The Revd Mavis Beamont: 1933-2014 

Mavis was born in Bradford on 14th November 1933 and attended Bowling Baptist Church, Bradford, Yorkshire, with grandparents and parents. She was baptized at the age of 14.

After she left school she became a short-hand typist and her first employer was Adolph Jacobs, wool merchants in Bradford. Later she worked for Shelter, the housing charity, where the Director was Mohammed Ajeeb who later became the first Asian to be elected as Mayor of the city of Bradford.
 
Then at the beginning of 1975, the Central Bradford Baptist Fellowship was formed – a Baptist experiment in team ministry. Mavis was the secretary and helped to hold the CBBF together, ensuring good communication and bringing her considerable administrative skills and efficient and conscientious giftings to the role.
 
But beyond administration, Mavis also began to preach around the churches. We could see her wider gifts of ministry emerging and, after sensing and testing this call, she went to Northern Baptist College in Manchester to study part-time. In 1986, she was ordained to Christian ministry as a non-stipendiary and served Tetley St Memorial Church in Bradford, Idle Baptist Church, Bradford and thenat Wesley Road LEP in Leeds. In so-called retirement, she fulfilled various roles in preaching and supporting the churches of the area.
 
Mavis had a real passion for people. She was warm-hearted and approachable. She was a sensitive and attentive pastor. Mavis had a deep spirituality, was a thoughtful preacher and prepared very carefully for all aspects of worship. Her preaching was well earthed – forged through life experience, rooted in theology with no superficial platitudes.
 
Mavis had a real passion for Kingdom - a vision of ‘shalom’ rooted in the Gospel of Forgiveness and Justice. She kept trying to work through how we can learn to live with difference and even celebrate it. After increasing health challenges in recent years and months, Mavis retained her interest in and concern for people and remained active in her calling.
 
Mavis was devoted to her family and is survived by her husband, Alan, daughter -Lynn, sons – Kevin and Mark, six grandchildren and a great granddaughter.
 
We give thanks to God for a deeply committed servant of the Kingdom.
  

The Revd Ernie Whalley