David Fountain 1929 - 2004
Memorial article by Harry Waite, to be published in Grace Magazine
It
is a signal honour to be asked to give a testimony to
an exceptional man of God. He was dearly loved by his wife Frances, his
stalwart children and his
grand-children, the Pastor and church in Southampton, and by all who had
fellowship with him down many years.
On
4 July, around 4pm, this faithful, devoted servant of Christ
slipped quietly and easily into the seen presence of the Lord. He was 74 years
of age. So was the great hymn writer, also of Southampton, Isaac Watts. David greatly
admired him and wrote a biography of him. The first hymn of his thanksgiving
service was 'When I survey the wondrous Cross'.
It
so happened that I was preaching that Sunday in Spring Road Evangelical Church. I was invited to have tea
with David and Frances. The arrangement was that I was to let myself into their
house and sit in the lounge. Just before 4pm David came and stood
quietly in the doorway. I was struck by his serene countenance and radiant
smile. He said that he would be down in a
minute. He went upstairs, lay down on his bed and went home to glory and to
Christ. He passed suddenly out of this earthly scene with a seraphic smile on
his face.
Frances soon came into the house
and we met on the stairs. I put my arms round her and told her that her beloved
husband had gone to be with the Lord. She was convulsed with tears and then
suddenly said with brightness, 'David is free from all his sufferings and is
now with Christ'. She was overwhelmed with joy at the considerate way that God
had called him into heaven and home. Frances expressed her determination
to attend the evening service, saying that David would want her to do that.
David
had been for 12 long years stricken with that debilitating disease ME. I have
never known such loving and tender devotion as that which Francis constantly,
sacrificially and lovingly showed to her afflicted husband. What an unconscious
and prolonged ministry that was, and so unstinting, having only the wellbeing
of David on her heart. He himself declared that he could not have endured his
privations had it not been for the loving devotion of Frances.
Throughout
his 37 years as a faithful and fruitful Minister of Spring Road, David Fountain
maintained a staunch adherence to the inerrant Word of God. It cost him dear at
times but he did not waver in his noble stand for truth and righteousness. When
he was, for those 12 years, largely taken out of circulation he earnestly and
graciously continued to argue for separation from all compromise and confusion
within evangelicalism.
The
conversations I was privileged to have with David - often brief because of his
weakness - were both challenging, stimulating and
edifying. David Fountain dared to be a Daniel; dared to stand alone; dared to
have a purpose firm and dared to make it known.
David
Fountain was born in Dulwich, South London, on 27 September1929. He
graduated and had an MA at Oxford University. He wrote several valuable
books, and he was a strong influence for the purity of the gospel of Christ
crucified all his life. His Thanksgiving Service was triumphal and the sense of
the presence of God was real and precious. David's eldest son Andrew, speaking
for the whole family, gave a most thrilling
and moving account of his father's gracious and fruitful life and ministry. The
whole family loved him dearly. Pastor Mark Stocker also made a wonderful
tribute to David, as his helper and mentor behind the scenes.
We
continue to uphold Frances and the family in these days where both gratitude
and sorrow remain.
My covenant was with him of
life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and
was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was
not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many
away from iniquity (Malachi 2:5-6, AV).
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