The Revd Dr Richard Kidd: 1950-2023
 

Baptist minister, ecumenist and former principal of Northern Baptist College

Richard Kidd was born on 19 January 1950 in Nottingham. He grew up alongside his sister, Jane, and was encouraged by his father, Leonard, to develop practical skills at which Richard remained outstanding throughout his life. On receipt of a scholarship, he attended Nottingham High School, an independent school belonging to the Headmasters’ Conference but limited to day boys. From there he went to Cambridge in 1969 as a Scholar of King’s College and in 1972 graduated with a BA (later transformed into a MA) in Theoretical Physics.
 
At Cambridge, Richard met up with David Bebbington whom he had known a little at school. David was studying at Jesus College, and Richard joined him in attending a Christian Union meeting, after which Richard made his own commitment of faith. They formed a deep friendship that would last for the rest of Richard’s life.

The Christian Union at Cambridge with – in his own words – ‘all its intensity and evangelical fervour’ continued to nurture Richard, and he was baptised at Zion Baptist Church, Cambridge in 1972. The importance of Christian experience never left him. He was strongly influenced by the charismatic movement and for the year after graduation he served as a full-time Lay Pastor of Waterbeach Baptist Church, where Spurgeon had once been minister. These proved to be the early steps in exploring a possible calling to Christian ministry within the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland (BUGB). Though this was to lead him away from the areas of study he had pursued at King’s, Richard never lost his love of the sciences or of the college itself, and their influence were to be seen in much of his later writings and teaching.
 
In 1973 Richard was accepted for ministerial training at Spurgeon’s College in London and over the following three academic years he completed the BD awarded externally by London University. So, in 1976 Richard received an invitation to serve as minister of Kenton Baptist Church, was ordained into Baptist ministry, and placed on the accredited list of BUGB ministers. He was to remain on that list through to the end of his life.
 
Over the following years Richard would follow two parallel pathways, often at the same time. On the one hand, he immersed himself in local church life and ministry, developing his skills as a pastor, preacher and church leader. On the other hand, he deepened his theological understanding not least through formal study, creating the foundations that would prove vital in later years. His ministry at Kenton, a suburb of London, lasted from 1976 until 1980 during which he studied part-time at King’s College in London, gaining an MTh in Twentieth Century Systematic Theology. This included writing a dissertation on ‘The Significance of Jesus Christ in the Theology of Jurgen Moltmann’ under the supervision of Professor H P Owen. In 1980 Richard returned to full-time study at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, where he completed a DPhil under the supervision of the Revd Dr Paul Fiddes entitled, ‘Human Fallenness: a Comparative Study in the Theologies of Paul Tillich and Karl Rahner.’
 
By this time, Richard had a growing family. He and Rosemary had met during his time at Cambridge, also through the friendship he enjoyed with David Bebbington and his wife Eileen, and they married in King’s College Chapel in 1972. Over the years they had four children – Peter, Andrew, Simon and Hannah – the youngest of whom was born as the time in Oxford came to an end.

They lived as a family in the small Oxfordshire village of Eynsham during this period, participating in the life and ministry of the small Baptist Chapel that served that community.

Richard and Rosemary would go on to have a total of nine grandchildren and though, as is so for many, family life was not always smooth or straightforward, it was a vital and significant part of both their lives. It was Rosemary who did much to nurture and hold the family together, but they were always an important part of Richard’s life as well, with many times spent together on holidays and various activities related to the developing interests and careers of the children. Camping on Iona was a particular favourite.

Rosemary herself was a biology teacher whose field of expertise extended Richard’s own scientific understanding into the area of natural history. Apart from supporting Richard in the early years, she gained a doctorate in Christian education from the University of Manchester and went on to become a Baptist minister, serving in a local church, in Methodist educational work and at Didcot with the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Her sudden and unexpected death in January 2022 had a profound effect on Richard. For the last week of her life Covid prevented him from seeing her and Richard found it very hard to come to terms with that devastating experience.
 
For Richard, study in Oxford was followed by a further church appointment, this time as minister of Theydon Bois Baptist Church in Essex, where Richard served from 1983-86. It was a fulfilling and demanding three years and proved to be another important experience in what he later described as learning ‘to relate creatively to such a wide range of Christian people and churches’. Richard saw his years in local ministry with its foundational work of being pastor, carer, teacher and preacher as crucial for his future work, and particularly in what it taught him about the kind of model of ministry that put excessive weight upon one person. He was already beginning to want to explore more creative models based on enabling and collaborative leadership.
 
