Peter Espeut | A mighty tree has fallen

A few weeks ago, I lost a good friend. Baptist minister the Rev Dr Neville George Callam passed away on August 15 while on a visit to the United States. At his funeral last week, many said he will be greatly missed. That is an understatement! I, for one, already miss him deeply.

Brother Neville was a distinguished theologian, specialising in ethics. I first knew of him through his published books. He did his undergraduate studies at the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) and The University of the West Indies (UWI); he was ordained in 1977, and read for his PhD at the prestigious Harvard Divinity School.He was pastor in Mineral Heights, Clarendon, and at Balmagie/Tarrant Baptist Church in St Andrew. He was a media man: while at Tarrant he founded and ran the TBC Radio Station. The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) quickly recognised his talents, for he was placed in the position of chairman of the JBU Media Commission, became general treasurer, acting general secretary and, finally, president of the Jamaica Baptist Union for two terms: 1985-1987 and 2000-2002.

At the regional level, he was vice-president of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, and at the global level, from 2000 until 2005 he was Vice-President of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), having over the years served on many of its committees, commissions, and working groups, including the General Council and Executive Committee.

GLOBAL FORCE

Neville was a global force in Baptist circles and, on July 6, 2007, he was elected general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance during a meeting of the General Council in Accra, Ghana. This was path-breaking! Neville was the first person of African descent to attain this high office. Writing in The Gleaner, the Rev Dr Devon Dick stated that, by doing so, the Rev Dr Neville Callam “broke the glass ceiling” (July 24, 2007).

As he explained it to me, the GenSec position was full-time, based at the headquarters, while the president is present for meetings. The GenSec runs the BWA, and Neville served in that post with distinction until 2017.

Speaking in tribute to the Rev Dr Neville Callam last Monday, it was the Rev Dr Ngwedla Paul Msiza, the South African past president of the Baptist World Alliance (2015-2020) - he worked alongside Neville - who declared, “A mighty tree has fallen”. Indeed!

Neville and I shared an interest in church history, particularly Baptist history. I would send him articles and he would send me articles. And we had lively conversations (there are so few people interested in church history nowadays). On one occasion, Neville brought his desktop computer (yes! desktop, not laptop) and set it up at my office, next to my laptop, and we shared Baptist history for over three hours straight before we realised the time! Now he is gone and I have no one to talk to about those matters.

COMMITTED ECUMENIST

Neville was a committed ecumenist. He represented the JBU on the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC), and was chair of the Church and Society Commission for a time (so was I, for a time). He was also chair of the JCC Faith and Order Commission for a time. He also had roles in both the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC). Now that experience is lost to us.

While he was at the highest levels of the BWA, he was on the Baptist delegation to the First Baptist-Catholic Ecumenical Dialogue on doctrinal matters, which met in various places, including at the Vatican. He was one of the co-authors of the Agreed Statement that came out of that first meeting.

The Rev Dr Glenroy Lalor (of Bethel Baptist Church) currently is on the Baptist delegation in that dialogue; and the local leaders of our two denominations have set up a local Baptist-Catholic Ecumenical Dialogue on doctrinal matters: the Rev Glenroy is the Baptist co-chair and I am the Catholic co-chair. Naturally, the Rev Neville was on the Baptist team.

At our first meeting, Neville gave a fulsome presentation on that first International Baptist-Catholic Agreed Statement, sharing in some detail the issues considered, and both sides of the dialogue, and how agreement was reached on some matters. It was a masterpiece! On our side, we were speechless! Our ongoing dialogue will be the poorer now that he is no longer with us.

Neville was a real gentleman, and a real peacemaker. We were both aware of the differences between our religious traditions, and the hard words exchanged in the past (and if the truth be told, in the present in some circles). But we were also clear on what united us, and what we shared.

Neville was a proud Jamaican, and he kept our flag flying high. His place in history is secure, and I am honoured to have known him and called him my friend.

Indeed, a mighty tree has fallen. And he will be deeply missed.

The Rev. Peter Espeut is a Roman Catholic deacon and dean of studies at St Michael’s Seminary. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com