Thomas Baldwin traces the life of the minister who sowed the seeds of Christian Aid as the charity marks its 80th anniversary.

IN the immediate aftermath of World War II, requests for help for German people could receive short shrift from the allies.

That was certainly the case when the Rev Douglas Lister, a Church of Scotland minister serving as an Army chaplain in Lüneberg, north Germany, requested help for 80,000 refugees sheltering in desperate, freezing conditions nearby.

When the British army refused to help, Lister went to the war-weary British people, writing to churches across the country – and they responded, sending blankets, food and other necessities.

From that initial appeal grew the InterChurch Aid and Refugee Service, which later morphed into Christian Aid.

As the charity celebrates and commemorates its 80th anniversary this year, Lister’s story will be remembered at the two churches he served after leaving the military: St Andrew’s Church, Inverurie, where he ministered from 1957 to 1967, and Largo Parish Church in Fife, where he stayed until retirement in 1988.

Stuart Watson was a teenager at Inverurie when Douglas arrived, and remembers a quiet man who never talked about his wartime experiences. “I liked him very much,” he says. “He was great friends with my father and mother, and often came to visit and fitted in very well.

“He started the fundraising that renovated the church, which hadn’t seen any renovations since the day it was built. And what he started is more or less the building you see today.

“He never talked about (the war). He never preached about it. He was a really decent chap, a good minister and we were very sorry to lose him.”

The Very Rev Dr Russell Barr is the locum minister at Largo. “All the older members remember him,” he says. “He was a very well-liked minister.

“It would be fair to say that the memory of his connection with Christian Aid has faded, but with the anniversary it has brought it back to the surface again. People are interested to learn, but also very proud of him and the Christian Aid connection.

“And locally it has helped people to lift their eyes, to lift their horizons, to see the wider world. That has been very important in my role as locum: people have been a wee bit heads down, and worried about presbytery planning and all that stuff, and being able to lift our eyes and see the difference that even a small congregation like Largo can make has lifted people’s spirits.”

As part of the anniversary celebrations, churches are being invited to plant a tree to mark their support for Christian Aid (trees are available for free from the Woodland Trust, but with a minimum order of six).

“ From that initial appeal grew the Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Service, which later morphed into Christian Aid.

It is also hoped that services will be held at both Largo and Inverurie in May, with a Faithshare partner to share the impact that Christian Aid’s supporters have had.

“One of the things we are wanting to say is ‘thank you’ to everyone,” says Val Brown, head of Christian Aid Scotland. “When you look at what Christian Aid has been able to do over the last 80 years, and that it couldn’t have been done without the support of churches, nationally and locally and the volunteers on the ground. You should be very proud – and it was Douglas Lister and the Scottish churches who were so instrumental in starting it.” ¤