It was clear that the years of study and learning were preparing Richard for involvement in the world of theological education and when the opportunity came to enter that world, he gladly accepted it. In 1986, the family moved to Urmston in Manchester where Richard became half-time minister of Greenfield Baptist and Congregational Church and half-time tutor at Northern Baptist College (NBC). He held both those positions through to 1989 when he became a full-time tutor at NBC with special responsibility for part-time training.
 
Richard joined a college that had been responsible for developing radical and innovative patterns of training during the previous decade or so under the leadership of the Revd Dr Michael Taylor. It had become part of an ecumenical federation of colleges on a single site, including a Methodist college and a United Reformed Church college, using the shared name of Luther King House (LKH), and it had successfully pioneered the introduction of different pathways into Baptist ministry (including ones that were church-based and part-time) as well as offering training for lay leaders. Such changes had transformed ministerial formation, but the pace of change and development meant that there was a task of consolidation to be done. Added to which, Richard came into a relatively new staff team, with the Revd Dr Brian Haymes having been appointed the next Principal only shortly before Richard arrived.
 
Richard gladly embraced the ethos and approach of NBC. These were years when many of his distinctive gifts, abilities and commitments began to be evident, as he began to grow and develop within the college context.

First and foremost was his work as a theological educator. Richard was a natural, enthusiastic and very able teacher, and remained so for the rest of his life. He readily adopted and developed the understanding of education that had become central to life of NBC – a contextual approach that rooted theology in lived experience, one that saw training for ministry and the practice of ministry as belonging together, and a way of learning that took both tutor and students on a journey of discovery and exploration.

Richard described himself as ‘a creative enabler of Christian learning’ and embodied that in the way he was himself always a learner – for example, joining with student groups as a participant in their own programme of contextual learning in Moss Side, Manchester. His gifts were quickly recognised and by 1988 he was a part-time lecturer in the University of Manchester, offering a course on ‘The Christian Doctrine of Humanity’.
 
Second, Richard was a committed ecumenist. Much earlier on, while studying at King’s College in London, he had taken a term’s seminars with Jesuit students at Heythrop College which he described as a milestone in his ecumenical development; so, becoming part of an ecumenical federation was no hardship! Without doubt he had secure Baptist convictions that had already been lived out and expressed over a number of years, and the tradition of dissent was one he strongly embraced.

But Richard also testified to the fact that his identity as a Baptist was only deepened and strengthened by working and studying in partnership with other traditions. It ought to be said that the ecumenical environment was not always peaceful or straightforward at LKH, and there were certainly times of tension within the federation. In later years, when the Church of England become a partner in the teaching programmes for a short while, this caused significant frustrations that in the end could not be resolved. Yet throughout Richard maintained an insistence on the importance and value of theological education being done ecumenically and strongly resisted an isolationist approach.
 
Third, there had been a more informed embracing of social and political concerns within Richard’s spiritual development. Rosemary often led the way, stimulating Richard to explore justice issues. They had become integral to his faith and were now to be a central aspect of his work as a theological educator.

In part, this was a response to the Manchester context as Richard embraced ways of doing theology – such as the use of the ‘pastoral cycle’ – that enabled concrete engagement with issues of injustice within local communities.

But it was also sharpened and deepened by the wider links that he was beginning to establish through international networks of Baptist theological education, one example being his involvement with the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education associated with the Baptist World Alliance.

Perhaps two international visits did more than anything else to establish justice concerns at the centre of Richard’s ministry and theology. One was to South Africa with time spent in the company of black Baptists in the townships and with the college of the Baptist Convention in Soweto that very directly enhanced awareness of the impact of racism both in that country and back in Britain as well. In due course he was able to help NBC give back to, as well as receive from, Baptists in South Africa through legacy money left to the college.

The other was to Central America that brought an encounter with the outworkings of liberation theology amongst some of the poorest and most threatened communities in El Salvador. Meetings and conversations had during that visit impressed upon Richard the need to take seriously the call to seek justice.
 
Finally, there were Richard’s denominational commitments. Mention has already been made to his strong sense of Baptist identity and the arrival at NBC provided the impetus to begin to live this out within the life of BUGB in a number of distinctive ways. There were the natural Baptist committees and forums that Richard began to engage with as an NBC tutor, including being a Council member of the Yorkshire Baptist Association, the college’s representative on the Baptist Union Advisory Group on Theological Education, the Secretary of the Baptist Colleges’ Joint Consultative Committee, and a speaker and attender at Baptist Association gatherings and the Baptist College Tutors conferences.

