Remembering Clement Gayle, God’s servant, friend and confidante

Three common strands threaded through the several tributes, remembrance and sermon at the thanksgiving service for the life of the late Rev Clement Hugh Lester Gayle. They were his candor tempered with mindfulness; his consistency and depth of Christian character; and his commitment to selfless service.

The service, moderated by the president of the Jamaica Baptist Union, the Rev Norva Rodney, was held on Saturday, June 27, at the Ocho Rios Baptist Church, where Rev Gayle had his membership until his death.

Offering the tribute on behalf of the JBU, General Secretary Karl B Johnson chronicled the over 44 years of service given by Gayle as an ordained Minister of the Union; underscoring his critical leadership roles as Baptist Warden/Tutor at the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTC); two-term president of the JBU and pastor of four churches, Zion Hill, St Ann’s Bay, New Haven and Walkerswood circuits; this is punctuated by service in a myriad of other ministries.

Rev Johnson also acknowledged Gayle’s academic achievements and scholarship as reflected in his certification up to the masters’ level and the several publications that he authored. These include George Liele, Pioneer Missionary to Jamaica hailed, which is the first published work on the black Baptist missionary; a Manual for Ministers and Church Leaders that is perhaps the most culturally relevant resource of its kind; and a Worship Handbook.

The General Secretary also spoke to the support of Gayle’s lifelong partner Rubye, especially during his 16-year tenure at the UTC, where she provided guidance and counselling to many a young trainee in significant matters in a minister’s life.

Rev Johnson further pointed to Gayle’s unmistakeable love for the Church, declaring that “he riveted in us the need to respect and serve the people whose sacrificial giving afforded us the opportunity of a first class education. He impressed upon us the need to respect our institutions, traditions and those who represented them while being fearless in defending our convictions.”

“Rev Gayle was a model of sober judgement and unswerving conscientiousness. Virtues such as discipline, reliability and Christian loyalty were but some of the hallmarks of his character. He viewed frank and honest speaking as critical and many only learned to appreciate that in hindsight,” Johnson said.

 

 Difference making ecumenist

Rev Dr Oral Thomas, president, gave the tribute on behalf of UTC.  He told attendees that Gayle distinguished himself as revered tutor and a Caribbean ecumenist, even while maintaining the principles and beliefs of his own denomination. Thomas shared stories of how Rev Gayle exercised care and protection of those under his supervision, especially in sensitive situations.

The tribute from the Ocho Rios Baptist Church was presented by Deacon Linton Francis, who pointed to the difference Gayle made in people’s lives locally and internationally. He also noted that Rev Gayle was a reference for Christian living, a stickler for discipline and punctuality; always available as a teacher, preacher and trainer.

 

Lover of God and family

Dr Vilma Davis his, niece added that not only was her uncle a stickler for punctuality, but he was also a no-nonsense straightforward person whom they all revered as their hero; one who had carved and carefully tended to the legacy he wanted to leave for his family.

His son Clement Jr who shared memories of his father stated that he wanted the world to remember his father as a pastor, counsellor, author, educator; a no nonsense but compassionate warden, forgiving and generous… full of wisdom and seeing beyond the surface; loving husband and lover of family and a community person; committed servant of God, laboring in the vineyard and pointing souls to repentance and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

 

Servant confidante and missioner of Christ

 Then came the sermon, preached by the inimitable retired pastor, the Rev Dr Burchel Taylor. He used Rev Gayle’s life as the hermeneutic lens through which he interpreted St John 15: 15 & 16.

In setting a premise, Rev Taylor established that a life called into the service of God is a life that becomes a servant with a difference. He stressed that Rev Gayle’s life was a practical example of this principle; but not only that, the preacher asserted unequivocally that Gayle’s  life was an interpretation of biblical teachings that have been made “more comprehensible, practical, impactful and more compellingly challenging to all Christians…”

He further opined that many had derived and would continue to receive invaluable blessings and benefits from Rev Gayle’s life.

Rev Taylor explained that Rev Gayle was a servant with a difference; a servant who was not only transformed into a friend by Christ; but one who was taken into the confidence of Christ; and one who was also tasked with a productive mission by Christ to the glory of God. As a result, the preacher explained, Rev Gayle served from a place of ‘intimate mutuality,’ ‘reciprocal intimacy’ and ‘mutual indwelling;’ living his life “with confidence without arrogance; living with a sense of true personhood without presumptuousness and living with a sense of belongingness to God and others without prejudice.”

Against this background therefore, Taylor exhorted Christians to emulate Rev Gayle and serve with a new sense of authentic humanity, blessedness and assurance. In doing so, they should have no need to traffic mischief in order to serve ego needs or to canvass popularity to have a sense of achievement; neither should they use strategy and false posturing to corner turf or seek special spheres, because they are servants transformed into friends of Christ.

As Christ’s confidantes, he said, all Christians – but pastors especially – should live and stand by God’s truth, which cannot be traded for anything.

He further urged Christians to be “persons whose lives are marked by … faithfulness of commitment, trustworthiness of life and steadfastness of conviction in this world in which we have been made confidante of Jesus Christ …”

According to the preacher, the worst thing that Christian leaders could ever do is to betray Christ’s trust. He pointed to three ways that could happen: (1) we either add to or subtract from God’s truth for personal convenience; (2) devalue the truth with irreverence and disobedience or (3) exploit Christ’s trust for personal advantage.  

“We must be faithful keepers; faithful tellers and faithful defenders of the truth. If we aren’t doing that we are betraying the trust of Jesus Christ,” Rev Taylor asserted.

The preacher added that if we, like Gayle are servants tasked with Christ’s productive mission, then our lives must become a source of definitive and defining qualities, principles and practices of Christlikeness, bearing the fruit of the spirit.

 “We are meant to make a difference,” he concluded.