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Later in his life with much work behind him he said:
"Little girl, I didn't know you, but you have changed the
rest of my life for good."
The Grocers Company, one of the twelve great livery
companies of the City of London, offered Chad Varah
the living of St Stephen Walbrook in 1953 and with
plenty of time on his hands (his only resident parishioner
being the Lord Mayor) it was in the crypt of that church
that single-handedly he began the Samaritans service on
telephone number MANsion House 9000 “to befriend the
suicidal and despairing."
Chad Varah was a fascinating man of many parts: at
Oxford he set up the Scandanavian Society
"not least
because of the access it gave me to long-legged, blue-eyed
blondes"
he admitted later. He also helped to found
The
Eagle
boys comic in 1950 - he’d joke that he was advisor
to Dan Dare. Varah supported the ordination of women
and as incumbent of possibly the most beautiful of the
Wren churches he caused enormous controversy when he
radically remodeled the interior installing modern pews
designed by his son and a circular marble alter designed by
Henry Moore. It was in the aftermath of this reconstruction
of the church interior in 1987 that I came to meet him
when I’d take tour parties to see this astonishing church.
Apparently he had a bit of a reputation for jumping out of
the shadows and berating tour guides but I liked him and
he liked me, always greeting me in such a friendly and
welcoming manner that I’d almost purr in gratitude. He
was a very special man and I always hoped he’d be there
when I visited: if I close my eyes I can still see him
emerge in monochrome from the shadows of that beautiful
church, led by frowning eyes framed by those thick black
frames but eyes that soon blossomed into the kindness of a
smile. When he retired in 2003 at the age of 92 he was the
oldest incumbent of the Church of England
.
And so this little tale of the huge story of the incumbents
of the Church of England comes to a close. There is of
course an incredible amount that has been written about
the church and its clergy. I’d recommend Roy Strong’s
wonderfully entertaining and informative book A
Little
History of the English Country Church
and, if you can find
a copy,
A Field Guide to the English Country Parson
by
Thomas Hinde. If you want to go into the subject in some
depth search out a copy of
The Anglian Parochial Clergy
(1994)
by Michael Hinton of St Andrews, Sheperdswell in
Kent, who also writes on religious matters for the Dover
Express. But best of all do read the list of incumbents next
time you visit a church and ponder a while the long history
of these remarkable men.
The Reverend Prebendary Edward Chad Varah, CH, CBE