But perhaps more significant were Richard’s chosen involvements, notably with those engaging with people who have learning disabilities (led by BUiLD – The Baptist Union Initiative with People who have Learning Difficulties) and with those recognising the need to address issues of racial justice within Baptist life and beyond. As was typical of Richard, he gave a great deal of himself to both these issues not just for a short time but consistently over the following 20 years or so.
 
During his time as a tutor at NBC, Richard had particular responsibility for the part-time training of ministerial students. However, his full involvement in the Christian Leadership Course for lay students, together with the policy of trying to integrate the various patterns and courses available around a balance of academic study, practical skills and spiritual development, meant that he fully endorsed the aim of making high quality contextual theological education available to all.

Part of that aim was to address the continuing discrimination being experienced by women wanting to enter Baptist ministry, and Richard was one of those who set out to properly explore feminist theology in ways that would change his own practice of ministry and enhance the college’s efforts to further equality within the Baptist denomination.
 
In 1992 Brian Haymes was elected vice-president of the Baptist Union and during his year as President Richard was asked to serve as Acting Principal. In the event, Brian Haymes did not return to NBC having accepted an invitation to become Principal of Bristol Baptist College, and Richard made the decision to apply for the position of Principal. Whatever doubts and questions he might have had, it is evident from his application that he saw this as a culmination of so much that had previously been part of his life. He spoke of having in place ‘many of the basic building blocks which could next enable (him) to exercise a significant ministry with prime responsibility for the leadership of a theological college community.’
 
Richard became Principal in 1994. He was, of course, well-known to all those involved with NBC and the LKH partnership, and yet the appointment process was not entirely straightforward. For a number of years NBC had wrestled with the tensions inherent in having developed innovative approaches to formation linked with a radical theology and the direction taken had inevitably alienated parts of the Baptist constituency. There were those who were unsure that Richard could bridge those divisions.

Richard, for his part, stressed the journey he had taken to properly understand and respond to the diversity within the denomination, and the ways in which the college itself had worked to overcome past conflict and re-think its learning culture. His expressed desire to be collaborative, to make partnerships with local churches real, and to encourage genuine diversity presumably reassured those who interviewed him.
 
There were immediate tasks confronting Richard as Principal. One was the development by the LKH federation of its own degree programmes validated by the University of Manchester. Changes within the University meant the previous pattern of students receiving teaching within the Faculty of Theology was no longer possible and, together with the other LKH colleges, NBC committed to designing their own ecumenical course that would integrate academic learning and experience of ministry. It would be validated by the University and was to be known as the ‘Faith in Living’ course.

Richard had already immersed himself in the considerable task of preparing these new modular qualifications, recognising the opportunity this presented to provide patterns of learning responsive to the needs of those preparing for ministry; now he had to take a lead in ensuring the federation was properly integrated with management structures able to cope with the demands of fully overseeing academic programmes.
 
Another important task that had already begun was responding to the receipt by the college of two substantial legacies amounting to about £3 million. Richard had already been involved with the consultation exercise and the groups set up to work on how to make good and appropriate use of the regular interest income that such a sum produced. It had been agreed that a major proportion should be used to create a new Community Learning Network and it was Richard’s responsibility to ensure that this was implemented. The Network was inaugurated in 1995 with dedicated staff and was designed to offer learning and training resources to the churches of the north and the midlands. It was an important initiative and a very practical expression of the college’s commitment to the churches; however, one the consequences of receiving such a legacy was a drop in regular income to the college from local churches, and Richard also had to attend to this.
 
Richard served as Principal of NBC a total of 18 years through to his retirement in 2012. These were full and demanding years, and he gave himself fully to NBC and the LKH federation, shaping its life and ethos, managing a very significant workload, and always finding time to think and act creatively.
 
As one of the principals within the federation of colleges, Richard inevitably played a leading role in managing the complexities of working in a partnership that needed to develop and grow stronger. And he had visionary and organisational gifts that could not be ignored. Early on, as efforts were made to further consolidate the partnership, Richard led NBC in its decision to transfer the ownership of the premises used by LKH from NBC into an ecumenical trust.

It was a courageous decision – but one that enabled all the colleges to have a sense of ownership of the site where they were now resident together, and to be able to make changes that could benefit everyone. A bed and breakfast business grew up that slowly became more significant, not least in providing an important source of income for the new trust, and in due time a building project was undertaken that brought major improvements to the library facilities. Staffing decisions began to be made collaboratively, and this led to the appointment of Dr David Goodbourn as the first President of LKH.
 
