News
Tribute to Adrian Smith
Monday 15th August, 2011
It was with considerable sadness that PCN Britain has learned of the death of one of its members, Father Adrian Smith, earlier this year.
A Catholic priest and former missionary in Africa, Adrian Smith went on to become National Director of the Movement for a Better World. He was best known for his 16 books, especially Tomorrow’s Christian and Tomorrow’s Faith, which have inspired many a PCN discussion. He was a leading force in CANA, (Christians Awakening to a New Awareness), and wrote of the implications of this new awareness for Christian belief. An early member of PCN Britain, he contributed by leading seminars and writing for our Newsletter.
A Catholic colleague, Father Patrick, praised Adrian for his ability to disobey in the interest of more fundamental values. “Adrian, the silent rebel, always chose the non systemic man, Jesus, above the process… He was a prophet of an inclusive, caring and searching church”
Posted by Andy Vivian, PCN Administrator
Comments
I was so sorry to hear of Adrian’s death. I first had contact with him in 2008 two years after I had read his book “A New Framework for Christian Belief”. I was a struggling Catholic at the time and remember taking Adrian’s book to show my spiritual director, saying “If I can be this kind of Catholic I could cope with that”. My spiritual director was horrified when he read it though, and I remember him looking at me in shock and saying “But he even seems to suggest here that Jesus is not the Son of God”!!! Shortly after that my SD and I agreed to go through the creed, finding the bits that troubled me most with a view to discussing them, but this idea was short-lived when I said the only bit I didn’t have a problem with was “I believe in God”!
As you know, Adrian was a “White Father” (Missionaries of Africa) and I knew several other priests from the Order and even visited one of their projects in Ethiopia. As soon as he received my letter (about his book) Adrian responded, and phoned me and during that conversation he told me about a group called Catholic People’s Weeks who arrange weeks which are a mixture of retreat/holiday/course. This is what they themselves say “A CPW week is a unique chance to become, for a short time, part of a small community with a shared interest in deepening its understanding of what God wants his people to be. We have often been at the forefront of changes in Catholic thinking over the past 60 years, but you will find all shades of opinion represented at our events.” Each “Week” has a “Chaplain” who says Mass daily and is generally available for anyone who needs him. On my first CPW Adrian was not there as Chaplain, but as a speaker and he certainly made an impact!
At a later CPW however, Adrian was asked to say a Mass and I did wonder how he would go about doing that knowing his beliefs (most people there hadn’t read his books and just thought he was a bit progressive). Adrian came up with a mind-boggling and clever solution. He announced he was going to say a Mass without words!! I think he said something like words can get in the way when trying to worship so he was just going to use gestures - and that’s what he did! I personally found it rather bizarre if creative and I’m not sure the Church would have considered it valid.
Another time I remember saying to him “How do you get away with what you write?” and he replied “The Bishops don’t read my books”. To be honest I don’t think he would have been bothered even if the Bishops had read his books because, more than anyone else I can think of, Adrian appear to have no trace of self-doubt. He didn’t really give a fig what people thought of him and he used to say quite outrageous things sometimes - perhaps quite deliberately in order to get people to think outside the box. I always thought it was curious that he lived alone in a sheltered council flat in Nuneaton when he could presumably have lived with fellow White Fathers in retirement, but obviously the former gave him much more privacy and autonomy and he valued his independence.
With his passing we have lost a man of integrity and individuality and yes, in his own way, a man of faith too.
By Drewa on 15/08/2011
Dear Andy, Thanks you so much for your beautifully succinct tribute to Adrian Smith. As you say the books are still there to use and I hope that part of our tribute to him will be to use them, particularly Tomorrow’s Faith and Tomorrow’s Christian. For deeper exploration his other books will hopefully still be there. He was not averse to using his material as part of briefer groups, which we did with him when we designed, Christ in us Today, which is available from http://www.christiansawakening.org/ in word format for free or printed, charged as noted.
By David on 16/08/2011
I knew Adrian as a person - not a Catholic or Protestant, a friend, one of thousands I expect. We served on the Council of ONE - the ecumenical liberal/educational charity, now ended having passed its sell by date. It was with great sadness that he died before he could bless me with another visit to our house in Devon. Churches do not have a monopoly on Christianity. If Christianity is known by the lives of its adherents, Adrian was one of Jesus’s best ambassadors.
By Alison Beresford on 16/08/2011
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