It would be a travesty of the truth to say that John Ray is a man of two worlds – mountaineering and the Christian Gospel. But there is sufficient truth in it to begin to understand this man who now lives in retirement with his wife Catherine in East Yorkshire.
Mountaineering came into his life through a geography teacher, author of ‘Walker in the Alps’. It was war-time and John became acquainted with the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District. At St Andrews university he spent more time climbing in Switzerland and elsewhere than he did on the history he was notionally reading. He gained a green beret and a commission during his national service in the Royal Marines and to his surprise found himself doing secret work in Austria, again against a background of mountains to climb.
Appointed for ‘Expeditions and History’ at Gordonstoun, as he says, ‘after Philip and before Charles’, he came to appreciate Hahn’s vision of Gordonstoun as forming and strengthening character. The Nazis also strengthened character – but without compassion. Gordonstoun grew from Salem in Germany where Hahn and his colleagues had bravely sought to resist the growing allure of Hitler. Hahn, who became a Christian along the way, stressed ‘Samaritan service’ in his character-training programmes. Thus in John’s mountain expeditions the mountain rescue team was important. This spirit is also basic in the Outward Bound movement, the Duke of Edinburgh’s awards and other areas where Hahn envisaged schools as ‘Islands of Health’ in a sick society.
Three years in Northern Pakistan as a housemaster at Lawrence College followed. John found the Christian faith and then his wife, who had gone to Pakistan as a doctor. It was all good preparation for 25 years in Kashmir as Principal of the Tyndale Biscoe school. At a leading city high school with an extraordinary background of social service John also found himself ordained in the Church of North India and Honorary Consul for Kashmir to the UK High Commission in New Delhi. He was appointed OBE in 1979.
Back to England and ministering in Sparkbrook, Birmingham amongst Asians, John was introduced by Bishop Colin Buchanan to the diocese of Birmingham and then in very active retirement, for the next 27 years, seeking to help prepare the Church in the multi-cultural context.
In his second retirement John Ray keeps in touch with the many contacts at all levels he has made over the years. He looks back on a life spent in the mountains and in education in the service of the Gospel with a sense of amazement and gratitude. He is not unaware of the scale of the problems confronting the Christian faith in our secular, or pagan, context in the land of his birth. He is undaunted.
‘Twenty-five Years in Kashmir’, by John is sub-titled ‘Headmaster on a Mission’ and is published by Signal Books.
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