LONDON — Two Methodist pastors have taken up seats in Britain’s House of Lords.
The Rev Leslie Griffiths, Superintendent Minister at Wesley’s Chapel in London, and the Rev J. Roger Roberts, a minister serving in the Welsh Dyffryn Conwy Circuit, were among the 46 people awarded “life peerages” for their service and contributions to the British Empire.
They were officially presented to the House of Lords on June 30.
“It was a bolt from the blue, it really was,” Lord Griffiths told United Methodist News Service.
Used to a high-profile congregation at Wesley’s Chapel, he thought that the representative from Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet who appeared on his doorstep had come for a pastoral chat. “I made a pot of tea and sat down thinking I knew what she wanted to chat about, but I didn’t.”
Lord Roberts received the news of his life peerage via fax while serving as the interim pastor of the largest Welsh congregation outside Wales, the Dewisant Church in Toronto. The congregation immediately gave their 68-year-old visiting pastor a standing ovation.
The life peerages and other similar awards are part of the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Those on the list are recommended by political and community leaders throughout the United Kingdom. Honours are awarded to individuals from all walks of life.
The particular category of “life peer” brings with it the title of “Lord” and full voting rights within the House of Lords. “The Lords” is Britain’s second parliamentary body after the House of Commons and has some similarities to the US Senate. Both Lord Griffiths and Lord Roberts come from Wales and will take on names reflecting their Welsh roots. The Rev Leslie Griffiths becomes Lord Griffiths of Pembrey and Burry Port in the Dyfed. The Rev Roger Roberts becomes Lord Roberts of Llandudno.
Fluent in French, Lord Griffiths and his wife, Margaret, spent 10 years in Haiti working directly for the Haitian Methodist Church on issues related to education and community development. That first-hand experience has made him a valuable adviser on Haiti to the UK Labour Party and the Blair government.
A former president of the British Methodist Church, Lord Griffiths has also worked extensively on international issues related to Africa and the Middle East. He has served as a teacher, headmaster and school governor at home and abroad and has also been active in addressing urban social problems related to homelessness, addiction, penal reform and resettlement of displaced people.
Lord Roberts, who had since returned to Britain from Canada, told United Methodist News Service that he still “hadn’t come to terms” with his peerage.
He was from a quarrying (mining) background, he explained. “When your fathers and grandfathers have been toilers and hard workers, to think one of their family members has got a peerage, it is really a totally incredible situation. It shows British democracy at its best.”
In addition to serving in his North Wales Methodist circuit for 34 years, he has been very active in the Liberal Democrat Party in Wales and has run for political office on five occasions.
Like Lord Griffiths, he has a passion for international work. He has been involved in development and relief efforts in Rwanda and Ethiopia and is also committed to children’s advocacy in the UK and overseas.
Lord Griffiths said: “I’ve always fought hard to stop the church in bewildering times from retreating and turning in on itself. We [the church] have important things to say about the world.”
Lord Roberts, who confessed to wanting to duck under the table every time someone refers to him as “Lord”, said: “I really think that God has called me to this. I intend to be a Methodist minister in the House of Lords and look forward to working with my fellow Methodist ministers.”
Lord Griffiths and Lord Roberts will join the only other ordained Methodist in the House of Lords, Kathleen Richardson, Baroness of Calow, who was named a peer in 1998. She was the first woman to serve as President of the British Methodist Church.
Kathleen LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in Manchester, England.