Obituaries - Methodist Conference

Obituaries - Deacons who have died 2012/2013then to the nursing home in Reading; a period of struggle and pain.Emily will be greatly missed on this Earth where she made such a wonderfulcontribution to the lives of many people. Yet we rejoice with thanksgiving that freed fromthe tribulations of this world, her life has been completed and so splendidly fulfilled andshe is with the Lord she loved and served all her life.The Revd David Holland & Deacon Phyllis KingDorothy TaylorBorn: 2 December 1925Died: 27 October 2012Dorothy Taylor, who died on 27 Oct 2012 aged 86, was a Methodist deaconess andmother. Her ministry of some 40 years was witnessed in many ways and in differentphases of her life. Only when Dorothy found that even when sitting down to preach shebecame breathless and dizzy did she withdraw from activity in her local circuit.Dorothy was born in 1925, in Leicester to Martha and William Bull. She was the fourthchild of six and grew up in a staunch Methodist household. She latterly described herparents as the most loving and wonderful parents she could have had and recalled manyevents where her life was shaped by her early experiences.Dorothy was an adventurous young girl, curious and full of her own ideas. School wasmore an obligation than an interest and she left at 14. She went to work for the GPO asa telephonist where her sister was already working. In 1943 she volunteered to work inLondon at Mount Pleasant telephone exchange. Too young to join the Land Army as herolder sister had done, here was Dorothy’s chance to do her bit for the war.Early in her childhood Dorothy conceived of a set of principles and beliefs that enabledher to understand the world and she unwaveringly stuck to these throughout her life. Herearly desire and ambition was to be a missionary. She wanted to follow in the footstepsof her mother’s devoted work in the Methodist Church; to follow in a path that was closeto God became her framework.In 1947 she was accepted into the Order and began her own missionary work. Livingwith another deaconess she worked with the communities they found themselvesamongst, although they had their caravan ’Epworth‘ moved at regular intervals. Dorothywas ordained in 1952 and continued her work in the Liverpool Mission (Hutchinson Hall).In 1953 she met John Taylor, a Methodist minister and a year later they married. Theybegan their lives together in the service of the Methodist Church. They lived in Bristolstarting a new church in the large new housing estate in Hartcliffe. Their three childrenwere born in Bristol and during that time she was at the centre of circuit work, runninggroups, prayer meetings and many other church activities.In a few short years John joined both the Anglican Church and the Navy. Thus beganMethodist Conference Agenda 2013 43