While by no means shouldering all the weight of these important developments, Richard was undoubtedly a key player in initiating and guiding them forwards. At times he struggled with the tensions and conflicts that arose within the partnership of colleges, not least because he took on much of the responsibility for what needed to be done. In this he was certainly helped by David Goodbourn’s appointment, but he worked tirelessly to hold LKH together in both good and difficult times, believing in what it stood for.
 
The academic programmes needed to be constantly reviewed and improved, following the regulatory frameworks set down by the validating universities. For many years this involved working with the University of Manchester, but for one period government policy meant it was financially advantageous to move undergraduate validation to Chester University, a decision that then had to be reversed a few years later. Again, Richard played a significant role in negotiating and in preparing the extensive documentation needed for such changes. Never a great lover of administration, he nevertheless embraced it as a necessary part of his job and ensured it was done efficiently and carefully in order that the work of both NBC and LKH could move forwards.
 
Perhaps one of the most important initiatives took place in 2009. Richard had long been an advocate for women in ministry and wanted to see the Baptist denomination live out its commitment to gender equality, and the earlier appointment of Anne Phillips on to the staff of NBC (then known as the Northern Baptist Learning Community) led to a proposal that a Co-Principalship should be set up for the duration of their joint period of employment. It was a typical expression of Richard’s desire to embody his deepest convictions, and in a way that involved self-sacrifice for the greater benefit of the college.

From that point on Richard and Anne shared leadership responsibility, Anne tending to be more regionally focused while Richard concentrated on the work that went on in Manchester. It is worth noting that a decision was made to continue this pattern of Co-Principalship involving one woman and one man after both Anne and Richard had retired, a testimony to its value to the college.
 
Throughout his period as Principal and Co-Principal, Richard devoted considerable time to participation in the life of BUGB. His denominational commitment has already been noted and he regarded it as part of his responsibilities at NBC to profile the college amongst Baptists, ensuring it contributed positively and creatively to the broad scope of Baptist life in this country. He became a faithful and active member of the Baptist Union Council, and an important contributor to the work of the Faith and Unity Executive, one of its main committees.

This enabled him to pursue the kind of justice commitments that had surfaced much earlier in his ministry, including issues of disability and racial justice. Richard made notable contributions to Council discussions on both these areas of concern, but none more so than the debate in 2007 that led to the decision to make a formal apology for Baptist involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. It was Richard who framed the final statement that was agreed by Council, crafting its wording with characteristic care such that it both commanded wide support and at the same time was truly prophetic in the stand it took.
 
The careful and creative use of words was always part of Richard’s life and ministry. From very early on in his ministry he began to participate in writing projects including articles, booklets and full-scale books, and this was to remain part of his life well into retirement. Almost all the booklets and books were collaborative enterprises, illustrating the pleasure Richard gained from working with others and his belief that theology is best done in community.

Many contributed significantly to Baptist life and thought, enabling the denomination to understand itself more clearly and fully, and they continue to provide a solid grounding for much that is distinctive about Baptist understandings of the nature of the church. Richard also used these writing gifts more widely, not least in his role as an editor of the ‘Journal of Adult Theological Education’.
 
Those who wrote with Richard included the principals of other Baptist colleges in England and Wales, and this marked a period of close cooperation and collaboration that has not always been true of Baptist academic life. Together they forged friendships that allowed a working together, and this had many benefits for Baptists in addition to the range of writings that appeared. For Richard, the times spent with Paul Fiddes and Brian Haymes in particular led to deep friendships that continued for many years.
 
The main writings Richard produced include the following:

• ‘The Christian Hope’ in Journal of the Fraternal (1978) 
• ‘The Call to Be’ in A Call to Mind: Baptist Essays Towards a Theology of Commitment (1981)
• ‘The Documents of Covenant Love’ in Bound to Love: the Covenant Basis of Baptist Life and Mission (1985)
• ‘Religion and Science: One World or Two?’ in Journal of the Fraternal (1987)
• A Passion for Life: Six Bible Studies on the Passion of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel (1989)
• ‘A Question of Humanity’ unpublished papers on Theology and Learning Disability, a BUiLD consultation (1992)
• ‘Science and Christianity: Conflict or Co-operation?’ in The Magazine of the Student Christian Movement (1992)
• ‘Creation: the How and the Why?’ in Theology Themes (1992)
• ‘One Jesus: Many Faces’ in Theology Themes (1992)
• ‘The Holy Spirit and Liberation’ in Theology Themes (1993)
• ‘Out of the Depth: Revelation in the Theology of Paul Tillich’ in Theology Themes (1993)
• ‘Baptism and the Identity of Christian Communities’ in Reflections on the Water (1996)
• Something to declare: a study of the Declaration of Principle of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, co-authored with Paul Fiddes, Brian Haymes and Michael Quicke and edited by Richard (1996)
• On the Way of Trust, co-authored with Paul Fiddes, Brian Haymes and Michael Quicke and edited by Richard (1997)
• ‘Adult Theological Education: Some personal Perspectives’, The John Relly Beard Lecture (1998)
• ‘Northern Baptist College’ in American Baptist Quarterly (1999)
• ‘Baptists and Theologies of Liberation’ in Doing Theology in a Baptist Way (2000)
• God and the Art of Seeing: Visual Resources for the Journey of Faith, co-authored with Graham Sparkes (2003)
• ‘The Place of Suffering in the Shaping of Baptist Spirituality’ in Under the Rule of Christ (2009)
• Baptists and the Communion of Saints, co-authored with Paul Fiddes and Brian Haymes (2014)
• ‘On Realising “The Dance”’ in For the Sake of the Church: Essays in Honour of Paul S Fiddes (2014)

