) Imitate their faithfulness. Ted Donnelly ran a hard race and fought a good fight. It was tough: there were many stresses, heartaches and disappointments (as well as many joys and encouragements). But he kept going to the end without wavering. He continued to serve as best he could over the last thirteen years in spite of the obstacles and challenges of his health. As we remember past faithful leaders who persevered to the end, let’s imitate their faithfulness and not slack off, frittering away precious time and opportunities in front of trivial rubbish being spewed out of a screen; let’s not slack off when the pressures of life pile up and our strength begins to wane—by the grace of God, let’s imitate the steadfast faithfulness of those who showed us the way by their own life as well as their words.

The post Remember Your Leaders appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

Michael was born and brought up in Borough Green. He did not enjoy good health and missed quite a lot of school. He developed considerable artistic talents, and from 1951 to 1956 studied at Maidstone College of Art. He then worked as a graphic designer and typographer in London from 1956 until 1962.

In the autumn of 1962 he was set apart by his church in Bexleyheath as an evangelist and then as a pastor. From 1966 to 1975 he served the church in New Cross. He spent 1975 to 1982 in Thamesmead, a new area of housing on the south bank of the Thames. Here he was responsible for planting a Grace Baptist church. He will be best remembered for the next twenty years of his life because of his work as a church planter in Soho. Churches were planted there, in Covent Garden and in Mayfair. Few men would have been willing to pay the price and undergo the sacrifices he made, with his wife Pam, and his children, to go and live and work in Soho. Despite what lay before them, Michael was firmly persuaded that this was the Lord’s work. Despite many setbacks and continued difficulties he remained undaunted by the magnitude of the task. He proved to be a diligent, patient, and  persevering gospel labourer. His evangelistic and pastoral output from those years, measured only in bound booklets of Bible studies produced for those who gathered in various venues, show his wisdom, his affection, and his adaptability in bringing the truth to bear upon the souls of men and women.  After he retired he was encouraged to write up his story, now published as Mission to Soho: Where Two Worlds Meet (DayOne).

Michael retired to the east of Kent, but continued to be active each day, being part of the ministry team at St James’ Church, Westgate-on-Sea, together with John Cheeseman. After his beloved wife died of cancer, Michael eventually came to live in the village of Charlwood in Surrey with some of his family. Given his age and health, he might, like many others, have spent his last years in relative ease and quiet. Not so Michael! To the very end of his life he was busy seeking to make Christ known. He would walk his dogs and engage in conversation with other walkers in the village. He attended the local parish church and from there he conducted Bible studies, wrote notes on different passages of Scripture which he distributed to ‘the regulars’, gathered a few to pray, distributed books and produced tracts, continuing to put his own artistic skills to good use. He was even able to preach occasionally in the Anglican church, though they tried to limit him to ten minute sermons! Notably, having participated in the renovation of an old chapel building in Charlwood, he did the lion’s share of arranging a gospel service as part of its reopening, at which perhaps over a hundred people heard the good news being proclaimed.

As elders at Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, the authors of this piece enjoyed regular fellowship with Michael. Austin Walker, closer to Michael in age, enjoyed the privilege of phoning him every other week. Michael battled with loneliness, feeling the loss of his wife keenly; losing his dogs was another challenge he faced in his last few months. The older men would often speak for an hour if Michael’s fairly fragile health permitted him to do so—a reduced lung capacity and regular chest afflictions often made Michael breathless and weary. It was a time of mutual fellowship and encouragement. Often their conversation would be about the challenges of old age and the opportunities of still serving Christ. But the choicest conversations were those they had about the Saviour and the prospects of glory. Jeremy Walker had the privilege of supporting Michael in the gospel work in Charlwood. Michael had a remarkable talent for getting a hearing for the gospel, together with a cultivated winsomeness in speaking of Christ married to a tenacious commitment to speaking the truth in love. He delighted to hear about other gospel labour, and would happily spend a couple of hours in his Charlwood home, enjoying the views across the fields, drinking coffee and speaking of God’s work in its various aspects. He was a wonderful encourager in gospel work, both by sterling example and by gentle exhortation and commendation. To minister to Michael was to go away blessed. His humble and heartfelt prayers lifted the spirits of God’s people. He spoke often of his love for Pam, and regularly expressed his affection and concern for his whole family, and his gratitude for their care of him.

Toward the end of his life, his health problems became more apparent. Regular lung problems often kept him holed up at home for long periods, unable to enjoy the exercise, fellowship, and service he so much appreciated. In the last few weeks of his life he spent much of the time in hospital, finally being called home with family at his side for his last breaths. Having served his Lord and Master for many years, and long looking forward to being reunited with his wife in glory, like her he has now gone to be with Christ, which is better by far than all he knew below.

The post Obituary: Michael Toogood appeared first on Banner of Truth UK.

There was a time fifty years ago when he would be one of the writers, along with J. I. Packer, of the Evangelical Magazine, but in the following years all of us were good in building walls and so we drifted apart. If you wanted to learn from the pen of Mr Ramsbottom then you needed to read his monthly editorials in the Gospel Standard, which vocation he accepted humbly for decades. He was always worth reading. To have him worshipping in your congregation was exciting and our conversations together subsequently with him and his wife were memorable.

Mr Ramsbottom was the Pastor at Bethel Chapel, Luton for fifty-five years until his retirement at the end of 2021. He continued to preach for the congregation after his retirement right up to the first Lord’s Day of 2023. To have been spared for such a remarkably long period is a cause of much thankfulness to the Lord.

We extend our deepest sympathy to his dear wife Jean, to all his children, the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren.

At the evening service of the first Lord’s Day in January (just two weeks before he died), he took for his text: ‘And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee,’ and more than one person present remarked that it seemed to be his farewell sermon to the church.

We thank God for every remembrance of him.

Geoffrey Thomas is a member of Amyand Park Chapel, London.

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Eric’s ministry was increasingly appreciated for its expositional depth, Christ-centred focus, and evangelical passion. Invitations to the Keswick Convention became a regular feature of his ministry. Wider afield, James Boice of Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, invited Eric to preach at the PCRT conference and his preaching there became one of the conference highlights in following years. Eric was also a very good pianist and hymn writer, blending a fine poetic spirit with a deeply theological mind.

Those of us who were privileged to sit under his ministry, were exposed to preaching that exalted Christ, gloried in God, and called us to give ourselves devotedly and unreservedly to the worship of God and the service of his kingdom. I can still remember the first time I heard Eric preach as a young undergraduate not long converted. I sat engrossed from beginning to end as he opened the word of God. After the meeting I thanked him. Three years later we met at a Banner of Truth event in Glasgow and to my astonishment, he remembered me and my name.

Eric Alexander’s preaching exemplified both a deep heart piety and a profound understanding of the Reformed Faith. He understood that preaching should not only be Christ-centred, it should be rich in the great truths recovered for the church at the Reformation.

Eric was a devoted husband to Greta and a dearly loved father to Ronald and Jennifer. His family life added a lustre and credibility to his ministry. Eric modelled for many aspiring preachers all that a God-honouring preacher should be. Our great loss is heaven’s great gain.

Two books by Eric Alexander, Our Great God and Saviour, and Prayer: A Biblical Perspective, are published by the Trust.

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