Discipleship

David Watson was born in 1933, educated at Wellington College school and St. John's College, Cambridge where he gave his life to Christ. He became an ordained minister in the Church of England, starting work among the dock workers of Gillingham, Kent with John Collins and David McInnes at St Marks church.

David's second curacy took him to the Round Church in Cambridge, where the vicar was Mark Ruston. Around the same time, encouraged by Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones, David sought the fullness of the Holy Spirit in his life and the modern Charismatic movement in Britain had one of its most important leaders. David became Curate-in-Charge of St. Cuthbert's, York in 1965 which was attended by no more than twelve at any service, and was twelve months away from redundancy.

Eight years later the congregation had out-grown St. Cuthbert's resulting in a move to the much larger St. Michael le Belfrey opposite York Minster. Subsequently the congregation grew to many hundreds, in only a few years. As his ministry progressed, David Watson was involved with missionary enterprises throughout the world and was a high profile advocate of reconciliation and ecumenism in Northern Ireland.

David Watson pioneered modern Christian invovlevment work with the arts, introducing drama and dance into church worship. He met the Vineyard Leader John Wimber in 1980, and was one of the first people to welcome him and the Vinyard ministry to the UK. This encouraged the connection between Wimber and Terry Virgo of Newfrontiers. David left St. Michael-le-Belfrey in 1982 for London.

David Watson died of cancer on 18 February 1984 after recording his fight with the disease in a book, Fear No Evil. John Gunstone remarked of David Watson: "It is doubtful whether any other English Christian leader has had greater influence on this side of the Atlantic since the Second World War."

Shortly before he died David wrote the following:"The most important lesson I have learned in these past eleven months is that God loves me, is always with me - in the dark as in the light - and that I cannot trust him too much. The best is yet to be, once we have put our lives in Christ."

Discipleship is a timely reissue of one of the classic Christian works of modern times. Watson explains what it really means to to 'Take up your cross and follow Jesus'. Watson argues that Western Christians have largely neglected what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Recommended reading for those considering ordination into the Anglican Church.

"Probably the most important and comprehensive book David Watson has ever written." - Church Times.

Christians in the West', claims David Watson, 'have largely neglected what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The vast majority of western Christians are church-members, pew-filler, hymn-singers, sermon-tasters, Bible-readers, even born-again believers or Spirit-filled charismatics, but not true disciples of Jesus.'

'The call to discipleship is a call to God's promised glory. This is not a day in which to play religious games. Time is running out fast.

'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me' - Matthew 16:24