John Sherbourne

Dear friends 

I write to you at the end of a week that began with the Hebrew New Year. It began at sundown on the 6th September and usually starts with the blowing of a shofar, the ram’s horn, which is meant to ‘wake up the people from their slumber’. Whilst in Lancaster, I used to be part of a church that did just that every Rosh Hashanah and my sister and I had a go at blowing the ram’s horn with varying degrees of success! It marks a new season of carrying out good deeds of hope, whilst saying sorry about mistakes made in the past year in giving them to God. 

On a recent visit to York Garden at Adel one of our members took this picture. It’s of a yew tree that not long ago had been cut back right to the ground. 

It hardly needs a caption; suffice to say that no matter how savage a gardener prunes away the old, provided what’s left is rooted in fertile soil new life will grow. 

ROAD CLOSURES – SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5th

This coming Sunday, the 5th of September, the Leeds Half Marathon will once again be passing MBC. However, for obvious reasons unlike in previous years we won’t be handing out sweets and drinks. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the fact that at the time of our morning Service the chosen route means that Meanwood Road, from the centre of Leeds to Waitrose junction, Stonegate Road between Meanwood and the King Lane roundabout and King Lane down to the Ring Road will all be closed to traffic. Please be aware of these closures and plan your journey accordingly. 

At the Service, which will begin in church at 11am (and all being well will be streamed live on our YouTube channel) we will be taking a look back over the last few weeks and asking what we may have learned from the exploits of David, a truly remarkable person who from being a rosy cheeked, giant killing shepherd boy went on to be the man God chose to head up a “house and a kingdom that shall endure forever.” 

Kosovo, Peru, Mozambique and Uganda are just four of the countries that feature in the latest edition of the BMS World Mission magazine, ENGAGE. Filled with news and comment from some of the army of BMS workers who are spread out across four continents ENGAGE is available free of charge through the post or on line. 

To sign up for your regular copy go to www.bmsworldmission.org, call 01235 517700 or speak with Roger Robson, MBC’s missions link. Roger also has details of several other support initiatives that you can register for. 

Thank you. 

John Sturges who died on Tuesday 27th July at the age of 81, was a Midlander who converted to being a Yorkshireman in the late 1960’s. Brought up in Birmingham John grew up in a Baptist Church and committed his life to Christ in his mid teens. He also met his future wife Alison in church.

From school John started work as an engineering apprentice and came to Leeds and MBC when he moved to Leeds University as a Metallurgist. He later worked at Leeds Metropolitan (now Beckett) University rising to be a Professor.

Here at MBC John was elected to the Diaconate in 1970 and served for 5 years. He played a notable part in putting the church’s finances on a secure footing and also in the reorganisation of the Sunday School into the Family Church system we are still familiar with. Alison played a leading role in Church Playgroups for pre-schoolers and also in Brownies and Cubs. They were an integral part of the church from the 1970’s onwards and faithful , loyal church members. Sadly Alison died early, ten years ago.

Both John’s professional and Christian interests were broad. As a materials scientist he produced numerous papers and books and was a respected teacher. Latterly he became very involved in issues of sustainability and climate change. In fact on this website you can find a series of articles John wrote about that very subject.

In his late seventies John again served as a Deacon besides continuing to work academically and also volunteering as a counsellor at St Gemma’s Hospice. His long early morning walks were legendary among close friends.

John’s sudden and short illness leading to his death has shocked many and prevented him completing ongoing work. However, he spoke frequently of how blessed he was in life and of his confidence in his faith.

There have been many expressions of love and respect for John in the church. We uphold his daughter Julia, son David and their families before God at this sad time.

Roger Robson

John’s funeral service took place at Moortown Baptist Church  on Monday the 23rd of August and will be streamed live on the Moortown Baptist Church YouTube channel. 

Only a few weeks ago John recorded a series of prayers for our online Church at Home Service. Below you will find a link to the final part of that recording in which he concentrates his thoughts on Moortown Baptist Church.