The Revd Sister Diana CHN writes:
ROSEMARY HOWARTH was incredibly talented and used her many gifts to serve God and the Church. She was born in Coventry in 1944. Her parents were Strict Baptists and were politically and socially motivated — a great love of hymns and a concern for justice and for a fair world were passed on to Rosemary and remained with her throughout her life.
Rosemary was an only child who loved to read and read and read. She once said that she could read before she could walk: she always had her nose in a book, and there’s no doubt that she preferred reading to walking or any physical activity — neither sport nor exercise was ever on her agenda. In later life, she was diagnosed with dyspraxia.
Rosemary did well at school both academically and musically. Her musical competence (piano, oboe, and recorder) stood her in good stead after she joined the Community. She served as choir mistress for some years and composed many hymns and hymn tunes.
Rosemary went on from Barr’s Hill School, in Coventry, to read Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge. She graduated with a BA in 1966, followed by a PCGE and an MA in 1970. During her Cambridge days, Rosemary began attending the very high Little St Mary’s and so moved “right up the candle” from her Baptist roots. We assume she was confirmed at that time.
Rosemary went on to teach Classics for a few years, before arriving at the Convent of the Holy Name (then in Malvern Link) to test her vocation. She was professed as a Sister 1979 and spent time in branch houses in Newcastle and Basingstoke.
After the CHN moved to Derby in 1990, Rosemary was invited by various dioceses and colleges to help with tutoring, including Bishop’s certificate, New Testament Greek, Reader training, and study days. This is where she really did flourish and was always an excellent teacher. She led retreats and gave spiritual direction. She loved study and theological debate and was way ahead of her time: she embraced feminist theology and championed the LGBT cause (welcoming Changing Attitude groups to the convent) long before they became mainstream in the Church.
Rosemary trained for ordination at Westcott House. She was ordained in 1998 and served her title at St Osmund’s Derby, with Donald McDonald as her training incumbent. They talked long into the night in deep theological discussion. Rosemary then moved to Nottingham, and helped at St Peter’s, in Radford. On returning to the convent in Derby, she was licensed to the rural parishes of Morley and Smalley. She was an enthusiastic member of the Bach Choir in Derby.
Rosemary was once a contestant on the BBC quiz Brain of Britain, but she didn’t win. She had contemplated applying to go on Mastermind, but decided that the cost of the books that she would have needed to buy to research her specialist subjects did not sit happily with her vow of poverty.
Unlike most of us, Rosemary just loved meetings. She represented religious communities on the General Synod for several years; her photograph frequently appeared in the Church Times after a Synod meeting, though she would never have claimed to be photogenic.
Rosemary was a prolific writer of poetry, hymns, a diary column for the Church Times, and songs to celebrate significant birthdays and anniversaries. Her last piece of creative writing was for this summer’s CHN magazine, when she wrote about a visit from Furry Friends to the care home where she was living; she appeared very briefly on Look North, in her wheelchair (supposedly) leading a Shetland pony down the corridor. She had an apt word for every occasion.
A friend from Derby sums it all up: “There she was, off to General Synod with a case crammed full of papers, thorough, a bit pedantic, courageous, courteous . . . on the side of the angels. . . How we need her today. As she prayed in life, so she will pray for us now.”
The Revd Sister Rosemary CHN died on 22 August, aged 78.