Rev. Barry Carter M.B.E.

It is with deep sadness we share the sad news that our friend and former Minister, Rev. Barry Carter MBE died in St. Christopher’s Hospice on Sunday 16th August 2026 surrounded by his family.

Barry came to serve in Brockley and New Cross straight from training for URC Ministry at New College in St. John’s Wood and was Minister to St. Andrew’s and St. Michael’s from 1975 until he retired in 2009.

We were very proud to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Barry’s Ordination last year. At that service, among many other things, people remarked on his steadfastness, his consistency and his determination to make the churches more welcoming and reflective of the community they serve. Barry’s ministry at our churches was transformative and his work in the communities of Brockley and New Cross remains powerful and deeply loved.

In 1981, he worked closely with the survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives due to the New Cross Fire and that work, plus his care of the community, is something that the people of Brockley and New Cross will forever honour.

Barry was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours List for services to the community in Brockley, and locally, St. Andrew’s is often referred to as ‘Barry’s Church’. This is a title we are very proud to continue to hold. His quiet and loving support of the ongoing ministry of our churches has always been deeply meaningful.

In St. Paul’s Cathedral in central London, the translation of the writing on the tomb of Sir Christopher Wren is "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you". Barry rebuilt St. Andrew’s physically as well as in ethos and outreach, and this, and the people whose lives he changed are the deeply fitting living monuments that he leaves with us.

We hold Chris, Emma, Natalie, Nigel and all of their family and friends in our hearts and prayers.

Barry, thank you, rest now in God’s peace and rise in glory.