Robert Millen Horn, 1933-2005

My wife Hazel and I met Bob and Joy Horn in the summer of 1972. Bob had written an article for The Evangelical Magazine entitled ‘The Christian and the World’ and we asked Bob to speak on this subject to a group of young graduates and professionals, who met to discuss contemporary issues on Friday nights at our local church at Chislehurst.

That was the beginning of a great and close friendship that has lasted until Bob left us to be with the Lord.

Base camp in Christ

Rarely has a life been so full and productive as that of Bob Horn. He was born in Addis Ababa in 1933. His parents, Eric from New Zealand and Syvilla from the United States, were there for seven years as pioneer missionaries at Sidamo, Southern Ethiopia. Going away on furlough they were unable to return in 1936 due to the Italian invasion.

His family moved to Upper Norwood in South London where his dad went to work at the Sudan Interior Mission office. As the war came, Bob was evacuated to Spring Grove Farm, Milverton, Somerset, under the care of matron Gwen Packer (who was later housekeeper to John Stott). Later, back in London, Bob sat the entrance exams to Whitgift public school and started there in September 1944.

On May 12 1946 (aged 13), Bob became a Christian. He put his trust in Christ at a Sunday School Anniversary meeting held in the Brotherhood Hall, West Norwood. From then on his Christian faith would be the ‘base camp’ from which he approached and climbed every hill and mountain he encountered in his experience of life.

Student and student worker

Bob always loved competitive sport and in 1950 got into Whitgift 1st X1 cricket team. But the next year, he started a two-year stint of National Service with the Royal Artillery, mostly in Germany. Following this, in 1953, he went to Downing College, Cambridge, to read German and French and joined the CICCU. 1955 saw Bob on the CICCU exec. This was the year of the famous Billy Graham mission and it was during this time that John Paterson’s group Bible studies made him consider going into Christian ministry.

In 1956 he met Joy at an Inter-Varsity Fellowship student conference at Swan-wick, fell in love at their first meeting and told his friend that he’d met the girl he was going to marry. It took Joy two years to come to the same conclusion!

After graduating, he went to Regents Park College, Oxford, to read theology. The tutors there were liberal to a man, and this forced Bob to think out his views. There were not many theologically conservative books to help. The prime influences on him were Jim Packer and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Working out this framework of thought was of life-long importance. He married Joy in 1960 and continued in that happy estate for the next 45 years, producing three very talented children, Tim, Catherine and Al along the way.

The previous year he had got the job as Universities Secretary at IVF. There Dr. Douglas Johnson became a great role model for Bob. He loved DJ’s style of Christian leadership. It was non-self-promoting, and sought to coach and encourage others to develop their own gifts. 33 years after getting that job he was invited to return, to the same organisation, as the boss, the General Secretary, of what had now become Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship.

The adventure of life

To Bob the Christian life was always an adventure and his life took many turns. In 1966 he became minister of Horley Baptist Church, and in 1969 published his first book, entitled The Book that Speaks for Itself for IVP, on the reliability of the Bible. In 1971 he addressed the Baptist Union conference on the denial of the deity of Christ by the principal of the Northern Baptist College, Michael Taylor. He later resigned from the BU over its failure to act over this denial. Then, when Horley Baptist Church decided, by a small majority, not to withdraw from the BU, Bob felt obliged to resign as its minister.

This led to a new career. In 1973 he began as editor of Evangelical Times, stipulating that he should have complete editorial freedom. He brought a new ethos to the paper with his strategy of persuasion and understatement, rather than being denunciatory in tone. Over the 13 years Bob was in charge the circulation doubled to 16,500. However, in 1986 he was sacked for being too open to charismatic ideas and, with the support of Sir Fred Catherwood, founded Evangelicals Now. This paper sought to involve those who were loyal to the biblical gospel from both nonconformist and evangelical Anglican circles. It is ironic that in the same year Bob was removed from the preaching rota of Barcombe Baptist Church for not being charismatic enough! The years that followed included Bob and Joy hosting the Graduates’ Fellowship Conference in Austria five times.

Bob remained at the editor’s desk at EN until 1992 when he was approached about becoming the General Secretary of UCCF. Taking up the post, with the family home in Purley, Bob rented a flat in Leicester for weeknights, travelling home at weekends. Joy writes of this time: ‘He was thrilled to be back with UCCF. He had enjoyed all his jobs, but he enjoyed this one best of all. He aimed to promote openness; to encourage new ideas and initiatives and to reduce hierarchy. He spent most of the day talking with people, then stayed alone in the office until 8.00 each night dealing with correspondence and writing. His great aim was to keep the gospel and evangelism central and to stress the identification of UCCF with individual CUs.’

Sportsman

Perhaps his love for young people and the student world went hand in hand with his love for sport. He climbed over 200 mountains on three continents, taking magnificent photos. For 28 years he played cricket as a leg spinner, for the 1st XI of Old Whitgiftians. Consistency was his middle name. For three years he played cricket for the Surrey 2nd XI. When he played occasionally for Cheam Baptist Church, the team referred to him as ‘wily’ (as in ‘wily old bird’). I suppose there was an element of truth in that designation. He played his last game of hockey for Old Whitgiftians in January 1999 at the age of 65.

His sons once debated whether Bob would retire first from competitive sports or the world of work. Work won by a short head, but only, as he would point out, because he worked beyond retiring age! At home in Purley, daily garden cricket or football was de rigeur in the Horn household. Joy once heard a teenage Al say to his brother Tim: ‘Would you take Dad out tonight? I’ve got an essay to do!’

‘Worthy is the Lamb’

In 2001 he retired from UCCF, but late in 2002 was diagnosed with cancer. The following year saw a six-month course of chemotherapy which produced a time of remission, during which Bob was able to take the first Bible reading of the academic year for CICCU, exactly 50 years after going up to Cambridge as a student. In 2004 the cancer returned, and led to radiotherapy and stays in hospital over the following months.

Bob died in hospital on December 4. In the background music from Handel’s Messiah was playing, namely, ‘If God be for us who can be against us?’, and the two great choruses, ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ and ‘Amen’. At his funeral, the preacher, Dr. Bruce Winter of Tyndale House, Cambridge, spoke of visiting Bob during his final days. He said the sense of God’s presence was tangible. Bob showed no fear of death, but felt tremendous peace. Dr. Winter preached from 2 Peter 1.11: ‘You will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’

A great friend

My wife and I knew Bob’s friendship and love for 33 years. Open-minded and fair in all his dealing, he was never moody, temperamental or partisan. He rarely told jokes, but his sense of humour was tremendous. Laughter and fun were intrinsic to the mix of this remarkable man. As a Christian he was doctrinally clear. He was a convinced evangelical of the Calvinistic sort, and he lived and died with unshakeable faith in an infallible Bible, a victorious Saviour and a sovereign God. He was loyal to his friends and tremendously enthusiastic and encouraging.

Over our long friendship, our personal relationship went through different phases. For example, he and Joy were members of our church at Barcombe for eight years, but, although there was that short period in his life when I was his pastor, there was never a period when he was not my pastor. His wisdom, willingness and outstanding spiritual gifts enormously helped build the church during those exciting years. He was totally consistent. Whether it was a tricky and difficult pastoral situation, late night leaders’ meetings from which he had an hour’s drive to get home afterwards, or due to illness, the pastor needed a preacher to fill the pulpit at the drop of a hat, Bob was always there for us.