Family pays tribute to reverend who was a minister in Crawley and Eastbourne

Reverend Frank Godfrey, who died on February 4 aged 95, was minister of St Paul’s Methodist Church, in Northgate, and Eastbourne Central Methodist Church.

Frank was born in Middlesborough on November 29, 1926. He attended Beechwood School, passed the 11+ and went on to the new boy’s school at Acklam Hall, where he played rugby and hockey and was part of the Air Training Corps.

After gaining his school certificate, the family moved to Sutton-on-Hull where Frank attended sixth form at Malet Lambert High School. He then joined the Sutton Methodist Youth Club and came under the influence of Rev JLM Timmins, becoming a committed Christian and preacher.

Frank won a scholarship to the University College of Hull where he gained a London External BSc. After arriving at college, he met Wendy Ramm, an English student from Scarborough. Their friendship grew into a 60-year marriage, blessed with three children, Christopher, Ruth and Robin.

Throughout his college years, Frank reflected on God’s purpose, influenced by his good friend Harold, and the dedicated Primitive Methodism of his own family, especially his aunt Emily, a missionary nurse in Nigeria.

After a year into teaching biology, he offered for the ministry, and was accepted. Frank spent the next three years at Headingly Methodist College, Leeds, followed by two years’ probation in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Circuit.

Ordination and marriage followed in 1956 and Frank was appointed to the Burton-on-Trent Circuit for six years, where two of his children, Christopher and Ruth, were born. The family then moved and spent the next five years in Nottingham where their third and final child, Robin, was born.

In 1967 they moved to Crawley, becoming minister at St Paul’s Methodist Church, before moving to Redditch in 1975. He was one of the driving forces behind bringing together churches to form the Ecumenical Centre.

Frank and Wendy moved to Eastbourne where they spent the next seven years. Frank worked as a minister at Eastbourne Central Methodist Church before both Frank and Wendy retired to Gloucester, where they greatly contributed to the formation of the four denominational Christchurch which was being built on Abbeydale.

On a Sabbatical, Frank visited Ama Achara in Nigeria where his aunt Emily had spent over 20 years and had founded a hospital; he then went on to write and publish her biography Emily, the Relentless Nurse.

At home he helped, in his retirement, to develop a local Progressive Christianity group.

He and Wendy greatly enjoyed their retirement, joining U3A, where he was chairman for two years.

Frank continued to take services in local churches once a month until June 2008.

He was a much-loved husband of Wendy, dearly loved dad, grandpa and great grandpa, and he will be greatly missed by his family and all who knew him.

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