The Revd David Joynes: 1931-2022
Baptist minister whose pastorate at Beulah Baptist Church on 'the outskirts of industrial Oldham' extended more than 52 years
David was born in Streatham, London, on 15 August 1931, the only child of Harold and Dorothy. His London childhood was disrupted by the war when (with his mother) he was evacuated, first to relatives in the Forest of Dean, then to Newbury then to Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire.
David looked back fondly on his time at Little Chalfont. This was also an important time of Christian formation, culminating in his baptism at Broadway Baptist Church, Chesham in July 1945, just before his 14th birthday.
After school at Merchant Taylors came 19 months of national service, involving postings to Catterick, Aldershot, Edinburgh then Salisbury and during which David was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Signals.
David then went on to study law at St John’s College, Oxford, winning a scholarship to study there from Merchant Taylors with whom the College had close ties, completing his degree in 1954.
A call to the ministry brought a change in direction, however, along with a move across the road to Regent’s Park College for two years’ further study in theology and ministerial training. David was one of a number of young members of Chesham’s Broadway Baptist Church to enter the ministry around this time.
David wasn’t the first member of his family to go into Baptist ministry: both his grandfather and his great uncle (twins) had trodden a similar path, training at Spurgeon’s. For his grandfather, this then led to pastorates in Poplar in London’s docklands, New Southgate, Frinton-on-Sea and a final pastorate at Harlow.
While at Oxford as secretary, then president, of the Baptist Society (the John Bunyan Society) David met his future wife, Elaine. In a partnership spanning over 65 years Elaine was a constant support and source of wise advice, maybe at times a moderating influence!
When the time came to settle at a church, David expressed interest in northern towns. Despite this, his first invitations to preach came from village churches in the south. That all changed through a chance encounter involving David’s future father-in-law, a lay preacher in Rochdale, and the north-west area superintendent. Against standard Baptist policy, invitations came from three churches at the same time, but Beulah Baptist Church, Hollinwood, described as being ‘on the outskirts of industrial Oldham’ won the day.
This was no easy assignment for a young minister. The church had been without a regular minister since the ending of a highly divisive ministry in 1950, relying heavily on short-term student placements. Finances were tight and continuity was lacking. What David saw, though, was ‘a church that had a lot of potential’ and a committed group of people eager for a leader. So it was that David and Elaine arrived at Beulah straight from honeymoon in November 1956. David’s first official duty was to conduct a wedding ceremony on the morning of 1 December, followed by ordination in the afternoon.
In a pastorate extending over 52 years youth work was an early focus: Boys’ Brigade, Girls’ Brigade, youth fellowship, canoe building, fencing, football, boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads, and (in 1964) the building of a new youth centre, the first in Oldham under the Government’s Albemarle scheme to encourage youth work.
A condition of Government support was that the centre should be used for youth work five days a week for the next 28 years. Looking back this was quite an undertaking, but helped by a loyal band of volunteers the centre was soon thriving. At one point the twice-weekly open access youth club had 200 members. Many lives were touched through this range of youth initiatives.
From 1965, David combined ministry with teaching, first part-time then full-time and for 20 years as head of RE at Counthill Comprehensive School. This made for a hectic schedule, with church work filling out-of-school hours, but David greatly enjoyed both the company of colleagues and the contacts with young people. The family has been greatly touched by the many tributes received from former pupils.
Summing up 52 years of ministry to church and community in a few sentences is an impossible task. Baptisms were a highlight. Among these, the baptism of Dick Hallam in 1965 stood out particularly. Dick was wheelchair bound, having been crippled by polio. He was adamant in wanting baptism by immersion, though accommodations could have been made, and so he was carried in and out of the baptistery on a chair by four men, one man at each corner.
Other highlights included the opening of Beulah Court, a complex of retirement flats on Byron Street, in 1984 and the coming together of Baptist and United Reformed congregations through a sharing agreement in 1988.
In David’s own words, ‘Every church ought to be involved in the community and that is what has driven me.’ He was active in the local regeneration partnership and delighted to act as Mayor’s chaplain in 1972.
Later, on retiring from teaching, he immersed himself in local politics, seeing this as an opportunity to advocate for the community he loved, with Hollinwood being one of the most deprived areas in the country. The protection of green spaces, better play facilities, a Metrolink station in Hollinwood and a better deal for residents affected by construction of the M66 were just some of the issues he campaigned for, as councillor from 1994 to 2002. For some years David was also an Oldham representative on the Greater Manchester Police Authority.
David played a key role in setting up Oldham’s Interfaith Forum after the riots of 2001, a forum that continues to this day. His was a ministry not just to the church but to the district and town. When the time came to retire, he said that ‘this church and Oldham have been my life’. The local paper described him as a ‘formidable community champion.’ Its headline read ‘Fond farewell to Mr Hollinwood.’
David was a man of boundless energy, an enthusiastic and resourceful organiser, always seeking out new ideas and volunteers to enliven worship, bring faith alive and deepen relationships, with each other and with God. He was absolutely his own person, treating everyone alike without fear or favour and with absolutely no interest in self-aggrandisement.
He also had a great and abiding sense of humour, with puns and practical jokes a speciality, and an infectious laugh. His joke-telling led to television fame when he appeared in a BBC4 TV series – Some vicars with jokes – in around 2013. It fell to Elaine to vet the jokes!
In 2009 David and Elaine moved to Carlton-in-Coverdale where they had holidayed for thirty years. [Retirement was always going to be a wrench. Besides his attachment to Oldham and its people, David recalled being told from childhood ‘not to waste time’ a mantra that had informed his pace of life.]
True to form he soon became a fixture on the Methodist preaching plan (there being no Baptists in the dale) and a member of the local youth committee, supplementing this with carpet bowls at the village hall and involvement with Elaine in the local history society. Even then, Beulah was often in his thoughts and for several years he returned regularly to preach. The concerns of Beulah folk were his concerns, and he loved them to the end. He was also immensely proud of his three daughters (Alison, Rosemary and Christine) and their families.
David’s final years were marked by declining health, though he always had a twinkle in his eye and a joke or enquiry for those around him. And to the end his Christian faith was strong and undiminished - the core of who he was. Services at Beulah would often start with striking words from Isaiah Chapter 40, spoken with confidence and conviction: ‘Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning?’
David did know, and he did hear. That conviction was worked out in a life dedicated to others.
Christine Joynes and Rosemary Chadwick