R Guy Ramsay

Reverend Robert Guy Ramsay (1895–1976) was a twentieth-century Scottish Baptist minister and author, most closely associated with Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, Scotland. Rev Guy Ramsay was President of the Baptist Union of Scotland during the late 1940s.

Rev R Guy Ramsay
BornAugust 14, 1895
Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland
DiedJuly 12, 1976
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation(s)Baptist Minister, Author
Known forHillhead Baptist Church
SpouseElizabeth Gertrude Campbell (1885-1980)
ChildrenFlorence (born and died, 1923)
Thomas (born 1923)
Eric (born 1927)
Robert (born 1935)
Parent(s)Thomas Ramsay
Jane Easedale Guy

Early life

Robert Guy Ramsay was born in Maybole, Ayrshire, in south-west Scotland in 1895. His father was the Baptist lay preacher and industrialist Thomas Ramsay, associated with establishing Maybole Baptist Church, where he served as pastor from 1901 to 1919.[1][2][3] The family had historical roots in Ayrshire. Robert Guy Ramsay's uncle, James Ramsay, was provost of Maybole during the 1910s.[4]

He attended High School of Glasgow, Glasgow University, and following war service, the Baptist Theological College of Scotland (1918–22), all located in Glasgow, Scotland.[5]

Career

Great War service (1915-1917)

During the Great War, Robert Guy Ramsay was commissioned into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), in 1915, through the Inns of Court regiment in London, and served as Lieutenant in France.[6][7] He was invalided from the regiment on medical grounds in 1917.[8]

Baptist minister (1918-1970)

Following his Great War service, Rev R Guy Ramsay held seven consecutive Baptist pastorates spanning half-a-century. While studying at the Baptist Theological College of Scotland (1918-1922) Rev Guy Ramsay was elected a student pastor to Kirkintilloch Baptist Church, with a congregation numbering 200.[9][10] After completing his theological college accreditations, in 1922, Rev Guy Ramsay made a preaching tour of the United States and Canada,[11] after which he accepted a full pastorate to Dunfermline West Baptist Church in the east of Scotland.[12] In the 1930s, after two more ministries in England, he was appointed by Horfield Baptist Church, then one of the largest churches in the United Kingdom, with a congregation exceeding a thousand.[13]

During the Second World War, Rev Guy Ramsay provided ministry during the Blitz aerial bombing of London, including Church services and support to London-based families in north London. This included, for example, services for young children at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in the summer of 1942.[14][15] He later wrote of surviving the Blitz, "When the German bombers were roaring over London, one had occasionally a strange kind of feeling that they were after you personally. But it was a fleeting ephemeral mood, dispelled each morning by the rising sun.”[16]

Rev Guy Ramsay returned to Scotland in 1943, accepting the pastorate of Hillhead Baptist Church in 1943, his seventh and final ministry, where he served for nearly three decades.[17] As one highlight of his ministry, in 1955, members of Hillhead Baptist Church facilitated contact between visiting New Zealand clergyman Lloyd Crawford and the American evangelist Billy Graham. This led to Billy Graham visiting New Zealand in the 1950s.[18] Graham was in Glasgow for a six-week visit, stressing spiritual and euphoric aspects of evangelism. This received mixed views from Scottish Baptist ministers more focused on practical interpretations and guidance.[19]

The complete list of Rev Guy Ramsay's ministries were:

  • 1918-1922: Kirkintilloch Baptist Church, Dunbartonshire, Scotland (concurrent with studies at Baptist Theological College of Scotland)
  • 1922-1924: West Baptist Church, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
  • 1924-1930: Accrington Baptist Church, Lancashire, England
  • 1930-1936: Letchworth Baptist Church, Hertfordshire, England
  • 1936-1939: Horfield Baptist Church, Bristol, England
  • 1939-1943: Ferme Park Baptist Church, Hornsey, London
  • 1943–1970, his retirement: Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, Scotland

President of the Baptist Union of Scotland (1948-1949)

Rev Guy Ramsay was elected president in 1948, thirty years into his ministry. His commencement address, delivered in Aberdeen, stressed the importance of reducing Church divisions. He was the fourth minister from Hillhead Baptist Church to be president of the Baptist Union of Scotland.[20] Rev Guy Ramsay's father, Thomas Ramsay, of Maybole Baptist Church, was a past President of the Baptist Union of Scotland in the 1920s.[21][22][23] Shortly after assuming the presidency, Rev Guy Ramsay marked the golden jubilee (fifty year anniversary) of Dundee Baptist Church in 1948.[24]

