Adrian B Smith MAfr was a good friend to many people and a valued supporter of CCC.   We honour him by giving here the tribute made to him by Patrick Shanahan at his Farewell Eucharist.

The Quiet Rebel

I want to use a startling and profound quote, from T.S ELIOT:

‘To rejoice and mourn at once and for the same reason’.

Think again. Rejoicing and mourning at once. If our liturgy for Christian death and final farewell was a morbid affair then there would be no chance of using ‘rejoice and mourn’. But our liturgy this noontime is truly human – truly magnificent a piece of traditional style that captures all generations.

The preface prayer contains the declaration that ‘life is changed, not ended: Adrian has died and gone to where? Many of us in this Abbey Church have had our whole attitude to the death of an elder, changed by our immersion into Africa. A person such as Adrian dying in old age is simply said to be with the ancestors – in other words, ‘heaven’. There are no ‘maybe’ prayers across Africa for the elders who die. It is not seen as a possibility or even as a ‘pious thought’. It is seen as fact.

Our brother, our loved cousin, our friend, mentor, exemplar has died and gone to the ancestors. If we dare to pray that life has changed not ended – and we do – then events in time matter. If we can see that eternity has begun now, that it is a simultaneity and not a succession, then our present living is contingent to and not a mere reception room for the next life.

And so it is with Adrian.

Who is this man?

Born in 1930. Schooled in Ampleforth. Cousin of Myra. Ordained in 1955. Spent his early years in Sutton Coldfield and then on to Zambia. His mid years back in the UK saw him as National Director of the British Section of ‘Movement for a Better World’. By 1980 ‘More to Life’ had been born and the whole notion beloved of Adrian of non-religious retreats for non-church people became a reality.

All the while AEFJN and the whole search for justice took a huge piece of his passionate character. He did not regard ‘Justice and Peace’ as a much sought after accessory but rather as a mission. He was one of the quiet men behind the campaign to end the debt of the developing world. There must be something n the Zambian air that enabled two men to be heavily involved in the struggle – Adrian and Frank Carey. Both learned about Africa in that land. And of course Adrian will be remembered for the African Action Sheet.

So how do we remember him, call him, talk to him in his ‘changed’ life?

Again, who is he?

There are three words for me to begin to describe him: a gentleman, a loyal man and kingdom.

A gentle man. Always. Even in fierce disagreement. Rounded. Emotionally mature.

A loyal man. Speaking personally he stood by me for many years. I remember in dark days in the slums of Accra, Adrian sending messages of hope and encouragement. He did so without bidding and was clearly signalling ‘don’t stop despite the obstacles put in your way, especially obstacles that are driven by narrow minds and spirits’.

I have chosen ‘kingdom’ as my third word. I teased him about it a lot and want to tease him one more time as he introduces himself to the ancestors. He took the teasing well. He really did bring kingdom into everything. He was however teaching and warning us. So I am going to substitute my word ‘kingdom’ with the word ‘rebel’ because in the end Adrian, for me, was the silent rebel.

Fromm described the revolutionary personality as someone independent, with the capacity to identify deeply with humanity and the ability to disobey in the interest of more fundamental values. I think that describes Adrian very accurately.

He took on the tensions in our church and spent most of his ministry trying to soften them. The present tensions veer  between the very fundamental and the very ludicrous. Our church will always have the basic tension between teh message and teaching and life of the non systemic man, Jesus and teh process people who run and, in certain ages, try to dominate the church. Teh dilemma is that in order for the non systemic Jesus to be heard by the whole world we need the process as vehicle for the message. Adrian was always wary of the actual bus becoming more important that the passengers and the driver. And so he quietly and patiently took on the role of rebel.

He was a prophet of an inclusive, caring and searching church that looked at the ‘new creation’ beloved of Paul.

New creation. The evolutionary process means creation has indeed been ‘groaning in labor pains until now’. Allow me to use John Polkinghorne thoughts. The last word is not with death but with God. Paul sets before us the hope and promise ‘that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Romans Chp. 8 is one of the most profound and hopeful chapters in our scriptures.

But enough. Adrian, the silent rebel, always chose the non systemic man, Jesus, above the process.

So in the best Adrian tradition, I must leave you with homework to do. Read Romans Chapter 8 and discuss it when next you meet again in small groups while we follow him in building the kingdom for everyone.

I am glad to have known him and I am much, much richer for that.