on 27 August 2024
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God. Consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith” Hebrews 13:7
The Sunday after we got married in 2000 we were in Kendal in the Lake District and found ourselves going to Parr Street Church. The man leading the service and preaching was a short bald man, in his 50’s with what seemed to me a strong Cumbrian accent. He wasn’t particularly flowing and he led the service well but he would say things like “I think we’ll sing now, shall we sing? yes let’s sing”. He was funny, genuinely funny without trying to be. He preached on David and Goliath and it was direct, fresh, great on the text with real understanding of redemptive history and very well applied. I thought it was someone who was maybe quite new to preaching but it turned out it was the full time elder of this former brethren church, Brian Maiden. He had been preaching for 35 years! I came to realise that Brian’s unique style of preaching was part of the appeal.
For the next 14 years we went on holiday to Kendal, and I heard Brian preach every year countless times. I never heard him preach a bad sermon, he was consistently refreshing in the way he proclaimed and applied scripture. He had mastered the skill of being direct and not toning down the passage but also managing to be gentle. There was a theological depth to his preaching but he was wonderfully accessible.
There are sermons I can remember 15 years later from Brian when I can’t remember what I preached myself two weeks ago. He was a good illustrator but not in the conventional way. I remember a brilliant illustration about Kevin Francis “Big Bird” the massive Stockport footballer, if only I could remember the point he was making!!
I would often arrive on holidays exhausted and sometimes discouraged, those Sundays sitting under Brian’s preaching were like streams of fresh water. In fact that is exactly what they were. God used Brian to keep me in the ministry.
True Godliness leads to us becoming more human not less. There was a humanity about Brian which came across in his preaching and his life. There was no disconnect between Brian in the pulpit and Brian out of it. He could be gruff but that was part of his charm. God gave him a great sense of humour and he used it but not in a sense that would draw attention to himself.
I could never understand why he was not better known than he was. I occasionally would go along to the Keswick Convention in the evenings and would often think Brian is a far better preacher than this! However when I relayed this to him, it was clear that it didn’t bother him in the slightest that he wasn’t asked to speak at conferences.
I emailed him about this once to which he replied,
“I’m afraid I haven’t reached the heights of speaking at Keswick yet – unless the women’s meeting at Keswick Methodist church qualifies. The meetings last weekend were at Blackburn, but it was their annual ‘Keswick in East Lancs’ meetings. I enjoyed opening up God’s word and they appreciated it, but the congregation was rather aged.“
It is typical of his beautiful self deprecation.
Brian loved his family, he loved the church God had called him to serve in and more than anything, he loved the Lord Jesus. His love for the Lord led him to love the scriptures. In this brilliant 4 minute video he speaks of spending time during lockdown in Matthew’s gospel.
“I’ve been looking at the words and the works and the character, the death and resurrection of Jesus and I just find his person and his words and his works utterly compelling and attractive.”
Like the apostle Paul, Brian had learned what it was to be content which is a wonderful lesson to learn. He was wonderfully free from grasping ambition. I wrote a blog post once encouraging people to listen to him, he just simply wrote a one line email, ‘Thanks for the blog!’
I know that ministry wasn’t easy for Brian. There were times in the church in Kendal particularly in early days where he and his ministry were opposed. Brian didn’t really talk about that but he kept on preaching and teaching the bible, sowing seed which in turn has borne great fruit. Prior to this he had been a minister in Stockport for 18 years and in not easy circumstances saw the church stabilise and grow.
Parr Street knew more than its share of tragedies, sudden and unexpected deaths of key members and workers. Brian led with much grace and care during those times. He was a faithful Pastor who loved preaching the Bible to the people God had entrusted to his care
Brian retired at 65, he could have carried on in the church, he was still in good health but he was glad that Parr Street had found a successor who would carry on a faithful ministry, and for the sake of the church he stepped back. The church has gone on to grow and plant and strengthen. It speaks volumes for Brian’s humility that he rejoiced in this and stayed on as an elder. He preached in many congregations during his retirement encouraging and blessing smaller churches. He had realised that wonderful lesson that ministry wasn’t about him.
He would email occasionally and we would share news and encouragement. Occasionally I’d write something and then I’d hear from him. He came and preached for me twice in Ealing and he went down wonderfully well.
Brian clearly loved his wife June and children John and Gill, he spoke of them with such affection and thankfulness. He was evidently proud of them and wanted to spend time with them and hadn’t sacrificed family on the altar of ministry. There are so many lessons to learn from him.
Brian Maiden was a faithful man who finished well, a man without an ego – what an example! I thank God that Brian is with the Lord he loved, which is far better and where he will hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant”.