MEMBERS of the congregation at St Mary’s Church are in mourning following the death of their rector, the Rev Canon Tim Neill.
Mr Neill, who called himself the merry rector, died on Friday at John Ratcliffe Hospital in Oxford as a result of complications which followed heart surgery last month. He was 68 and had been in his role in St Mary since February 2019.
The Very Rev Mike Keirle, Dean of Jersey, paid tribute to a friend and colleague who he had known since he spent time with Mr Neill in his native Zimbabwe in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr Keirle said: ‘It’s devastating news. Tim was a gentle giant.
‘He had such character, a wicked sense of humour and, most importantly, a very deep faith that shone through in the way he preached and interacted with others.’
Mr Neill was appointed rector of St Luke’s in the Harare suburb of Greendale in 1985 and became an increasingly outspoken critic of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
After being removed as vicar-general of Zimbabwe in 2001 and giving up his ministry at St Luke’s, Mr Neill remained a prominent opponent of Mr Mugabe and was a leading supporter of the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party to Mr Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government.
Eventually it was no longer possible for Mr Neill to remain in Zimbabwe and, after a period in South Africa, he moved to the Island with his Jersey-born wife Carol (née Treussard) in 2006.
Mr Keirle said: ‘Tim did wonderful things in Zimbabwe and St Luke’s was a thriving parish under his leadership.
‘He was outspoken in all the right ways. He stood up against a corrupt and evil system and eventually paid the price in having to leave his home country.’
Mr Keirle attended the Sunday service at St Mary’s Church yesterday and addressed the congregation to offer his condolences and support.