Rev Guy Ramsay retained active interest in the Scottish Baptist community as a result of the presidency. In 1950, for example, he spoke at the Baptist Missionary Society, in Stirling;[25] in 1952 he inducted new Baptist ministers in Aberdeen;[26] in 1952, he opened the Christian Youth Assembly in Glasgow;[27] in 1954 he spoke at Dundee Christian Conference[28] and provided Christian service to the Glasgow Boys' Brigade.[29]

Plaque commemorating Rev R Guy Ramsay at Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, Scotland

During the 1950s, he continued a theme from his presidency, warnIng against the decline in church numbers and rise of secularism within Scotland and around the world.[30][31] He sought greater unity among religious denominations, and stressed: “We use the same Bible. We sing the same hymns, and we hold the same fundamental doctrines of the faith. Religious competitive enterprise should be left behind.”[32]


Writing Rev Guy Ramsay published three books, all with Christian themes and connected to his preaching.

  • Since the World Began: Studies in Genesis (1927).[33]
  • Christ's portrait of a Christian: A series of studies on 'The Sermon on the Mount (1947). The book is based on twelve sermons.[34]
  • The Lord's Prayer in Modern Life (1950s), Kingsgate Press

Rev Guy Ramsay also featured in two compilations on preaching methods during the 1950s:

  • "My Way of Preaching” (1953).[35]
  • "The Sacramental Table. A series of addresses by representative Scots preachers" (1955). Rev Guy Ramsay, chapter 13, "Participating in the body of Christ",[36]

He also made various written submissions in Baptist literature during the 1930s-1950s, such as The Baptist Quarterly.[37][38][39][40]

Personal life

Robert Guy Ramsay was born in 1895 at Lilybank House, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. This house was later gifted, in 1919, as a manse to Maybole Baptist Church, in gratitude for his surviving the Great War. He married Gertrude Elizabeth Campbell, in 1921, with whom he had one daughter and three sons, two of whom attended Taunton School.[41] The daughter died in infancy. He was survived by Gertrude, who died in 1980.

Death

He died in Glasgow in 1976. Hillhead Baptist Church raised a memorial plaque within the church commemorating his life's service. It ends: "Preacher, Pastor, Scholar."