 
There were others, including brief unpublished articles and journal records of his significant visits to South Africa and El Salvador. Richard also self-published two books of poetry towards the end of his life.
 
Amidst the demands of managing the institutional life of NBC and LKH, contributing to denominational initiatives, and participating in the writing of a significant number of publications, it must not be forgotten that Richard gave himself to the routine but essential task of guiding, teaching and supporting the many students who went through LKH during his many years there, and particularly those preparing for Baptist ministry. There are many who can pay tribute to his intellectual abilities – a lively mind that was forever working through new ideas and wrestling with fresh possibilities. His studies over the years meant that he had a rare ability to draw on many different disciplines in his search to express his Christian faith and commitment, and modules he taught often crossed over to embrace not only his rich understanding of theology but also science, art, poetry and music. And throughout there was a concern that theology should be about what we do and how we live, expressing a commitment to God’s justice.
 
Richard proved to be a valued critical friend to many, a source of wisdom and advice drawn from his own experience and understanding but offered with a gentle compassion. This was no doubt deepened by his own occasional struggles with mental health including times of depression. His learning was put at the disposal of those who he taught and to whom he ministered, but it was not imposed. He wanted others to find their own way.
 
Following retirement, Richard continued to offer support and friendship as well as live out his deep commitments. Of course, there was more time and space for family visits, and also for relaxation and work on their house in Whaley Bridge. Together with Rosemary, time was spent cycling and walking around the Peak District and there were also visits to places that meant much to them, such as the island of Iona. But Richard’s restless spirit ensured that new initiatives also took shape.
 
Perhaps the most significant of these was a strong friendship that developed with Kerry and Annie Hilton from New Zealand, who had founded a project in Kolkata, India, known as ‘Freeset’. This charity aimed to empower and liberate young women caught up in the sex trade, and it did not take long for both Richard and Rosemary to become passionately involved in the work that was going on. They visited ‘Freeset’, became strong advocates for its vital work of liberation, and set about raising significant finance to enable it to grow and develop.
 
Painting and writing poetry became one way of Richard helping fund ‘Freeset’. He produced a significant number of works of art that were sold at places like the annual Pittenweem Arts Festival in Scotland, and in partnership with Mike Lowe they presented art and poetry to a range of churches and Baptist gatherings around the country to the benefit of the project. And, alongside Kerry and Annie, Richard created space for deep theological reflection with members of ‘Freeset’, allowing them to explore the nature of God who is liberator of the oppressed and brings justice for the poor.
 
There were other ways in which Richard gave of his time and gifts as well. A long-time friend of the Revds Andy and Jo Williams, he gladly shared with them as from 2015 they explored the possibility of setting up what became known as the ‘Blackley Centre’ – a centre for initiatives in peace making and inter faith relations. More than that, Richard became a founding trustee, served as treasurer, and helped create publicity and website for the new centre.

Similarly, he helped and supported in very practical ways the life and mission of local churches, including Whaley Bridge Uniting Church where he served as treasurer, and in the latter years of his life, Chinley Independent Chapel and its minister, the Revd Fodey Kamara.
 
In the year following Rosemary’s death, Richard struggled to know how he was to live his life. His Christian faith had never allowed for easy or glib answers, and the loss of Rosemary presented him with challenges he found it difficult to address. He became more withdrawn and his last weeks, partly spent in hospital, were particularly difficult. Richard died on 12 July 2023. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

 

Graham Sparkes
2024

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Baptist college principal, minister, teacher, mentor, theologian, writer, artist, seeker of justice, follower of Christ - a multi-voiced collection of personal reflections exemplify Richard Kidd's remarkable life and contribution to our Union following news of his death - read more