“one of the most profound influences on my own life — my own mentor”
Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Haileybury Society is saddened to learn of the death of Rev. John Theodore Cameron Bucke Collins (E 39) who has died on on 8th December 2022, aged 97.

After Haileybury, John formed part of the Tennis VI in 1942 and later served briefly in the RAF before moving up to Cambridge where, at Clare College, he gained his BA in 1949, followed by an MA in 1952, having been ordained into the Church of England a year earlier.

Attracted by evangelism

Initially serving as an assistant curate of All Souls’, Langham Place for six years, in 1957 John became Vicar of St Mark’s, Gillingham, a parish on the Medway close to the former HM Dockyard at Chatham, remaining here for fourteen years.

In 1971, he moved Canford Magna in Dorset. Although seemingly a country parish, he was attracted by ministry to the huge new housing estate in the parish where is evangelism was well rewarded.

Transforming Holy Trinity, Brompton

Evangelicalism and Renewal were key features of John’s interests; in 1980 he became Vicar of Holy Trinity, Brompton, in 1980 — attracted this time by filling a space with room for 1200 where congregations had fallen to a few hundred.

Transforming it as a global centre for evangelism and revitalisation, he was then to work with John Wimber, a charismatic Californian evangelist, leaving Holy Trinity in the hands of his assistant curate while he moved elsewhere in his mission to grow church attendance in England.

An inspirational figure

John remained a major force in the church, mentoring many younger leaders. Amongst those he inspired was a young Justin Welby, now Archbishop of Canterbury. Describing John as “one of the most profound influences on my own life — my own mentor”, in 2018 the Archbishop awarded him the Canterbury Cross in 2018 for his commitment to growing the church and training its leaders and evangelists.

John married Diana Kimpton in 1955, a marriage which was to last until her death in 2013. John and Diana are survived by their two children, Dominic and Richenda, to whom The Haileybury Society sends its deepest condolences.

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Rev. John Collins (E 39) – Influential mentor to the Archbishop of Canterbury

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