Canon David Williams writes:

CANON John Lowe, who died at his home in Cambridge on 19 May, aged 82, played a significant part in the development of theological education in East Africa, in the Southern Sudan and then Uganda, between 1959 and 1974, in the evolving years when African peoples were regaining independence.

John grew up with his sister and brother in County Antrim, where their father was a Church of Ireland rector in Ballanderry for many years. At Trinity College, Dublin, John studied classics and then theology, in preparation for ordination in the Church of Ireland. Also at Trinity, John met his future wife, Dorothy, a medical student, who shared his sense of call to serve with CMS in Africa. They were married at St Mary Magdalene's, Belfast, in 1956, where John was serving a curacy.

After CMS training at Liskeard Lodge, Chislehurst, John and Dorothy were sent to the Southern Sudan in 1959. When they arrived in Mundri, John became a tutor and later Director of Studies at Bishop Gwynne Theological College. These were troubled times, when the black Christian South of the Sudan was under oppression from the North, causing much suffering and fear.

The Lowe family, together with other expatriate staff, adapted to these difficult circumstances, sharing some of the privations of everyday living. John, through his patience, meticulous efficiency, and dedication, tutored and encouraged his students preparing for ordination.

Sadly, John and Dorothy, with their three children, were deported in 1964, with other expatriates, when Bishop Gwynne College was attacked and ransacked, and the local staff and students were forced to flee. Later in 1964, John and the family arrived in Uganda, soon after independence, when he became a tutor and then Vice-Principal of Bishop Tucker Theological College, Mukono, where my wife, Wendy, and I first met him and Dorothy on our arrival there in 1967. Gradually, social order began to break down in Uganda, first under Milton Obote, and then under the tyranny of Idi Amin. The College kept going under two Ugandan Principals, Amos Betungura and then Yustasi Ruhindi, both of whom later became bishops.

Many Ugandan staff and students lost close relatives in the violence, and were brought near to despair. John was for them a rock of stability and quiet strength. Many of John's students, both in the Sudan and Uganda, later became bishops and church leaders, and for the rest of his life John kept in touch with former students. Books were John's pride and joy, and he oversaw the building of the new college library.

On returning to England in 1974, John and Dorothy took charge of Foxbury, in Chislehurst, which had been a CMS sister training college to Liskeard Lodge, but was now CMS Fellowship House, offering facilities for conferences and gatherings, for Christian and secular groups. Then, for 20 years, until his retirement in 1996, John was Vicar of St Mary's, Kippington, in Sevenoaks.

For 12 of those years, John was also Director of Ordinands in Rochester diocese, appointed by Bishop David Say. The many ordinands who passed through John's gentle shepherding testified to his thorough and supportive commitment to them. John was a good listener, although some of his long silences could be unnerving. He spoke when he had something to say, which was invariably wise and carefully considered; and he was a faithful friend.

After retirement in 1996, John and Dorothy settled in Cambridge, where friends and former pupils visited them, often staying in "the Garden Room". John is survived by Dorothy and their three children, Katherine, Michael, and Patrick.