This week we get to learn more about Christopher Ash, author of Discovering the Joy of a Clear Conscience.

• Tell us a little bit about yourself: where you’re from, family, job, personal interests, unique hobbies, what do you do in your spare time, etc.

I was born and brought up in London, England. My mum and dad still live in the house in London where we moved when I was seven. My dad landed with the first wave of Allied troops on D-Day and is still alive (nearly 95). When I was 17 I came to faith in Christ through a friend at school who invited me on a Christian summer houseparty; I am so grateful to the leaders there for their faithful teaching and prayers, and the way they modeled Christlike love.

Carolyn and I married in 1982 and have been entrusted with three sons, a daughter, two daughters-in-law, and two grandsons. We thank God for them all. We used to have a very dim but lovable dog called Perkins (named after the Elizabethan Puritan), but he has now gone to wherever dogs go.

After studying Engineering at University, I worked briefly for a telecoms company before moving into school teaching, where I taught math for twelve years, in Dorset (SW England) and Edinburgh (at the school where James Bond was supposed to have gone, according to the books!). Then I trained for ordained ministry and served as an assistant minister at a church called St.Andrew the Great in Cambridge, under a fine pastor called Mark Ashton. That fellowship sent us off in 1997 to lead a kind of church plant to a nearby village, so I was the Rector of All Saints, Little Shelford, until 2004, when David Jackman asked me to move to London to pick up responsibility for the Proclamation Trust’s Cornhill Training Course. I have been serving there for the past ten years. I miss local church pastoral leadership, but it is a tremendous privilege to serve our students and to watch and pray as so many of them go on to bible teaching and preaching service of the Lord Jesus afterwards.

 

• What inspired you to write this book, about this topic?

I was preaching through Romans 14 and 15. Although the word “conscience” is not used in those chapters, the idea of conscience is very prominent. I was grabbed by the strange idea that an action may be at the same time right and wrong: that is, even if it is actually ok, if I think it is wrong to do it, then for me it is wrong! This intrigued me. But when I tried to read around the subject, I found that since Puritan days very few reformed evangelicals have written much about it. So I thought I would have a go, and here it is. It is a really practical and inspiring subject.

 

• Do you have a specific spot that you enjoy writing most?

God has been very kind to us, and we own a house on the Gower Peninsular in South Wales, where we escape and I write wherever I can. It is close to the sea and hills, with lovely coastal walks. Very quiet. The polar opposite of central London, where we live during Cornhill term-time. I particularly enjoy swimming in the sea, which is pretty bracing. I took some dips this year in March and my family think my head needs seeing to.

 

• Other than the Bible, do you have a favorite book?

I realize it’s not very original, but I do hugely enjoy The Lord of the Rings. I read it to our sons when they were young, and then read it again to our daughter when she was old enough. I am now reading it to Carolyn at bedtime. Good though the films are, the books are much better – beautifully written and soaked in truth, wonder, and grace.

 

• Do you have a favorite movie? What is it and why?

I love Sabrina Fair, partly because of nostalgia for old black and white films, partly because Audrey Hepburn is so marvelous with Bogart, and partly because the timing and humour is so good. (Far better than the Harrison Ford remake!)

 

• What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Don’t – if your motive is to become well-known or respected

Don’t – unless you really are burning to say something you think justifies adding another book to over-full Christian shelves.

Do – if you can set aside time to do thorough study and preparation and really contribute something that other books do not

Do – if others encourage you that you can write decent English and communicate engagingly and clearly. This is not the same as being able to speak in public.

 

• Do you have a favorite sport?

Yes, I love tennis. I used to play a fair bit, although living in central London I am not able to play now, which is sad. In my teens and early 20s I used to queue and stand to watch both finals days at Wimbledon for five years running. In my view the greatest tennis player ever was Rod Laver; I remember watching him on No.1 Court with my dad.

 

• Do you support a sports team?

Yes, Swansea City Football Club, the first Welsh side to reach the English Premiership. Hoping not to be relegated this season.

 

• What famous person (living or dead) would you like to meet and why?

Winston Churchill. I was born on his birthday when he was Prime Minister; an uncle of mine was a Member of Parliament and persuaded him to autograph a book for me. I bore my family with Churchill stuff. But he was a great man.

 

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Interested in learning more about Christopher Ash and his work? Visit www.proctrust.org.uk.

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