A correspondent writes:
IN THE 60 years after his ordination, Garth Norman served in the dioceses of Southwark, Norwich, Oxford, Rochester, Southwell, and Ely. Throughout his ministry, Garth was a strong advocate of team ministry and the vital part played by the laity. A great affirmer, Garth encouraged and appreciated people. In his gentle and modest way, he recognised the power of the numinous and made goodness attractive.
Born in the mining town of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire, Garth and his brother, Rex, sang in the church choir at St Thomas’s. Here, the seeds were sown of a lifelong love of choral music. After attending the Henry Mellish Boys Grammar School, in Nottingham, Garth read theology at St Chad’s College, Durham. He was ordained in 1963.
Having served his title at St Anne’s, Wandsworth, under the Revd Charles Shells, Garth followed Charles to Norfolk, where he became Vicar of Gimingham and later Team Rector of the Trunch Group of small parishes. It was during the 17 years that he spent there that he came to appreciate the importance of team ministry: colleagues — ordained and lay — working together to avoid the isolation and exhaustion that might otherwise be experienced by rural parish priests.
While in Norfolk, alongside writing the annual pantomime, Garth continued to develop his interest in education, which led to his gaining both an M.Ed. and a PGCE. In 1983, Garth was appointed Principal of the Chiltern Christian Training Scheme in Oxford diocese. He worked part-time in the parish and led the development of theological education for the laity.
Garth’s next move, in 1988, was to Rochester, where he served as Diocesan Director of Training. He was appointed an honorary canon of Rochester Cathedral, where he attended evensong daily.
Having made friends with several French priests, Garth was interested in the worker-priest movement. He came to see as wrong any view that separated the ministry of the clergy from that of the laity. He disagreed with any ontological view of the priesthood or any that saw it as a hieratic indelible caste. His view of the priesthood was functional: distinctive by only what the priest does, not by any changed nature of the priest. He made his views clear by never wearing a clerical collar, although he still wore vestments when leading liturgy. He retained his liberal Catholic views throughout his life.
In 1994, Bishop Michael Turnbull appointed Garth Archdeacon of Bromley and Bexley, a post that he held for nine years before retiring. Bishop Turnbull acknowledged Garth’s fine theological mind, and said that he was influential in the development of the work of lay evangelists and influenced some of the thinking behind aspects of the Turnbull commission.
In retirement, Garth lived in Southwell, where he was able to attend evensong in his beloved Minster. Garth became the Bishop’s chaplain for retired clergy, a post whose duties he undertook with energy and vision, continuing to see the benefits of collaboration and community. After six years there, Garth and his wife, Jacqueline, moved to Cambridge, to be near their son, Mark, and their grandchildren, Sam and Rose. Garth’s last ministry was taking occasional services in St Bene’t’s, Cambridge, before severe dementia overcame him nine days before his 85th birthday.
The Ven. Garth Norman died on 17 November, aged 84.
