Introduction

This is one of two volumes which collect the articles of ministry by our brother Jim Gray that were first published in two magazines, A Word in its Season and Notes of Ministry. Ministry published in periodicals becomes less available than what is issued in books, and I – and a few others - am concerned that some of this wealth of material should be available to different generations, some of whom would not ever have had copies of the magazines.

James Duncan Gray was born in 1931 and brought up in Ayrshire, Scotland, gathering with the brethren in Saltcoats. He married in 1956 and lived in Detroit for two years while completing a chemistry research assignment. He remembered this time as one of much personal spiritual formation. Returning to Scotland in 1958, he was local first in Musselburgh, and then the Edinburgh area for the remainder of his life.

Our brother came to the Lord as a young boy of seven years old, and was unwavering in his faithfulness to the Lord in spite of much personal bereavement throughout his life. He said that one of the things he treasured most was having a place in the body of Christ. From the age of fourteen, he fulfilled a life-long committal to remember the Lord Jesus in breaking bread, until illness prevented this at the end of his life. One of his favourite sayings was ‘the first principle of the kingdom is righteousness’, and he held this fundamental aspect of Christianity with an integrity that bore a testimony to both believers and unbelieving work colleagues. He died in June 2017 after a few years of physical illness.

Jim Gray served the Lord in a priestly way in his local meeting and in teaching there and widely among the brethren, with a gift for being able to touch on the essence of matters; for which he had ready recourse to the scriptures. I remember appreciating his ministry for the clarity and freshness of the teaching given. The articles used here also show how free he was with practical exhortation. I trust others who are now able to read this selection will profit from it for the glory of the Lord.

ANDREW BURR

2023