Remembering Rev. Gordon Smith

Rev. Gordon Smith was a Quaker minister, worship leader for Newcastle Unitarians, and a long-term Friend of our congregation – among many, many other things! He passed away on 8 December 2025, and his memorial service was held at the Quaker Meeting House in Gosforth on 7 February 2026.

I attended to pass on our condolences to his family and friends, and remember him. Quaker memorials, for those who have not attended them, are similar to Quaker meetings; people attend and wait on the spirit, speaking when they feel the call to do so. Both online and in person, we listened to people’s fond memories of Rev. Smith, who achieved a great deal in his long life. An especially moving part of the service was his granddaughters’ performances of “Danny Boy” and “The Ashokan Farewell.”

Reading on the walls of the Meeting House

Whilst I greatly appreciated Rev. Smith’s services, and his wisdom and good nature whenever we met, I did not know him as well as most of those present. It was moving to hear of all he had done in his life. One person mentioned that he took an interest in Buddhist philosophy and spirituality; I thought immediately of a recent service led by local Buddhist minister Amaradaya, in which he discussed the Buddhist notion of “the illusion of self” (anātman), and the essential interdependence and interconnectedness of all human beings. Can we ever truly know those we interact with, or be truly known ourselves? “Ask not for whom the bell tolls”…

Following the service, we repaired to the downstairs meeting space, where the hosts had outdone themselves with extremely generous refreshments. I met many Quakers and discussed our memories of Rev. Smith, and the possibilities of rekindling the connections between our two congregations. Serendipitously, their most recent newsletter has an article about Unitarianism in the UK. Their next newsletter will have an article about Unitarianism in Newcastle! We hope we may soon be working together more closely.