References
  1. Yuille, George (2005). History of the Baptists in Scotland (From Pre-Reformation Times) (PDF). Arkansas, USA: The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc. pp. 223–224. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2016. In November, 1898, evangelistic services [in Maybole] were conducted by Mr. Thomas Ramsay in the Methodist Chapel, which had just closed...[Maybole Baptist Church] was admitted into the Union in October, 1901, at the Session held in Paisley. Mr. Thomas Ramsay was the first Pastor, and continued until 1919.
  2. Yuille, George (2005). History of the Baptists in Scotland (From Pre-Reformation Times) (PDF). Arkansas, USA: The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc. p. 224. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2016. Office-bearers were appointed as follows: Pastor, Thomas Ramsay; Secretary, H.B. M'Fadyen; Treasurer, Thomas Ramsay; Deacons — Messrs Moses M'Millan, William Fisher, and Richard M'Clymont, and a little later Mr. John Jackson came from Victoria Place Church, Glasgow, and joined the diaconate.
  3. Gray, James T (1972). "12". Maybole, Carrick's Capital Facts, Fiction & Folks. Ayr, Scotland: Alloway Publishing. It was built, mainly through the efforts of Pastor Ramsay, to replace the former meeting place of the Baptist congregation which was a hall in Abbot Street near the Old Cemetery and which is now used by the Roman Catholics as a recreation hall.
  4. "Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation". Alexander Fraser (1909), Philosophical Position of Alexander Fraser. 1920. KIRKMICHAEL—KIRKOSWALD He married 12th Aug. 1913, Margaret Orr, daughter of James Ramsay, Provost of Maybole/and had issue — Jean Ramsay, born 26th Nov. 1914.
  5. "New Dunfermline Minister. Rev Robert Guy Ramsay, Kirkintilloch Inducted". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 3 July 1922. Educated at Glasgow High School, Glasgow University, and the Baptist Theological College of Scotland, the new minister served with the combatant forces during the war. He received a commission in the 7th Scottish Rifles subsequent to training in the Inns of Court OTC, and with his regiment he saw service on the western battlefields. In 1917 he received his discharge on medical grounds. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. "The Rev Robert Guy Ramsay of Letchworth". Western Daily Press. 6 January 1936. He enlisted in 1914 and served two years in England saw service in France with the rank of lieutenant {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. "New Minister For Dunfermline". Dundee Courier. 27 March 1922. The new minister [Robert Guy Ramsay] was trained in the Baptist Theological College of Scotland and is a graduate of Glasgow University where he distinguished himself by securing high honours in his classes. During the War Mr Ramsay held a commission in the Scottish Rifles, and served for a considerable time in France. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. "Dunfermline Minister for Accrington - Forsook Classroom for the Barrack Room". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 29 April 1924. A native of Ayrshire, the Rev G Ramsay was educated at Glasgow High School and at the Baptist Theological College of Scotland. He was one of those who on the outbreak of war forsook a classroom for the barrack room. After training with the OTC he received a commission in the Scottish Rifles, and led the regiment in France. Being invalided home, he received his discharge in 1917. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. "Notices". The Scotsman. 7 May 1918. KIRKINTILLOCH BAPTIST CHURCH. Mr Robert G Ramsay, son of the Rev Thos Ramsay, Baptist Church, Maybole, has entered upon the ministry of Kirkintilloch Baptist Church, in succession to Rev Joseph Burns, who has gone to Edinburgh. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  10. "Dunfermline Minister for Accrington". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 29 April 1924. While still a student his services as a preacher were in great demand and in 1918 a church in Kirkintilloch unanimously elected him to the pastorate. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. "New Dunfermline Minister. Rev Robert Guy Ramsay, Kirkintilloch Inducted". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 3 July 1922. Mr Ramsay has just returned from a very successful two months preaching tour in the United States and Canada. . {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  12. "Appointments". Fife Free Press & Kirkcaldy Guardian. 1 April 1922. Robert Guy Ramsay, Kirkintilloch, has accepted a unanimous call from the members of Dunfermline West Baptist Church. . {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. "The Rev Robert Guy Ramsay of Letchworth". Western Daily Press. 6 January 1936. Horfield Baptist Church is one of the largest in the Baptist denomination and has a membership of 1,100 {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  14. "Sunday School Anniversary". Burnley Express. 23 May 1942. Sunday School Anniversary, Preacher Rev Robert Guy Ramsay MA, Ferme Park Baptist Church, London {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  15. "Ebenezer SS Anniversary". Burnley Express. 3 June 1942. There were large congregations at all three services at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Colne Road, on Sunday when the Sunday school anniversary was held. The special preacher was the Rev. Robert Guy Ramsay, MA, of Ferme Park Baptist Church, London, whose addresses were greatly appreciated {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  16. Guy Ramsay, Rev Robert (1947). Christ's Portrait of a Christian. Stirling: Stirling Tract Enterprise. p. 37.
  17. "Appointments". Scotsman. 15 November 1943. The Rev Robert Guy Ramsay, Ferme Park Baptist Church, Hornsey, London, has accepted a call to Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  18. Crawford, Bryan (2009). Letters my Grandfather wrote me. Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Author House. pp. 73–74. He [Lloyd Crawford] was met at the wharf [on the River Clyde] by the Secretary of the Hillhead Baptist Church who took him to his home for a weeks stay… [and]… a few days later Lloyd preached at the Hillhead Baptist Church before a congregation of about 600 people, and there had discussions with Billy Graham which were instrumental in Bily's later visit to New Zealand.
  19. Roxburgh, Kenneth B E (2013). Fundamentalism in Scotland (Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in the United Kingdom during the Twentieth Century (Eds: David Bebbington & David Ceri Jones) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 285. The six week mission that Graham conducted in Glasgow in 1955 demonstrated a unique ecumenical approach to evangelism, but it also revealed deep divisions within Christianity in Scotland... [some viewed] Graham's fundamentalist stance on the Bible was unacceptable in the modern world, fostering an escapism from Christian responsibilities.
