A Tribute to Mike Ovey

“Aled, its so lovely to put a face to the name.”

Those are the first words Mike Ovey said to me in person. I’d known him over a screen for the past eighteen months, having studying with Oak Hill on distance. But the fact he knew that, and made that connection, is a small glimpse into what a man he was.

So much has already been said, and said very well, much better than anything I can say.

Particularly I recommend Matthew Barrett (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/best-possible-gift-the-legacy-of-mike-ovey), Robin Ham (http://thathappycertainty.com/personal/a-thousand-kindnesses-and-about-seven-jokes-giving-thanks-for-mike-ovey/) where you can find links to other tributes as well, and also Chris Stead (https://steadfastreflections.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/will-you-let-god-disagree-with-you/).

But I just wanted to share some memories of such a remarkable man.

1.1.1         Mike the Principal and Anglican

I’m someone who needs a lot of encouragement to combat my cynical pessimism (a touch of the Eyeore) as Mike would put it. In Mike, we saw someone who had strong convictions and was not afraid to stand up and say them.

As a principal, he was a dynamic leader who convinced us of the vitalness to be taught and trained as well as we could be. Much of this teaching he modelled himself.

As an ordained Anglican, Mike encouraged me lots of times about our dear Church of England. “Tell Uncle Mike” he’d say and listen to me whinge about various things in various ways. Always there would be sound encouragement to persevere in the Church of England. That is voice we will miss, and must strive to echo. I’m thankful to God for Mike’s positive Anglicanism.

1.1.2         Mike the scholar and teacher

I came to Oak Hill already developing a love of church history and systematic theology, thanks to Mike’s lectures on distance but also being under the ministry of one of Mike’s trained students, George Crowder.

Mike taught me so much, and really inspired me to be as big as I can be on systematics. Here’s a list of just some of the things Mike said to me in the classroom

1.1.2.1: The Creator Creature distinction: that foundation of so much theology, and something I need to return to again and again

1.1.2.2: The liberty of spontaneity and the liberty of indifference: Learning the freedom of God, and the limits of myself, and putting free will in the right place. It’s vital for suffering and apologetics.

1.1.2.3: The Trinity. So much here, as Mike poured out his passion for getting the Trinity right, and channelling Hilary of Poitiers, understanding for the first time the cohesion of oneness and Threeness, learning to love the Doctrine of God.

1.1.2.4: Asking for clarity: a key discipline in dialogue – get people to define their terms! They may not mean what they, or you, think they do.

1.1.2.5: You can teach the hardest things in such clear and funny ways, and you must do it in the context of relationship.

1.1.3         Mike the pastor and friend

Mike was the crème de la crème of theologians. He could have spent his days swilling good wine at Oxbridge conventions, or engaged in the writing of many, many books.

But he was the most approachable academic you’d meet, or putting it another way, the most pastoral scholar. Most of us fall into one or the other in ministry (or if your me you have many failings in both fields!) Not Mike though. He would field many questions, sacrificing hours of prepared material in order to make sure we knew what was going on. He’d even arrange lunch with the less confident question askers! One thing I really appreciate is how he would do that too for my wife, who audited his third year doctrine of God class. She wasn’t a student, yet Mike had just as much time for her.

As well as listening to me despair of Anglicanism, there was something else he did for me.

A few months ago, I wanted to leave Oak Hill. I was just finding everything too much. So my Director of Ordinands had rung Mike. Straight away he found me, and we chatted. We met later on to chat further, in his study decked with books, and a picture of Thomas Cranmer.

We chatted. I cried. He listened. He spoke great wisdom, down to very practical things, like re-reading Narnia, and CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy. He prayed, and we parted.

Not many principals would do that.

 

Like I said, much has been written about Mike, and much more will be I’m sure. College feels so strange now, and so much will be left unsaid. We won’t have another lecture with him, or see him guffawing at the latest Friday flyer, or giving joyous exclamations when he saw you reading the homilies, or enjoying his Friday fish and chips, or presiding over communion in chapel, or giving one more bash at Donald Trump or Theresa May.

But God is in control. His providence is risk-free, not risky, as Mike once told me. Yes he is a big loss to so many. But as I sit in the Academic Centre this morning, a newly bought copy of Hilary’s De Trinitate next to me, I can be thankful to my Lord, for my time of knowing and learning from Mike, for the ways in which God worked through Mike in so many people’s lives, for the truths I have confidence in under Mike’s teaching.

As Mike would want, so we can pray, that even in this Sola Deo Gloria. May God get all the glory.