Tributes to Melvin Tinker
The Editor writes: Melvin Tinker, who passed away in the early hours of 23rd November from pancreatic cancer, was Vicar of St John’s Newland, Hull, for 26 years, and known more widely as a speaker and author. In recent years he developed a unique prophetic analysis of Western secularism, saw its influence on the church, and expressed the urgent need for renewed faithfulness and commitment to biblical truth. This led to him leading his congregation out of the Church of England, into a new Anglican jurisdiction under Gafcon.
I also knew him as a warm hearted friend with a great sense of humour. He will be sadly missed, especially by his wife Heather and his children and grandchildren.
More tributes:
Evangelical leader Melvin Tinker passes away, by Julian Mann, Christian Today:
Tinker was the author of around 15 books. His 2018 analysis of the effect of social Marxism on the Western Church, That Hideous Strength: How the West was lost, published by Evangelical Press, was among his most critically acclaimed works.
The Christ Church Network, Hull, where he was Director of Theology, said he passed away surrounded by his wife and family, and listening to David Suchet’s reading of the book of Revelation. “We praise God for Melvin’s faithful and unwavering ministry in Hull and beyond, as he held up the Gospel through his teaching, preaching, pastoring, and writing…
Melvin Tinker (1955-2021): A consummate pastor-theologian who was valiant for gospel truth, By Peter Sanlon: “The prolific author and church planter was well respected among conservative evangelicals, having overseen the growth of one of the largest Anglican churches in northern England. He later made an “orderly exit” from the Church of England, believing it had “gone adrift from its biblical moorings.” His friends remember him as a gospel-centred man who wanted Jesus to be glorified.”
[Editor’s note: Peter Sanlon’s article contains a number of further tributes from theologians and evangelical leaders around the world.]
Melvin Tinker: a tribute, by Gavin Ashenden, Christian Today: Melvin Tinker was one of the most outstanding evangelical clergy of his generation…a fiercely intelligent author and theologian who combined intellectual clarity with an integrity of the heart which was sadly rare in the Church of England.
Under his ministry his congregation grew energetically. He showed the Church of England how pastoral ministry and intelligent, faithful, biblical preaching could open peoples’ hearts and carry they into the arms of Jesus….
Tragically, the Church of England preferred to curry favour with the agents of moral and ethical relativism and Melvin found himself banned from preaching in cathedrals where he had been invited by evangelical students hungry for the Gospel.
He became an increasingly prophetic figure, and one who radiated a quality of joy and a singular kind of clarity that reflects the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Mark Thompson, principal of Moore College in the Diocese of Sydney writes: ‘Melvin has been a friend to many in Australia. Always courageous, sometimes outrageous, he has been thoroughly committed to Christ and to the authority of God’s word. We have been mightily encouraged by our brother and his ministry over the years. He has stimulated us through his writing and challenged us by his example of tenacity under pressure. He would not budge from biblical faithfulness even in the face of intense pressure from the faithless leadership of the Church of England. We thank God for him.’
More from Peter Sanlon [via email]:
“In the month before his death, Melvin was reading two Anglican writers avidly.
First, CS Lewis – in particular The Last Battle. Melvin said ‘Lewis saw the future so clearly – he saw heaven. Wrote it down so beautifully. I’m so looking forward to seeing what he described.’ Then, John Webster’s works – Melvin commended the writings of this Anglican theologian. He observed ‘It’s just incredible the care he took over every word – he was writing about God and realised how much he matters. Brilliant stuff.’
A Tribute to Melvin Tinker, from Bishop Andy Lines, Anglican Network in Europe: “It was a real joy to receive Riverside and Newland into AMiE and to visit to ordain folk this Summer, coinciding wonderfully with a thanksgiving for Melvin’s long ministry.”
With Gratitude For Melvin, from Anglican Futures: “Supremely principled, passionate, hardworking, prepared to be deemed “controversial”, bold, an optimistic realist. In his generation no one analysed secular and church culture in these nations better than him, but he was no mere theorist, rather a hearer and preacher of the Word who was equally a doer of the Word.”
‘A sinner saved by a gracious and merciful King’: Melvin Tinker, 1955-2021, from The Christian Institute
The Rev Melvin Tinker obituary, The Times (£)
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