Rev. Henry Starkey, 87, internationalist and minister who touched the lives of many
Hoodoo
Claire Cock-Starkey
The Guardian, Sunday 25 July 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jul/25/henry-starkey-obituary
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2010/7/25/1280080443016/Henry-Starkey-006.jpg
Henry Starkey was heavily involved with Oxfam, Traidcraft and Christian Aid
My grandfather, the Rev Henry Starkey, who has died aged 87, was an
internationalist and minister who touched the lives of many. As he ailed
in hospital he received many appreciative cards, letters and emails from
friends and family across the globe whom he had inspired during his 60
years of ministry.
Henry gained a theology and history degree from Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge, before training as a Congregational minister. He began his
career at Tyndale church, Oxford, in 1946, where he became one of the
earliest supporters and later a board member of the Oxford Committee for
Famine Relief (now Oxfam). During the second world war, Henry was a
conscientious objector and in the postwar years took part in
reconciliation visits to churches in Germany and Holland.
After 10 years in Oxford, Henry took up the post of chaplain at Mill
Hill school, London, where he taught religious studies and history and
ran the scout troop, the pacifist alternative to the combined cadet
force. In 1980 Henry returned to full-time ministry at Homewood Road
church in St Albans. He formally retired in 1991 and moved to
Winchester. There he continued taking services, baptisms, funerals and
weddings across Hampshire.
Henry had a wonderful relaxed style as a minister and peppered his
sermons and services with fascinating nuggets of information to inspire
and inform. He was an expert on all aspects of hymns, commenting on
their origins, context and music. While living in Winchester, Henry
exercised his skills as a historian and raconteur as a tour guide for
the city's cathedral.
With characteristic altruism, Henry remained committed to Oxfam and,
with his wife Christine – to whom he was married for 61 years until her
death in 2007 – he was heavily involved in the Christian fair trade
organisation Traidcraft and Christian Aid. At his service of
thanksgiving, the Bishop of Winchester spoke warmly of his ecumenical
outlook and contribution in St Albans and Winchester. Henry was such a
vital, active minister that he will be missed by many, not least the
five children, Hugh, Paul, Hilary, Leonard and Victor, eight
grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren who survive him.
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