The Revd Raymond Herbert Whitfield: 1928-2024
Served with BMS in India before returning to England, Ray was a Baptist minister with 'a big heart for caring for people'
Ray Whitfield hailed from humble beginnings in Parkstone, Dorset where he found faith within the local free evangelical church where he worshipped with his parents and brother. Having attended Christian camps for boys his faith grew and by 16 he had determined he wanted to be a missionary.
From 14-18 years he worked in a building supplies company where his organisational and mathematical skills saw him excel in estimating for customers. On call-up for national service his basic training revealed that he was a crack shot with a rifle, but his Christian faith saw him prefer to go into the Royal Army Medical Corp where he was posted to Malaysia to a field hospital helping soldiers recover. While there he wanted to learn psychiatric nursing skills, although there was precious little option to practice as his main role was to escort soldiers down to the port for return to the UK. Soon however his office training and bookkeeping skills came to the attention of the senior officer running the camp. Ray then became his personal assistant.
His commanding officer enquired of Ray what he wanted to do when leaving national service. The response was swift and clear: he wanted to be a missionary. The officer then said he would support Ray’s need for further education: to pass matriculation to allow him to go to university. Having achieved that and, with the government willing to cover the costs of him studying for a degree, Ray studied for his Batchelor of Divinity at the London Bible College. There he met Margaret, a nurse keen to study for missionary work following in the footsteps of her own parents, and they were married in 1951.
Ray and Margaret were accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society to go to Odisha (then Orissa), India in 1953. Ray taught pastors theology and churchmanship at a time when converts from the Dalit people and planting of new churches were rapid. His command of the Odia language was such that the locals hailed him as better than they were! Along with this ability to effectively communicate with the local people, his pastoral and caring heart endeared him to all he met pointing them to how to love Jesus and serve him well.
In addition to teaching pastors through the week and supporting local churches at weekends, Ray was the headmaster of the Middle School on the mission compound for three years to allow the then headmaster to be released to study to degree level. Overseeing the mission compound, he also supported the hostels for children to live in to access the schools. His legacy of input into the area of Balangir was illustrated when in 2014 he returned for the centenary of the school. At this time many pastors, or families of pastors testified to the impact of his teaching saying “You brought us Jesus”. Equally many teachers and pupils recalled his impact on the school.
In 1966, Ray and Margaret, plus their children Joy, Iain, Diane and Peter returned to the UK whereupon Ray took up his first ministry post at Acton Baptist Church. Ray’s quality of preaching, pastoring and leadership for the church saw many come to faith and the church grow across all age ranges. At this time Ray was also a part-time lecturer at the London Bible College in mission studies, passing on his skills from all the years in India. Indeed, his love for India saw many Indian pastors visit him when they came to the UK to study and his ability to encourage and support their ministry was well received. Ray and Margaret continued to support the BMS through their entire ministry years.
In 1978 Ray moved to a new pastorate at Winchmore Hill Baptist Church where his ministry saw a significant growth in numbers and depth of faith. He encouraged many leaders across the various church activities and indeed oversaw the broadening of leadership with the establishing of an eldership team. His leadership gifts and influence saw Ray appointed as the president of the London Baptist Association in 1982 which added to his already busy ministry life, although he also managed to include becoming a governor of a local senior school.
In 1992, Ray needed a quadruple bypass operation following a heart attack at a BMS conference. The successful outcome allowed him to finish his church ministry career and retire at 65 in 1993. Moving to Tilehurst in Berkshire, Ray and Margaret joined Tilehurst Baptist Church and Ray led small groups and preached regularly at different churches.
He also embarked on a 10-year project to transcribe the Bible in the Odia language into a computer programme which would allow the Bible Society the ability to create the first braille Bible in Odia. Along with another missionary colleague they completed the task, including modification of the translation to better interpret the Bible into Odia. The resultant braille Bible reached many blind Hindus for whom there was so little in Odia braille! Added to all this, Ray also became chair of governors of a local school.
In 1998 Ray and Margaret moved to Radcliffe-on-Trent to be near family and joined the West Bridgford Baptist Church. Here again, Ray wholeheartedly threw himself into church life, preaching at times, and leading a small group until 90 years of age! Additionally, Ray enjoyed singing in the male voice choir. Ray also became the moderator for two different churches in the East Midlands during their interregnum between pastors, which was much appreciated by their congregations.
Ray was a relatively private man but with a big heart for caring for people. This was best shown in his love for his four children and spouses, his 12 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren – affectionately called “the Clan”. His main pastime was gardening which he engaged in right up to the end of his life, although he loved to travel with Margaret in the early years of retirement, visiting ex-missionary friends and family across the globe. Later he and Margaret enjoyed several cruises which were easier due to Margaret’s declining health. Ray cared for Margaret until her passing in 2016, which took its toll on his health, requiring a pace-maker to be fitted.
The last 8 years of his life was spent living in the same property as his daughter Joy which allowed him to be cared for effectively. In the last 2 years mixed dementia increasingly changed his ability to engage fully in life, but his utter trust in, and dependence on God never wavered.
He will be sorely missed for his example of one who loved God dearly and showed what a life of service looked like.
Ray’s memorial service will be held at 1:30 pm on Friday 12 July 2024 at West Bridgford Baptist Church, NG2 7NF.
Compiled by Peter Whitfield