The Revd David Smethurst writes:

THE Revd Howard Bracewell’s ministry began in the diocese of the Arctic in 1963. Having been ordained deacon by the Bishop of Liverpool, a few weeks later he was ordained priest by the Bishop of the Arctic on his arrival in Canada. Here he was to pursue his vocation among the Inuit people living around Hudson Bay. His bishop had no idea when he would see him again.

Howard served in Pond Inlet and Pangnirtung for several years, where he and his wife, Mavis, brought up their three children, Julia, Heather, and Mark, in the most challenging of environments.

Howard’s call to full-time Anglican ministry had coincided with my own. At a valedictory event at St Paul’s, Halliwell, in Bolton, where his father was Vicar, we both made our public commitment to seek ordination. We were just 16.

Howard’s academic path was fraught with problems. He had left school at 15 and worked in a printing company, where he had studied hard to become sufficiently qualified to apply for ordination. He became a student at Tyndale Hall, Bristol, under the Principal, J. Stafford Wright..

Throughout his ministry, Howard never doubted his vocation to serve in the Arctic as a shepherd to the Inuit. Through his life and witness, he pointed his disparate congregations towards the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.

He was once faced with the challenge of describing a Lakeland lamb to his Arctic congregation. Unsurprisingly, they had no such word in their vocabulary, but, typically, Howard settled for a baby seal, and the service continued.

He had a long and fruitful ministry, both abroad and at home. He remained a powerful preacher and a faithful and fearless follower of Jesus.

He fought the good fight to the very end, and will be greatly missed.

The Revd Howard Bracewell died on 26 January, aged 90.