The Revd Anthony Windross writes:
THE Revd Hugh Dawes, who has died, aged 75, was a passionate advocate for a Christianity that stood some chance of reaching the ever-growing numbers of the Church’s alumni association.
After studying history at University College, Oxford, Hugh trained for the priesthood at Cuddesdon College, Oxford. He served his title at St Mark’s, Purley, and spent the next ten years (1977-87) as a Cambridge college chaplain, initially at Gonville and Caius, and later at Emmanuel, where he worked alongside Don Cupitt, who became a close friend. He then moved into parish ministry at St James’s, Cambridge, where he stayed for 13 years, before going to St Faith’s, North Dulwich, until his retirement in 2010.
Hugh married Jill in 2004, a year after the establishment of Progressive Christianity Network Britain, which Hugh chaired for its first seven years. This had begun life as the groundbreaking Center for Progressive Christianity, set up in 1996 by James (Jim) Adams in America, as a support network for progressive Christians. Hugh recognised that there was a need for something similar in Britain. As a result of the guidance and enthusiasm of Hugh and Jill, this flourished, and continues to provide a stimulating forum for liberal and radical Christians alike. Hugh and Jill made a splendid professional and personal team, each providing the support that the other needed.
Hugh was a longstanding member of the Sea of Faith network, but less dogmatic and hardline than some of its members; he was adamant that there was no inconsistency between a non-realist view of God and a wholehearted commitment to the Church. Hugh never courted controversy, but neither did he shy away from it. His 1992 book, Freeing the Faith: A credible Christianity for today, caused something of a stir, and several religious conservatives called for his resignation. Hugh was brave, but also sensitive, and the criticisms hurt. Bloodied but unbowed, he continued arguing for an understanding of Christianity which did not rely on the supernatural assumptions that made it impossible for so many to take it seriously. It was fortunate that he had no ambition to ingratiate his way up the ecclesiastical ladder, because, if he had, he would not have dared to write his book; the book remains a classic of its kind, and those who value open and inclusive Christianity would have been much the poorer.
The diocesan structure gives immense power to bishops, and Hugh was fortunate in arriving in Ely at the same time as a new diocesan, Peter Walker, who proved a great source of support and encouragement. But things changed when Stephen Sykes took over in 1990, as he was unsupportive of Hugh’s theology, openness, and inclusivity.
Right from the beginning of his ministry, Hugh had no time for the “gathered-church” version of Christianity which was fast becoming the norm, and, instead, insisted on the importance of the parish church’s being open and available and genuinely welcoming to absolutely everyone. He abhorred baptismal rigorism almost as much as clerical condescension.
Hugh was a warm and gentle presence, but had an inner strength that helped him to deal with the wounding comments that are the lot of anyone who takes seriously the importance of trying to communicate the essence of the faith in terms that do not insult people’s intelligence by stretching their credulity to breaking point.
For the last 15 years of his life, he suffered with a Parkinsonism, later diagnosed as dementia with Lewy bodies, a cruel and progressively debilitating disease, which eventually left him incapable of almost all communication. He was cared for devotedly by Jill, and supported by the eucharistic liturgy, which remained a source of comfort right to the end.
Hugh’s packed funeral service in St Nicolas’s, Guildford, was a truly joyful celebration of a life well lived and a person much loved, witnessing to the many souls whom his ministry and personality had touched. “Rest in peace, good and faithful servant.”
