Diocesan Press Release

Cecilia Goodenough R.I.P.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15 April 1998

Cecilia Goodenough died on 4th April. She was 92. Born in Dartmouth, 1905 she spent her life in the service of God and of others and will be greatly missed by her friends and the many upon whose lives she has had influence.

In a letter of tribute for her 90 birthday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town, spoke of her contribution to the struggle against the vicious system of apartheid and said that he wanted to say ' a big Thank you ...for helping to make me a slightly better person than I would otherwise have been without your salutary influence'.

Her family spent some time in South Africa when she was a child and she was educated at the Rustenburg School, outside Cape Town. She was awarded a degree in History from St Hugh's College , Oxford in 1927. She later spent three years as a voluntary worker with the London County Council caring for schoolchildren.

From 1932 to 1937 Cecilia Goodenough engaged in mission in a remote northern region of British Columbia, living alone in a small shack and travelling great distances to settlements on a pony.

Following her return, during the Second World War, she worked at the Talbot Settlement in Camberwell. When it was bombed she organized a move to Downham until the end of the war. She then spent some months at St. Mary's Abbey, West Malling, of which she was an Oblate. There followed a year as a parish worker in Greenford.

Cecilia looked after her mother until her death in 1956 and then returned to the Talbot Settlement and was soon appointed the as Lay Missioner to work with John Hughes the Missioner for the Diocese of Southwark. She continued to work with his successor, Gordon Davies, for some fifteen years and during this time she was involved in many of the more innovative aspects of the work of Southwark Diocese. This involvement can be seen in the South London Mission, the Southwark Ordination Course (now the South East Institute for Theological Education), the Development of the

Southwark Pastoral Auxiliaries and the training of Readers. She was a Bishop's Examining Chaplain,. Her influence spread far beyond the Diocese of Southwark and her work was recognised by the Archbishop Michael Ramsay, who awarded her a Lambeth DD.

Ivor Smith Cameron worked with Cecilia when he became Diocesan Missioner, although by this time she was officially retired. He believes that the words of the prophet Ezekiel sum up the role and vocation of Cecilia's ministry. 'I sat where they sat and stayed there'. She often described her theology as 'Theology in the Gutter'. Shared latterly in small groups in her home and with individuals, Ivor Smith Cameron says that ' In religious thought she combined both the militant and the mystic'.

Her influence was wide spread, her thought sharp and her warmth valued by all who knew her. Many have reason to thank God for her.

Her funeral was on 9th April. She is survived by one elder sister.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday 30 May at 3pm in St Giles, Camberwell. The preacher will be Bishop Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester (formerly Bishop of Kingston).

Ends.