  20. "Baptist Union New President". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 19 October 1948. It was disastrous that the Church was divided denominationally, said the Rev R Guy Ramsay, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow in his presidential address in Aberdeen last night to the annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of Scotland… Mr Ramsay recalled that his father had been president of the Baptist Union of Scotland 27 years ago, and that he was the fourth minister of Hillhead Baptist Church to hold that office. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  21. The Baptist Missionary Society, 130th Annual Report (1921-22). London: The Baptist Missionary Society. 1921. p. 74. Mr Thomas Ramsay of Maybole Baptist Church was elected President in 1921
  22. "Scottish Baptist Union Annual Assembly (1921)". Aberdeen Journal. 18 October 1921. At the annual Assembly of the Baptist Union, Thomas Ramsay, Maybole, was initiated president. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  23. "New Minister For Dunfermline". Dundee Courier. 27 March 1922. He is a son of the honoured President of the Baptist Union of Scotland {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  24. "Pulpit and Pew - Dundee Church's Jubilee Celebration". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 11 December 1948. The president of the Baptist Union of Scotland, Rev R. Guy Ramsay, of Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, will preach forenoon and evening… {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  25. "Baptist Missionary Society, Missionary Exhibition, in the Albert Halls, Stirling". Falkirk Herald. 23 September 1950. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  26. "Church Notices". Aberdeen Evening Express. 13 December 1952. Crown Terrace Baptist Church - Induction of the Rev G J M PEARCE. Service conducted by the Rev R GUY RAMSAY MA {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  27. "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 18 February 1952. It was rather tragic to realize that the great majority of people could only find a thrill and adventure in life during war, the Rev R Guy Ramsay, Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow, told 900 delegates and observers at the opening session of the fourth annual Christian Youth Assembly, held at the ween-end in the Assembly Hall, Edinburgh… Mr Ramsay sad that more than ever the Church had to learn to present the Christian faith as a call to a life of movement and adventure. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  28. "Dundee Christian Conference". Dundee Courier. 22 September 1954. Speaker: Rev Dr R Guy Ramsay, Hillhead, Glasgow {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  29. "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 26 April 1954. More than 9000 members of the Glasgow Battalion, the Boys' Brigade, took part yesterday in church parades in the city… The service was conducted by the Rev Dr R Guy Ramsay, minister of Hillhead Baptist Church and chaplain to the 76th Glasgow Company, Boys' Brigade {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  30. "Induction of New Ministers". Aberdeen Evening Express. 15 December 1952. preaching at the induction of the Rev G J M Pearch to the Crown Terrace Baptist Church, Aberdeen, yesterday the Rev R Guy Ramsay, Glashow, gave a reason for the falling off in Church attendance. In the olden days, said Mr Ramsay, the Church was a social centre - the only alternative to a life of boredom. Nowadays, people had ample leisure and entertainment. The Church, he said, could not compete with the social life the world, but people who went to Church today went to satisfy their religious need. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  31. "Hillhead Baptist Church". Glasgow Herald (Newspaper). 5 January 1955. Dr R Guy Ramsay, lecturer at the Baptist Theological College of Scotland and minister of Hillhead Baptist Church, said in Glasgow yesterday that there was an ebb-tide in religion in the present day, but he believed strongly that the tide was about to turn. Dr Ramsay, who was speaking at a luncheon of the Glasgow Rotary Club, said that a number of forces had been at work to help create this ebb-tide. Led by Charles Darwin, the scientists had discovered more and more about some of the methods by which nature did her work. Some of them had concluded from their discoveries that God and religion were now redundant. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  32. "Cooperation of Denominations. Need for Closing of Ranks". The Scotsman. 24 May 1950. He added, 'On the threat of Communism, he pointed out that it was not for the Christian Church to declare that religion would be destroyed under any particular economic system, or even under any particular tyranny, for that had never happened in the past {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  33. Guy Ramsay, Rev Robert (1927). Since the World Began: Studies in Genesis.
  34. Guy Ramsay, Rev Robert (1947). Christ's Portrait of a Christian. Stirling: Stirling Tract Enterprise. OCLC 25120783.
  35. Smithson, Robert J, ed. (1953). My Way of Preaching. London & Glasgow: Pickering & Inglis Ltd.
  36. Jeffrey (1881-1961), George Johnstone (1955). The Sacramental Table. A series of addresses by representative Scots preachers. (Preface by George M. Docherty.). New York: Harper & Brothers. Chapter 13. Participating in the body and blood of Christ, R. Guy Ramsay
  37. "The Rev Robert Guy Ramsay of Letchworth". Western Daily Press. 6 January 1936. He has published a book of devotional addresses and his sermons have appeared in the 'Christian World' pulpit while he has also contributed occasional articles to 'The Baptist Times' and other papers. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  38. Ramsay, R. Guy (1938). "The Means of Grace: A Personal Confession by Rev R Guy Ramsay". Baptist Quarterly. 9 (4): 212–218. doi:10.1080/0005576X.1938.11750471. After a few years of practical experiment in the direction of Church Union, I am being forced to the conclusion that denominatiionalism in some form or other is inevitable. It has its roots in Psychology.
  39. Ramsay, R. Guy (1927). "Prayer in the Life and Teaching of Jesus by Rev R Guy Ramsay". Baptist Quarterly. 3 (5): 193–199. doi:10.1080/0005576X.1927.11750081. One of the very obvious facts revealed by the Gospels is that Jesus frequently prayed. This is a fact worth observing. For while we have few records of what Jesus actually said in prayer, the fact He engaged in it is an indication of the value He attached to it.
  40. Ramsay, R. Guy (1925). "A Subjective Faith—Its Methods and Consequences by Rev R Guy Ramsay". Baptist Quarterly. 2 (5): 212–216. doi:10.1080/0005576X.1925.11750022. For the theological superstructures which have been built upon this one foundation are legion.
  41. "The Rev Robert Guy Ramsay of Letchworth". Western Daily Press. 6 January 1936. He is married and has three sons, two of whom are being educated at Taunton School. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
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