The Revd Anthony Philip Taylor: 1946-2026 
 

Tony Taylor was someone noted for his belief in the viability of village and small-town churches and who had a critical understanding of the role church buildings could play in the fostering of community life in rural and semi-rural settings

Tony was born and brought up in Oldham and at an early age developed a life-long passion for Oldham Athletic Football Club, travelling to both home and away matches whenever he could. Passing his eleven plus and going to Grammar School, on leaving school he obtained a post with the Co-Operative Insurance Company at their Manchester headquarters. Gaining appropriate qualifications, he transferred to the Blackburn office, where his future wife, Rosemary, was employed.

Tony and Rosemary married and moved later to Barnoldswick and Tony branched out to become an independent Insurance broker. When Rosemary had their first child, Jonathan, she was in hospital and there found a kindred spirit, Barbara, in the next bed who had just given birth to her first daughter, Elizabeth. In the friendship which ensued, Barbara told Rosemary about the church she attended, Barnoldswick Baptist Church, and Rosemary and Tony soon started worshiping there.

In 1977 Tony was one of the first to be baptised in the new Baptist Centre in Barnoldswick by Keith Jones and his gifts were recognised and he became a deacon in the church. Tony and Rosemary, with their family, now three boys, Jonathan, Andrew and David, were fully engaged in the life of a growing church. Tony was encouraged to make greater use of his quiet pastoral gifts and his empathy with people and underwent formation for what was then known as Supplementary Ministry at the Northern Baptist College.

In December 1986 Tony was ordained to the ministry at Barnoldswick Baptist Church when the Revd Dr Brian Haymes preached, the Revd John F V Nicholson ordained and the following week Tony was inducted as pastor of Salterforth Baptist Church by the Revd Dr Keith G Jones. 

Salterforth is a village community and at that time had two places of worship, an Inghamite chapel and a Baptist chapel. Tony threw himself into the work of building community links using the building, which had been refurbished the previous year. With support from the Revd Gaynor Hammond, a member of the team at Northern Baptist College, work with children and young people grew.

Two features emerged from this time. Tony was instrumental in strengthening the relationships between the three West Craven Baptist communities – Barnoldswick, Earby and Salterforth. He also worked at developing ecumenical relationships in the area and he had an empathy for understanding the ethos of other Christian churches and this was to continue as a theme throughout his 40 years of active ministry. Tony understood the importance of rural ministry and became actively involved in the Baptist Rural Churches group.

In 1996 the three West Craven churches formed a fellowship (now one church) and Tony was called to be part of the ministry team for all three churches. Throughout this time he continued his work as an insurance broker, but increasingly the ministry was his principal occupation, always leaving space for his family and support of Oldham Athletic.

In 2007 Tony was called to the pastorate of Idle Baptist Church on the outskirts of metropolitan Bradford. Idle had that village community feel about it and the Victorian buildings had been replaced by a modern multipurpose suite of buildings in the 1980s. Tony soon became engaged in seeking to maximise the use of the premises for Christian mission and social action. Again, he worked with the Revd Gaynor Hammond, now on the staff of the Yorkshire Baptist Association, to develop dementia-friendly work in the church, which continues to this day.

In the mid 2010s Tony and Rosemary acquired a “holiday home” in the Upper Eden Valley at Brough. They decided to “retire” there and his pastorate at Idle came to an end. However, this was not the end of Tony’s ministry, for he was soon involved in the Northern Baptist Association and asked to moderate at Bishop Auckland Baptist Church, which seemed on the verge of closure. Tony was not one to help small churches come to an end and soon Bishop Auckland Baptists were being encouraged to think beyond themselves and develop activities in their building which drew people in and saved the church from closing its doors.

Tony was also much engaged in preaching and promoting work in Kirkby Stephen, both in the Upper Eden Baptist Church and in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Church. He served on two occasions as Chair of the local Council of Churches and also as President of the local Rotary Club. He had been a Rotarian for all his professional life being a member of the Barnoldswick and Earby Rotary Club and later the club at Idle. He was instrumental in organising a memory club, following his interest in dementia-friendly churches he had developed at Idle.

Sadly, Rosemary died a few years ago and that was a great loss for Tony and the boys, but having felt a deep call into ministry whilst at Barnoldswick, he soon was fully immersed again in leading worship, in preaching and in serving the community at Bishop Auckland and the communities of the Upper Eden valley.

In late August he was found by a neighbour concerned for his well-being unwell in bed at his home one morning and taken to Cumberland Royal Infirmary in Carlisle. His family gathered round him and he passed away peaceably on 1 September.

At his funeral in Kirkby Stephen Methodist Church the congregation was very ecumenical and included ministers from across the region. The service was conducted by his good friend, the Revd Stephen Radford, Methodist Minister in Kirkby Stephen with tributes from the Rotary Club, Bishop Auckland Baptist Church, the Northern Baptist Association and the churches of Kirkby Stephen.

A quiet man, with a very memorable laugh. A hard-working builder of Christ-like community life and a faithful servant of the churches he pastored over a ministry of 40 years, he is survived by his younger brother, his three sons and his daughter-in-law, Willow.
 

Keith G Jones