A Tribute To Campbell Dye

Albert Bogle January 06, 2023 1 9

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Members of the Sanctuary First Community who use our Daily Worship material will be saddened to hear of the death of Campbell Dye who was one of our regular writers and contributors to Sanctuary First. Campbell died suddenly on 30th December after a short spell in hospital. I’m sure that members of the community will want to express their appreciation of Campbell’s ministry at the end of this blog post.

Campbell was someone who wrote out of his own daily walk with God. He understood the frustrations and challenges of living out a Christian lifestyle in the workplace. He appeared most recently talking about this very issue on the Sanctuary First Late Show in May 2022.

I first met Campbell through my friendship with Iain Jamieson. Both Iain and Campbell were students at St Andrew’s during the latter part of the 1980s and it was during this period that the Bogle Band was formed. From this collective of musicians many lives have been touched and transformed over the years through recordings and live concerts. Campbell’s ministry lives on in the many songs he wrote and co-wrote with Iain and myself for the Bogle Band and latterly with Iain under the title Three:Sixteen.

Writing for Sanctuary First was a joy for him. He saw it as keeping in touch with his Church of Scotland roots, being brought up with St Mark’s Letham, Perth. He loved the fact that although he was a church warden in the Church of England, Sanctuary First allowed him to be part of an ecumenical ministry reaching out far beyond denominations. James Cathcart who is our resident writer and editor has written the following tribute to Campbell on behalf of the Sanctuary First Community:

“Simply put, I loved working with him and I shall miss him dearly. Campbell was always so kind, gracious and insightful and had such a gift for expressing his faith in a clear, engaging, and artistic way.

A funny, self-effacing, and generous contributor who gave a great deal to the ministry of Sanctuary First. Campbell was clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable writer, but he also had the even rarer talent of knowing how to speak simply and directly about the profound truths of existence. And part of that directness was an honest acknowledgement of what we do not know, unafraid of the uncertainty that comes from a life of faith. This particular combination of assured confidence in Christ and frank humility to self is a precious thing.

In addition to his Daily Worship contributions, that it was a privilege to work with him on, he gave so much more to Sanctuary First including his gifts as a songwriter and performer. He was the rock that held many a creative project together. We only met in-person a handful of times, over the last few years, but seeing the camaraderie and mischief when he was with his dear friends Iain Jamieson and Albert Bogle was always glorious. From the first time we met he struck me as a suave, kind and gracious presence who took the time to ask genuine questions and listen attentively to the answers.

Campbell, was such a treasure to have working for us with his reliably refreshing and insightful comments.

Here is a reflection Campbell wrote for us in December 2021, looking at Luke 1: 76-80, the final part of Zechariah’s prophecy.

“So, we come to the end of our look at Zechariah’s song of praise, the Benedictus. He turns his attention from the cosmic to the specific as he foretells the part his son, John, must play in God’s great plan.

It’s easy for us to understand this because we can read in Luke’s history of Jesus how it all played out – John became the last of the great prophets and got people ready for the imminent ministry of Jesus. But imagine how this must have sounded at the time – Zechariah, the silent man had finally found his voice but what was coming out of his mouth was surely delusional, egocentric, maybe even a touch insane. God had been quiet for generations and, whilst everyone understood that Zechariah was proud of his newborn son, this was all a bit over the top, wasn’t it?

Zechariah had an incredible insight into what God was up to. God was about to break his silence in the most unexpected way and John was the warm-up act. John’s ministry would be to tell people where they were going wrong and to baptise them back into God’s fold. He was to prepare the way for Jesus.

As such, Zechariah’s words about John are clear continuation of the story he had set out in the earlier verses – John is a working out of God’s plan which will be completed in Jesus.

It is sometimes when God seems to be at his quietest that He is at his most powerful and dramatic.  If we listen carefully this Advent, what part in God’s great ongoing plan are we being called to?

PRAYER:

Father God, let me listen. Let me hear. Let me understand. Let me respond. AMEN”

Campbell, we are so grateful to have known you and to have worked with you.You have helped us to listen, to hear, to understand and to respond to God. Thank you.”

James sums it up so well, he held so many projects together because he was able to listen attentively and respond perceptively. Perhaps his contribution to the Weekly Message slot in 2020 captures the hope we all have. For the Christian there is never really an ending that doesn’t lead to a new beginning. Here in this talk Campbell leads us to think beyond the present to that which still has to come. At the beginning of a new year it is an inspirational thought to help shape the next part of our journey in life whether it be long or short.

We give thanks to God for the life and ministry of Campbell Dye and share our deepest condolences with his wife Rachel and their children.