Colin Manley Morris (13 January 1929 – 20 May 2018) was an English

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister, author, and broadcaster. Born into a mining family in a village near

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, after his ordination he served the Methodist Church in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

for fifteen years. He stood out for racial integration within the church, became a close friend of the leader of the independence movement,

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from Northern Rhodesia, British ...

, and was closely involved in the formation of the

United Church in Zambia The United Church in Zambia is the largest Protestant church in Zambia with coverage of all the ten provinces of the country The church formed on 16 January 1965, this is a result of the union of Church of Central Africa, Rhodesia (a mission of the ...

soon after the country became independent. He always espoused an explicitly anti-racist and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

position and argued that it represents the "authentic spirit" of Christianity. He died on 20 May 2018 at the age of 89. After returning from Zambia, Morris occupied prominent positions in British Methodism, becoming first the superintendent minister of

Wesley's Chapel Wesley's Chapel (originally the City Road Chapel) is a Methodist Church of Great Britain, Methodist church situated in the St Luke's, London, St Luke's area in the south of the London Borough of Islington. Opened in 1778, it was built under the ...

in London, and subsequently General Secretary of the Church's Overseas Division. He was President of the Methodist Conference, elected in July 1976 and serving for the customary year term. From early in his career, Morris was a regular speaker on the ''

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Lasting 2 minu ...

'' segment of the

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morning programme ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', with a radical perspective and an instantly recognisable voice. For a period in 1971 he withdrew from the programme in protest against alleged representations by the Conservative Party

Whips A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

against his criticism on the programme of the party's immigration policy as un-Christian, an incident that caused questions to be asked in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

.Hansard, 24 March 1971, Lords Sitting
Religious Broadcasting, Dr Colin Morris He was still contributing to ''Thought for the Day'' in 2010. In 1978 Morris left the ordinary work of the Methodist ministry to work for the BBC, as head of TV Religious Programmes. He subsequently held the posts of Head of Religious Broadcasting, Special Advisor to the

Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

, and Controller of

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. After retiring from management within the BBC he continued to broadcast, presenting numerous religious programmes. From 1991 to 1996 he served as Director of the Centre for Religious Communication in Oxford. As well as his broadcasting work, Morris was a prolific author of books and

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s. Most of his published work reflected either his experience as a white missionary in black Africa, or as an ordained minister working as a professional broadcaster.

Published books

*''Out of Africa’s Crucible. Sermons from Central Africa''. Lutterworth, 1960. *''Black government? A discussion between Colin Morris and Kenneth Kaunda.'' United Society for Christian Literature, 1960. *''The Hour after Midnight. A missionary’s experiences of the racial and political struggle in Northern Rhodesia.'' Longman, 1961. *''Church and Challenge in a New Africa: Political sermons''. Epworth Press, 1964. *''Include me out! Confessions of an ecclesiastical coward''. Epworth Press, 1968; Fontana, 1975. *''Unyoung, uncoloured, unpoor''. Epworth Press, 1969. *''Mankind my church''. Hodder & Stoughton, 1971. *''What the papers didn’t say, and other broadcast talks''. Epworth Press, 1971. *''Epistles to the Apostle: Tarsus-please forward.'' Hodder & Stoughton, 1972. *''The hammer of the Lord: Sign of hope.'' Epworth Press, 1973. *''Word and the Words : The Voigt Lectures on Preaching.'' Epworth Press, 1975. *''Bugles in the afternoon''. Epworth Press, 1977. *''Get through till nightfall''. Fount, 1979. *''God-in-a-box: Christian strategy in the television age.'' Hodder & Stoughton, 1984. *''A week in the life of God''. Epworth Press, 1986. *''Wrestling with an angel''. Collins Fount, 1990. *''God in the shower: thoughts from Today.'' Macmillan, 2002. *''Things shaken - things unshaken : reflections on faith and terror''. Epworth Press, 2006. *''Bullet point beliefs: The best of Colin Morris'' (Edited by Rosemary Foxcroft). Canterbury Press, 2007

Works about Colin Morris

*''A Humanist in Africa. Letters to Colin M. Morris from Kenneth D. Kaunda.''. Longman, 1966. *Charlton, L. ''Spark in the stubble: Dr Morris of Zambia''. Epworth Press, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Colin Manley 1929 births 2018 deaths English Methodist ministers Clergy from Bolton Presidents of the Methodist Conference 20th-century English Methodist ministers 21st-century English Methodist ministers