Richard, an Englishman who was ordained as a pastor in 1987, was named Elder of our community movement worldwide in 2001 and served in that capacity with his wife, Kathy, until his death. A small, spry man with an equally spry wit and self-effacing sense of humor, he loved teens, and they loved him back.

Perhaps Richard’s greatest gift to our community was the way he exemplified true leadership. He served unselfconsciously and unassumingly, and hated nothing more than what he called “human” attention. “Let’s not praise each other,” he was always saying. “Let’s give glory to God, where it belongs.”

Another gift Richard gave was his legacy as a dying man. After being diagnosed with cancer last summer in upstate New York, his adopted home, he fought back at his disease by living more intensively than ever. In his last six months he made trips to Pennsylvania and England on behalf of the church, accepted speaking engagements up and down the Hudson Valley, and continued to counsel hundreds of people, whether members of his congregation and their teen children, or neighbors who valued his ability to listen, as well as the matter-of-fact, tentative way he offered advice.

Even more significant was the way Richard seemed to make peace with the fact that he was dying (at least from December on), and the way he let this acceptance shape his outlook. This did not happen easily. In fact, it cost him a hard struggle.

But he did not put on a stoic front or hide in the privacy of his home. Nor did he spiritualize his battle with illness. Instead, he chose honesty and vulnerability, sharing his doubts and anxieties with his congregation, and with two dozen other congregations scattered around the globe. In this way, even people who lived thousands of miles away were able to accompany him through his final weeks, and to be touched by his awareness of eternity, and softened and changed by it.

In the final weeks of Richard’s life, members of our community found themselves turning to an account of one of the first deaths in our movement—that of Else von Hollander, one of our church’s three founding members, who died in 1932 after a long battle with tuberculosis. Descriptions of Else’s dying (by her brother-in-law Eberhard Arnold) resonated with many of us who knew Richard. So did the portrayal of the closeness of another world, breaking into the busyness (and, all too often, pettiness) of daily life, and forcing reflection and contemplation.

This, then, from Arnold’s book, Else von Hollander:

There is something quite remarkable about it that in death a certain attitude of faith can be revealed…in which the person does not think of his own blessedness… but gives himself to something greater so that God's cause is revealed…

We were allowed to be in the presence of God and His eternal powers…All this became clear… in that our sister said again and again, “The powers of eternity are very near! I am a weak person just like the rest of you--nothing has changed there; but the nearness of Christ is so much, much stronger than it has been…. I have left what happens here quite far behind and am quite near to what happens Beyond; and yet again I am very near to what happens here.”

…It all goes together with a powerful Easter experience – of death and resurrection, of dying and rising again, of a final purification from all that belongs to self, and being led into truly divine things beyond self…so that we are allowed to give ourselves in complete freedom from our own natures…. As a result of all this, we can become true children, and are united with the Church above, the Church of childlike spirits…

Our experience is that the heavens opened to us; that the kingdom of God's world, which seems to be worlds away, came very close to us. The message, “The Kingdom of God is upon you; repent and believe the Good News,” became a reality for us.… Heaven was opened up and the light of eternity and the power of eternal life broke in upon us, and the boundary of death is being wiped out, and life has been revealed as real, true, and everlasting life.

Out of this experience we now turn to the world in this sense: that we bring forward not ourselves, but that which is from the Other World, and which in the future will and must break in everywhere as the kingdom of God.

 

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Your Turn. Tell us what you thought about this article:

Responses

I met Richard twice and on one occasion had the chance to chat with him during a relaxed evening at his daughter and son-in-law's home. This was an impressive man with that rare combination of quiet strength and gentleness that made him so easy to talk to. I found Richard to be unassuming and genuinely interested in patiently listening to the thoughts of those around him.
I'm sorry for the community's loss but I know he has left a priceless legacy of memories that will not be forgotten and a delightful family to carry the torch.

May God bless and comfort your community during this difficult time. We praise the Lord for such an encouraging testimony! And we remember your friendship often and fondly.

"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." Matt. 24:12-13

Steven Clark
Lynchburg, VA

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We truly wish for comfort for the family and all brothers and sisters that he was close to.   May the Lord direct your steps and comfort your hearts.   With love from all of us here.

Michael
Casstown, Ohio

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Thanks for sharing this testimony of victory in dying. Richard's picture and story show a man we all would love to have known. God's glory and grace alive today.

Cynthia Mawson
Bugrooke, England

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I remember Richard mostly from when I was a young child in Connecticut. He was one of the young adults I looked up to. He was always kind hearted to us little people yet had a quick rebuke for any naughtiness.

I am sad this world has lost this man so focused on serving Jesus. I hope there will be many that follow his example.

Wendy
Rosedale, Ohio