Crossbeats Bookings

St Benedict's Everton
(21 September 1963)

The mission at St Benedict's was taken by a group of students from Cambridge University (and others), and was lead by Cyril Thomson. One of the students was Paul Dyson who in 2003 (40 years on) is Director of Sixth Form at Canon Slade School in Bolton. Another was Fred Kilner who (in 2003) is vicar of St Mary's, Ely in Cambridgeshire. See below this picture for a little more insight.

Cutting from the Church of England Newspaper about St Benedict's Everton Mission

John Millington, Eddie Boyes, Tony Mathias, Eric Knowles (drums), John Boyes

In May 2004, I received this e-mail from a guy called Bill (no other details).

12 May 2004

I was a choirboy at "St Bens" at the time and I remember having some of the team home to my Mother's house for tea, I remember that it was a great spiritual revival for the church and is something I have never forgotten. Although many years later I am now a member of the Methodist Church, I believe that your mission to Saint Ben's led me to Christ.

God Bless

Bill

In September 2004, I received this (a second) e-mail from Paul Dyson. This is an edited version.

4 September 2004

Dear Eddie

I heard from Fred Kilner who was intrigued to see himself mentioned on your web site and we reminisced a bit about places and people we could remember in Everton. I think Fred would say that the mission was a key experience for him in his decision to go into the ministry. He has served in parishes in Harlow, Cambridge and now Ely, all of which have had considerable growth in his time. We were at the same college, Queens' in Cambridge, became Christians at about the same time and have remained friends throughout - godparents to each others' children etc, though we don't actually manage to meet all that often.

A few more names came back to me; Mike Ryecraft, who I think became a teacher in Manchester - I have met him once or twice at meetings there; Sue ? who was at Oxford and Conrad ? who was my housemate for the week. I think we lodged with a very hospitable older couple in Dunluce Street, which was fairly near Goodison Park. There was an guy called Alan on the team who was local, perhaps the assistant missioner. The team came from various universities around the country under the auspices of IVF (Inter-Varsity Fellowship (as it then was - now UCCF) and there were several similar events, designed I think as a kind of vocational testing ground as well as serving the more immediate purpose of giving a lift to the parish concerned. The vicar of St Benedict's was the Rev Arnold Moon.

(Edited)

I am not much of a modern music appreciator but I guess the Crossbeats were pioneers in the field of Christian pop, which has grown exponentially in the intervening 40 years - so congratulations on being inspired to get the ball rolling!

Best wishes for the growth of your website.

Paul Dyson

If you can help to supply any extra information, please get in touch.