Heather Bellamy spoke with Arthur Wakelin about his journey of faith and how he and his wife coped with health challenges including prostate cancer and septicaemia.

Arthur and his long lost brother

Arthur Wakelin is a church minister in Stoke-on-Trent. Heather Bellamy spent time with him hearing his story, from becoming a Christian as a boy of 14, through his difficult journey to get ordained and health challenges his wife and he have had in recent years.

Heather: We've heard all about your incredible family history; let's talk about your faith. When did that start?

Arthur: Faith started when I was 14. Although I had been christened in the Church of England I was never sent to Sunday School. The only Christian teaching I had was through junior school and senior school, where we had good RE lessons. We learnt the Lord's Prayer; we learnt the Apostles Creed, to recite and it was good teaching.

Then I came across a Cliff College student who had come to help the local Methodist minister in Alsager and he did some door-to-door work. He came down to the estate where I lived and we got talking. He invited me to go to Sunday School and I laughed at him and said, 'No chance'. Anyway, Sunday afternoon came and I thought, 'Ok, let's see what it's like'.

I went with the idea of causing disruption, which I did with great delight. I thought they wouldn't bother with me again. After Sunday School finished they asked, 'Why don't you come to the service this evening?' I said, 'You've got to be kidding? No chance!'

I went home, got changed and started to call for my friends. We used to play football on some disused ground near to the Royal Ordinance Factory at the green; but, for whatever reason they had all gone out with their parents or they weren't available, so I was at a loose end. That's when I decided I'd go to church and have some more fun.

When I got there I realised I couldn't have the fun I wanted to have because a lot of the people in the church knew my mum and dad. If I created trouble it would get back home quicker than I got back home; so I listened and the guy that talked to us spoke about Christ dying. He said he knew in his blood that we might be saved, born again, whatever term you want to use and it had an impression on me. He had Just As I Am to finish with and in the Old Methodist Hymn Book it was seven verses on. I was going hot and cold. I was sweating. I was resisting going forward to the communion rail. In the end, I didn't. I left the church after the service had finished and got half way home and decided, I can't go home, I've got to do something about this; so I went back. I had a chat with him and he took me back to the house where he was staying. He opened the scriptures to me and we prayed a prayer together; he did a sentence and I did a sentence. That was the moment I emerged in conversion.

Heather: What do you mean by that?

Arthur: What I mean is God was working in my life before that, in school assemblies and lessons. We always used to sing a hymn every morning in school assembly. My grandma had given me her Sunday School prize, which was a Bible in 1906. I used to read that. I didn't understand much of it, but picked up some of the stories. The Holy Spirit had bought me to this point where I now had to do something about it. I gave my life to Jesus and went home and told my mum and dad, who were speechless for once, but they thought it wouldn't last long. The following day I went to the school, knocked on the headmaster's door, I started at the top and worked my way down, so I told him what I'd done. That's how I became a Christian.

Heather: And you've stuck with it ever since?

Arthur: I've stuck with it ever since. There have been highs and there have been many lows. There have been moments where possibly some would describe me as being backslidden, but I never let go of it; it's always been there. It's not easy being a Christian. It's challenging, but you just rise to the challenge and sometimes when you do fail, you have to pick yourself up and go back to the Lord and say, 'Ok Lord, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that' and then get on with it.

One thing I admit, I wished I'd have been there earlier. I had a great minister, Eric Challinor. He's still alive and he's in his 90's. He was a great encourager and after he moved on from Alsager there was no teaching and so to get the teaching I used to go to the Pentecostal church in Mow Cop.

Heather: What difference did it make in your life?

Arthur: A big difference. I changed completely. All my old friends disappeared and new friends came. This was three years before I found out about my family situation, so that helped at that time. If I hadn't been a Christian at that time, who knows how the journey would have gone, but it made a tremendous difference. I started work, left school and they asked what I did at weekends, what I did on Sunday, so I told them. They laughed at me, but it was good, because it made a big difference.

Heather: We haven't touched on your work life at all. What did you do?