6 days ago
Rev Colin Andrews dies age 86
Reverend Colin Andrews, who served the community of Benoni from the pulpit of the Central Methodist Church for 14 years, died in Pinetown on May 23 after a long struggle with dementia, at the age of 86.
He is survived by his wife, Christine, and his children, Britt van der Knaap, Chad, Rhett and Ryan Andrews, and eight grandchildren.
Between 1963 and 1970, Andrews became an ordained minister with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (Johannesburg) and went on to serve at congregations in many other parts of the country.
These included the Russell Road Methodist Church in Port Elizabeth (1963), Rhodes University in Grahamstown (1964-1965), White River Methodist Church (1966-1970), Kempton Park Methodist Church (1971-1975), Benoni Central Methodist Church (1976-1990) and Durban North Methodist Church (1991 until his retirement in 2004).
With a love for bonsai, reading, music, sport, the cinema and theatre, Andrews' service to the community extended to volunteer work, for which he also received many awards over the years.
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His professional activities and skills included being a spiritual director, pastoral and grief counsellor, trauma debriefer, public speaker and marriage officer, among others.
Andrews was also a dedicated community volunteer.
Some of his volunteer work included serving as a member of the Benoni West School board in 1980, from 1983 to 1989 he held the position of national chairman of Life Line Southern Africa, was a member of the Willowmoore High School board from 1984 to 1985, the mayoral chaplain from 1989 to 1990, between 1993 and 1996 he held the position of Presiding World President of Life Line International and from 1993 to 1994 was a peace monitor in the townships for the Network of International Monitors.
Andrews' work did not go unnoticed and he was honoured by several distinguished community organisations.
Some of these awards were:
* 1980: Distinguised Service Award Jaycee South Africa in recognition of outstanding services.
* 1984: Toastmaster International Communication Achievement Award for outstanding achievements and contributions to communications excellence.
* 1986: Merit award from the Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn for devoted and unselfish service above self to the community.
* 1990: Paul Harris Fellow awarded by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
* 1996: Awarded Honorary Life President of Life Line Southern Africa.
A funeral service for Reverend Andrews will be live streamed on the Pinetown Methodist Church's Facebook Page on June 6 at 11:00.
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