Canon Mavis Wilson writes:

THE Revd Barbara Winifred Clement, who died on 14 April, aged 93, was a pioneer of women's ministry, and an obedient servant of God. Her call had come at confirmation, at 16, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and sensed God's near presence. She knelt down and prayed: "You show me what to do, and I will do it." Service as a missionary was her first desire.

She was proud of her education at Haberdashers' Aske's Girls School, but family finances required her to start work at 18, as a secretary with the Great Western Railway. Undeterred, she studied, read, and prayed. But it was not to be. A long period of illness, and many medicals with the CMS doctor, determined that she would never be fit enough to serve abroad.

A priest-friend encouraged her by saying "There are more heathen here than in Africa." So began a journey of ministry in the Church of England: 13 years of waiting were resolved in eight months. She was selected for training as a parish worker, and awarded £25 towards the cost of her course, provided that she agreed to work in London for two years after training. She had saved up the remaining £175 needed. Sadly, her father did not approve of these plans, and, before the selection conference, had told her that, if accepted, she need not come home again. She started training at Gilmore House, Battersea, and, much later, her father was reconciled to her calling.

Her family moved to Mytchett in 1950, and during college holidays she helped the vicar at Frimley Green. On completing her course, she was interviewed by the head of the Air Force, who wanted a female chaplain. Qualifications needed were to be able to dance and smoke - she qualified - but the head deaconess suggested she look at a parish for comparison, and Barbara felt deeply drawn to St Peter's, Paddington. She started work there as a parish worker in 1951.

She saw life in the raw. The church was huge, and her work included the hospital chaplaincy, where one ward had the mentally ill in cages, and another had prostitutes, who generally died in about three days. After nine months, her vicar became ill and vanished. The churchwarden, who lived outside the parish, encouraged her to take on a wide range of clerical duties, including baptisms and burials, illegal at the time. She did them.

Christmas 1952 brought more changes. Her mother was ill, and she was needed at home. Laurie Pain, Vicar of Frimley Green, had visited Barbara, bringing toys for the children of Paddington, and asked her to be his parish worker. She had to work out her two years with London diocese, and Frimley Green had to raise money to pay her. She moved home, and, not having enough money to buy a car, acquired a Royal Enfield motorbike for £30 from army surplus, which really impressed the boys from the youth group.

Barbara had always said that she would not be a deaconess. She hated the uniform of black straw hat with white ribbons. But she was persuaded that she should be admitted, and so returned to Gilmore House in January 1956, for two terms followed by a month's silent retreat. Bishop Ivor Watkins did not approve of women in ministry, and getting Barbara admitted was a real battle; but it happened in October 1956, thanks to the efforts of Glenys Lewis, the head deaconess, whose health was so affected by the struggle that she had to resign, and went to New Zealand, where she was later ordained priest ten years before it happened in England.

Barbara loved Frimley Green, but after ten years Laurie Smith moved on; the new vicar was not pro women, put her out of her place in the choir stalls, and made her sit at the back of church. Others valued her much more highly, and she was asked to take charge of the Deaconess House at Hindhead. Under her leadership and management, the place thrived. Never daunted by lack of money, plumbing failures, or droves of unexpected guests, she organised retreats, hosted outings, ran quiet days, and, although few knew it, created a haven for Bishop David Brown and his wife when they arrived in Guildford.

She left Hindhead in March 1974, after her father died, in order to care for her mother. She needed a job, and Archdeacon John Evans asked her to set up a chaplaincy for six months at the newly opened Frimley Park Hospital, "until they could find a man to do it". Meanwhile, Barbara, whose health had never been robust, was in hospital herself for removal of a kidney, and suffered a heart attack. She had a near-death experience of God. The reading for the day had been Peter's deliverance from prison, and all the doors opening. She felt something like that was happening for her. In the event, she was chaplain at Frimley Park for 13 years. A man had been found to take her place, but he lasted only six weeks, finding the job too hard; so Barbara continued to do it until 1987.

During this time, she was licensed to St Peter's, Frimley, and from 1974 was also on the Bishop's staff as Adviser in Women's Ministry. She exercised a wonderful pastoral care of all the women, and faithfully prayed and kept in touch with us all, sending birthday or anniversary cards. Her postbag was enormous. She officially retired in 1982, from both chaplaincy and the Bishop's staff. In 1987, she was made deacon, with all the other deaconesses in Guildford diocese. She was definitely our inspiration, mentor, and guide, and kept us in order.

In 1994, when at last women were ordained priests, the Bishop was keen to ordain her as well as a mark of her unique pioneering ministry. Her response was characteristically forthright and firm: "Thank you, Bishop; as I shall not be doing the job, I do not need the badge."

Well into retirement, she was regular at morning prayer, and always there on Sunday at 8 am, long before the rest of the congregation. Despite fragile health, she would sometimes come to the altar to serve, and administer communion. She was a quiet, reliable presence, and no act of service was too small for her to undertake.

As her health declined, she was no longer able to come to church, and, on Monday mornings at 8.15, I had the joy of taking her communion. Barbara, always an early riser, would have the table set with a clean cloth, and the Bible ready. At the end, we would often sit for several minutes in silence, and at those times there was a deep sense of the presence of God in her room. I would leave knowing that she had simply ministered to me through her willingness to receive.

I am so glad we shared some of our journey together. She was an indomitable advocate for women in ministry, and prayed faithfully for us. She would have loved to see the first women bishops consecrated.