Philip Johanson writes:
I MET John Wheatley Price when I was an 11-year-old member of his Bible class/Pathfinder group in Hull. He helped to lay some of the Christian foundation stones in my life, which, in turn, led to Christian ministry in Church Army.
Over many years, and in many countries, John enabled people to come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. He encouraged people in their Christian discipleship. John was a caring pastor, a committed missionary, a faithful Biblical preacher and teacher, an encourager of others, and a loving family man.
John had had a call to ordained ministry when he was 17, at Repton School. He was also offered a place to read medicine at Cambridge. ACCM accepted him as a National Serviceman. Christ’s College, Cambridge, withdrew their offer; but Emmanuel College, his father’s old college, offered him one.
After national service, John read natural science part 1 and theology part 2. He was active in the Christian Union. He was Missionary Secretary of CICCU for a year, during which time, the Lord spoke to him that the Christian Union should commit itself to pray that 70 of its more than 400 members would serve God overseas. At least 87 went, and, after 30 years, some were still overseas. The average length of service was more than 12 years.
John undertook his ordination training at Ridley College, Cambridge. He was ordained in York Minster in 1956 to serve in Drypool, Hull, under Jim Roxburgh, who went on to be Bishop of Barking. It was a large parish with a population of around 40,000, and several curates.
On leaving Hull, John spent a year at Liskeard Lodge, the then Church Mission Society (CMS) college in Kent. He said that the most memorable time there was meeting Jean Ogilvie, who was at the ladies’ college. He proposed to Jean after just eight weeks.
In September 1960, they travelled with 20 or so missionaries to the Teso district of Northern Uganda. They had to pass a language exam before CMS would allow them to choose a wedding day. They passed the exam more quickly than anyone had ever done.
John and Jean were married in the Pro-Cathedral in Ngora on 26 August 1961. Bishop Stephen Tomusange took the service in English and Ateso; Archdeacon Bill Butler preached.
John’s first post was chaplain to Bishop Stephen. He helped him to establish a new diocese of Soroti, travelling all over the diocese and learning Ateso. In subsequent years, he was Vicar of Soroti Cathedral, Examining Chaplain, Diocesan Secretary, and Registrar. He was the first warden of St Peter’s Community Centre near the cathedral, and Archdeacon of Soroti. In each post, his aim was not just to set up the position, but also to work himself out of the job, having trained others to take over.
John and Jean had five children, all born in Uganda: Anne, Deborah, Andrew, Peter, and Stephen. Sadly, Andrew died several hours after birth.
In 1974, the family moved to Kenya, where John was to be missioner to the Iteso people in Western Kenya. Within days, he was asked to be Archdeacon of Maseno North.
Returning to the UK in 1976, John was appointed Vicar of St Andrew’s, Clevedon. One of his parishioners said that John’s influence sharpened the social conscience of the congregation, a facet that has been his legacy ever since.
John was a man of vision and daring. New house-building programmes were in full swing, promising to attract many young families. A contemporary family service was created, to serve the needs of a growing parish; little time elapsed before the church filled for an early start. To be able to facilitate some form of Sunday School, John’s inspiration led to the siting of two large, converted caravans on church land, a stepping stone to a more ambitious structure a few years later.
John and Jean responded to a call to work with the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS) at Christ Church, Amsterdam, where there were at least 25 nationalities in church every Sunday, and a third of the congregation moved on every year. It presented a demanding range of pastoral work in a church that needed to be completely self-sufficient financially. John invited me to lead a church weekend away in 1990.
An invitation came for John to be Priest-in-Charge of two parishes just outside the Peak District. The aim was for him to bring the parishes together.
In 1996, John and Jean retired to Melksham. Ministry was far from over, as John continued to minister in that area and elsewhere. For several years, they both went out under ICS as Chaplains to the Thomson Holiday Young at Heart programme in Spain and Portugal. In 1998, John led the Bible studies at a Church Army international leaders conference.
John and Jean moved again, to Knowle, to be near family. John continued in ministry until this was no longer physically possible. Sadly, in more recent years, John developed wet age-related macular degeneration; but he continued in ministry, coping with sermon notes in 72 point. In 2016, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and active ministry up front came to an end.
Canon John Wheatley Price died on 15 September, aged 91.
