Clive West’s ministry were these words, writ large. Based on the firm assurance that it was the Word of God, taught faithfully, that transformed lives. Patient, consistent and faithful teaching of the truths and challenges of the Bible week-by-week, was the model established in Scripture.
Clive also understood that a Christianity detached from the world would wither: "A Christian needs to live with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other," he would often say, quoting Karl Barth. The believer must be able to read the times and understand the other voices in the contemporary Areopagus of ideas and beliefs.
Just as he found common cause with evangelical colleagues such as John Stott, Dick Lucas and Australian Anglicans, Clive’s own ministry became a model for many other pastors in the Church of Ireland and beyond. A confident clergy for a confident church. Clergy, he argued, must have confidence in the Bible if they are to teach it. They must also be able to teach.
It saddened Clive that much of the theological education offered to clergy seemed to erode confidence. It was why Clive backed up patient exegesis of Scripture – verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book – with training and equipping others. Clive knew that those recruited for ministry and called to full-time Christian work must have excellent theological training knowing how to handle and preach the Gospel to 21st century men, women and children: the very health of the Church of Christ depends on it.
To sustain this vision, it is proposed to create a fund. The Clive West Memorial Fund will provide support for excellent Biblical and theological training (for eventual ministry in Ireland), where no other major resources are available. To make this vision a reality, we aspire – under God – to reach the target of £100,000, to enable the gospel to be preached across Ireland by those who are properly trained.
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