You might like to compare the Brief
History on The UK Methodist Church Website
After seven years of murdering wood, he was called up for National Service in the R.E.M.E. for the then statutory two years. After which he returned to the building trade for a short time. During his time in the army he believed he had received a call into the work of the Christian ministry. So he was eventually received into the ministry of the Methodist Church in Great Britain.
He was sent to Handsworth Theological College in Birmingham for four years before being released into the circuit life of the Methodist Church. Whilst Douglas was at Handsworth he met his wife to be, Heather who lived at Wolverhampton. The occasion was a college preaching mission that Douglas was leading at the church which Heather’s parents had founded on a housing estate. She was ill in bed at the time but that fact didn’t prevent the romance blossoming.
After college Heather and Douglas married and together served in various Methodist circuits including, Cleveleys, Leighton Buzzard, Doncaster, High Wycombe, Maidstone, Worthing and finally Dartford from which he retired. This varied selection of towns ranging from the rural to the industrial to the market town, including a couple of prison chaplaincies added to Douglas’s ministerial experiences.
Although arthritis has slowed Douglas down somewhat he is still preaching and keeping his mind fresh with much reading. He has a workshop for woodwork and wood-turning to keep his hand in the old trade. Since he studied structural engineering at night school during his apprenticeship he has a special interest in building and architecture. He is trying to do some serious writing and also with photography he is kept quite busy.
Apart from his firm beliefs in the saving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ he believes it is essential that in life we retain a good sense of humour and try to avoid taking ourselves too seriously.