Rembering
John Finel
(1944 – 2006)
John was for over 25 years Treasurer of Shap, but also
an initiator, encourager and supporter of many other
aspects of the Working Party’s activity. His name may
not be widely known among readers of this Journal, for
John was one of those people who worked quietly and
efficiently, enabling others to go ahead with new
projects, whilst offering timely words of advice when
needed. In tribute to John, we asked some past and
present members of Shap to contribute their personal
memories of him:
John Finel — Man of Quality, Shiner of Lights
Before ever the Shap Working Party existed, even when
it was just a seminal thought in the creative minds of a
handful of pundits in the North East of England, John
Finel was active in the field of world religions, beavering
away in his classrooms to open windows and letting in
the light into the minds of young people, who came to
learn through him that religions are different, varied and
intriguing.
So for more than forty years John had an important and
significant influence on the classroom development of
the exploration of world religions with teenagers.
And as with everything he touched, John was efficient,
thorough and perceptive. His promotion through the
school hierarchy is testimonial to the qualities he had in
ample supply, first as organiser and supporter, but also
as the master of relationship skills and bringing out
qualities in others which they never knew they had.
He had a fund of stories, an earthy laugh, an impatience
with fools (of which we naturally had our share) and the
ability to ensure that the Working Party never lost its
head in the clouds or became remote from what he saw
as its initial function vis-à-vis the school situation. The
dearth of practising schoolteachers in our ranks was
largely offset by the quality of those we had, with John
at the forefront.
Of course John’s work for and in the Shap Working
Party is chiefly remarkable for his role as Shap Treasurer.
But he was also important because of the succinct way
he had of summarising an argument and uniting the
protagonists of two warring positions by showing that
they were unwittingly saying the same things, only in
different ways — inhabiting and articulating from different
premises, so to speak. He also, more than anyone else I
can think of in the Working Party, made occasion to
speak to every member at every meeting, ensuring that
all felt welcome and had a role to play - as well of
course as expenses to claim!
As Treasurer and expositor of accounts and financial
positions, John was meticulous and indefatigable. In the
early stages of his role, when payments of thirty pence
were customary, John received hundreds of cheques
each year in batches of fifty or so by post, and he,
together with his equally efficient wife, entered every
one with full details in his recording system to ensure
that none were lost or overlooked; and he always knew
exactly where we stood financially, even when the
different fiscal years he was forced to work with made
this a seemingly complex matter to explain. John saw his
role not so much as gathering in our vital income as
ensuring that it was spent, and in the best ways possible.
He set out to facilitate, not to restrict expenditure, but
also ensured that it was spent on important projects.
He was always receptive to suggestions, and exceptional
at evaluating and prioritising them.
And even though, because of the nature of his role as
Treasurer, John always declined the role of Chair of
Shap, his influence as the longest standing of any officer
of the Working Party ensured that there was constant
continuity available to our rotating Chairpersons and our
fluctuating Secretaries. Shap must have had twenty
Chairs and seven Secretaries, but only three Treasurers,
and none to hold a candle to John. Perhaps the lighting
of a candle to show us where we have been and where
we need to go has to be the ultimate image in our
remembrances of John Finel.
Peter Woodward
John Finel was a founder member of the Shap Working
Party whom I first met at the Lake District hotel on Shap
fell from which we decided to name ourselves. He was a
comprehensive school teacher and a Yorkshireman. The
small group of pioneers in the field of encouraging a
new, world religions approach to RE soon came to value
his realism and commonsense. When we decided to
publish a booklet, World Religions for CSE or 16 Plus,
John chaired the group that prepared it and he edited
the resulting publication; that many teachers found the
publication of value was in no small measure the
consequence of John’s skills in writing clearly and
persuasively.
When John became a head teacher he suggested that he
might leave the Working Party, being no longer directly
involved in the teaching of RE. It was not sentiment, but
the recognition by his colleagues that he could now
bring even wider insights to bear on the subject, that
persuaded him to remain a member - but on condition
that he might continue to work by filling the Treasurer’s
post. This he did with skill and in a manner not always
found in that class! John believed that money should be
used, wisely, of course, and that bills should be paid
promptly. His wife, Jennifer, surely helped him to ensure
that a request for payment received one day, was
responded to by first post on the next!
John was a reliable member of the Working Party, but
more than that, he was a loyal friend, a kindly man, and
someone it was a pleasure to be with. He was a true
Yorkshireman in whom there was no guile. I only wish I
had known him as a head teacher, especially welcoming
— or saying farewell to — Ofsted inspectors; and to his
colleagues, ‘They’ve gone. Bring out the ale’!
