Paying tribute to Graham Nunn

People across the Diocese of Canterbury and further afield have been paying tribute to Church Army Officer Graham Nunn, who passed away on Sunday 6 June after a period of illness. 

The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, said: "‘Graham was an enthusiastic and effective evangelist with a deep desire to make Christ known. We are enormously indebted to him for his faithful and creative ministry across our diocese and further afield. When Graham spoke of his various engagements, one could not help but be caught up with his joy at souls being won for Christ. In the midst of accepting the outcome around his diagnosis, his primary concern was for his immediate family. I watched his face light up as he moved from the thoughts of leaving them behind and began to share with me something of the journey he had embarked on as an evangelist. We talked about the many who have been reaching out to him from amongst those whom he had served. He shared his thankfulness to God and surprise for having been entrusted with this extraordinary ministry. Graham, my fellow Church Army evangelist, hear the words of our Lord, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory.’

The Venerable Andrew Sewell, Archdeacon of Maidstone and personal friend of Graham's added: “I have known Graham as a great colleague, a loyal friend and an occasional golfing partner for the 23 years I’ve been in the diocese. He was a born evangelist, instrumental in the faith journeys of adults and young people as well as countless children. I have never seen anyone who could hold a roomful of kids spellbound so effortlessly, exciting them with magic, delighting them with singing and quieting them with prayerful calm. He told it like it was, did Graham, but his deep compassion for people and his deeper love for Jesus were never far below the surface. His illness and death, just before he was due to retire, have come as a terrible shock to all who loved him. Lots of us are reeling. But we’re deeply grateful to have known him.”

Director of Education Quentin Roper, who worked closely with Graham, said: "Graham was a gifted and beloved member of our Children, Schools and Young People team. He was deeply valued for his enthusiastic and fun contributions to Cathedral Schools Days: leading workshops, engaging groups through storytelling, magic and music – as well as his unswerving prayer support. Graham's leading of collective worship in numerous schools around our diocese was always creative and engaging. He had an overflowing and breath-taking timetable of visits, such was his passion to make the gospel accessible to children. He will be painfully missed as a great friend, colleague and pastor to us all."

Andrew Chadwick CA, Chaplain of the Church Army Mission Community said, “Graham was an amazing evangelist and it was my privilege to know him professionally and personally and be his colleague. He had great heart for people and was always looking after and caring for others as well as wanting people, particularly children, to know Jesus a their saviour. As an evangelist he was a member of the Church Army Board for ten years and contributed a great deal to Church Army as well as his ministry in the Canterbury Diocese and beyond. Church Army was part of Graham’s family and he always made time to chat to people when he visited the staff at Sheffield and was a well known face to many. He will be missed by many and we join in praying for his family and all those he ministered to.”

Please continue to hold Graham’s family in your prayers and we would ask you respect their privacy during this difficult time. Information regarding Graham’s funeral will be published in due course.