Death of the 'remarkable' David Russell
By Mark Woods, The Baptist Times
Tributes have been paid to the Revd Dr David Russell, formerly General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, who has died aged 94. Dr Russell had pastorates in Berwick, Oxford and Acton, and was a scholar with a world-wide reputation and Principal of Rawdon College before its move to Manchester, after which he served as Joint Principal of Northern Baptist College.
He became BUGB General Secretary in 1967 and served until 1982. 'We give thanks to God for the remarkable life of David Russell,' said current General Secretary the Revd Jonathan Edwards. 'He was a man of immense personal warmth, great intellect, and a razor-sharp wit.
'As a local minister, college principal and general secretary David made a huge contribution to the life of our Baptist Union. 'As General Secretary he become a much-loved and greatly respected statesman, whose counsel was welcomed not only within our Union but far beyond, both ecumenically and internationally. 'We will remember his family in our prayers at this time.' The Revd Tony Peck, General Secretary of the European Baptist Federation (EBF), spoke of Dr Russell's role in Eastern Europe.
'The way he dealt with the Communist authorities, fearlessly but with humour, caused a number of breakthroughs,' he said. 'He was a very significant campaigner for freedom in the Communist era.' With the Revd Alec Gilmore, he was also active in helping Eastern European Christians acquire good theological literature through the books and translations committee of the EBF and the Eurolit programme. He secured funding for the translation of William Barclay's New Testament commentaries into Russian; these formed the core of many pastors' libraries in Russian-speaking regions.
Dr Russell retired to Bristol and with his wife Marion was a member of Westbury on Trym Baptist Church.
Its former pastor the Revd Dr Stephen Finamore, now Principal of Bristol
Baptist College, described him as 'a terrific scholar', and 'a fine preacher and teacher with a wonderful fund of anecdotes and an ability to engage an audience that lasted well into his 90s.' He added, 'He had a wonderful gift for befriending people; his neighbours, the men in the next hospital beds the person alongside him in the bus queue.
'Whoever they were and whatever their background, he would talk to them naturally about the world and about faith, always bearing witness to the relationship with Jesus Christ which was the very centre of his own life.'
Westbury's current minister the Revd Colin Norris said 'David wore his learning lightly. 'He had the humility to still be on a journey of discovery and learning. In the last couple of years his regular trips to hospital for dialysis put him for hours at a time alongside people with very different backgrounds and experiences to his own. This caused him to ponder afresh the challenges of sharing faith in the contemporary world. 'And despite all that he had written about eschatological hope, as he entered the last days of his final illness he looked forward to being welcomed into God's presence but also insisted that death is a mystery.'
A thanksgiving service for Dr Russell will be held on Thursday November 18 at Westbury on Trym Baptist Church at 3.30.
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