W. Owen Cole
In the early years of Shap, there was a sense of
adventure in breaking new ground in the field of
Religious Studies. With that went a camaraderie among
the members as happens with all those who work
together in a common cause. Firm friendships were
formed between people who only saw each other two
or three times a year. Indeed Chairpersons often found it
difficult to get business meetings under way because of
the many personal exchanges being prolonged!
So it is that John Finel became my friend over year upon
year of meeting together. It was an aspect of Shap that
he appreciated and enjoyed - and did much to maintain.
John represented a constituency that was always difficult
to sustain, viz, representation from schools. He would
frequently remind our distinguished academics of the
realities of teaching in school! He was immensely proud
of World Religions for CSE or 16 Plus produced at a time
when we were trying to encourage regional groups to
form and initiate projects; John’s group produced this. It
would not have appeared without his application and
persistence.
Shap came near to foundering when it lost the modest
sponsorship which sustained it in the beginning. It was
in large measure due to John that we slowly established
our own self-funding by selling our calendar and mailing
instead of giving them away! Shap owes him a great
debt of gratitude for his service as Treasurer for so many
years. We all felt secure about the care of our finances
while under John’s administration.
I remember John with great affection as the most reliable
of friends. He represented for me integrity, which is the
essence of the good life
John Rankin
John Finel’s energies for secondary education were
constant and plentiful. This was equally true for what he
gave to Shap. Initially he came in as an enthusiast for
secondary RE teaching, as an associate teacher with the
development work of the Schools Council Secondary RE
Project directed by Ninian, as also by his presence at
Shap Conferences. That enthusiasm took him on Shap
forays to N Ireland and to Germany in the interest of
promoting world religions in education. That Euro-Shap
(EAWRE) emerged and thrives, but not any N Ireland
equivalent, is no reflection on Johns sense of humour.
That was dry and wry, like the whisky he enjoyed there!.
Once he had taken on the role of Shap Treasurer, it was
clear that all income would be safely garnered and
spending prudently regulated. It was.
Brian Gates
One of the heart-warming features of the Shap Working
Party is that it is made up of teachers and academics
who, though brilliant in their chosen field, have difficulty
organising things - not least themselves. John brought
some light and order to the scene. He held the purse,
gripped it even, for all my years on Shap until I took
over from him as Treasurer. In those years Shap changed
from being an organisation which one paid to join and
paid all one’s own expenses to being an organisation on
a solid financial footing - largely due to John’s
(generally) good humoured guidance.
He had a wry sense of humour touched by realism,
while still being able to see the Shap vision. He was able
to establish clear objectives and not lose sight of them
and the continued success of Shap owed much to John’s
business sense. He was passionate about Shap taking
new initiatives and warned that Shap would ossify
without new people, particularly those who earned their
living in the classroom.
One could understand how he would be able to run a
large and highly successful school for, alongside his
business acumen, he was a kind, genuine and thoughtful
man; one to whom I warmed. His feet remained firmly
on the ground, his hand firmly around the (Shap) purse
and his heart full of compassion for those who needed
support and help.
At the heart of the man was his smile, his warmth and
his ability to reach out to people and he brought a
bright light to my life and to the lives of others. He was
a man with a deep faith that had a practical outcome: he
wanted to make the world a better place. I looked
forward to seeing him and enjoyed our infrequent times
together. He was a good friend and I do, and will
continue to, miss him
Alan Brown
Like other colleagues, I shall remember John’s care for
detail, his humour and dependability — he was simply
always ‘there’ at Shap, carefully listening, and helping
us to negotiate the crosscurrents of debate on many an
occasion. But of course John had a life beyond Shap.
He was a respected Headteacher; beyond the
administrative skills required for the successful
management of the large community school which he
led, he cared passionately about young people both in
and out of school; he was part of and contributed to the
life of the local church in Stokesley and supported work
with young people there. He valued the love and mutual
support within his family.
At John’s funeral I discovered that as a young lad
growing up in Yorkshire John had learnt the art of
grafting roses; a task demanding skill, care and patience
to bring plants to bloom and to fruition — the same
qualities our ‘rememberings’ tell of John. Roses - found
in all countries and cultures in the northern hemisphere,
and with an ancestry of three millennia - may stand also
for the living faiths to whose understanding John was
committed. We are grateful that he expressed this
commitment through his long service to Shap
Mary Hayward
To John’s family — Jennifer, Richard, and Kathryn and
Richard — we send our condolences, and join with them
in remembering John. |