Red Letter Day

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 14:26

noel

A ‘Red Letter Day’ is described as 'a day of special significance' and such a day happened to Barry on the 3rd March 2010 when he had the opportunity to speak to 40 church leaders in the city of Salford, at Elmwood Church.

When Barry walked through the door, one of the first people he spoke to was Noel Proctor, who is the former Prison Chaplain at HMP Strangeways. In Barry’s autobiography ‘Once an Addict’ he tells the story of being greeted by Noel in the prison holding cells. Each time he would offer him an Extra Strong Mint and say, 'there's your anti-swearing tablet for the day!’ He did this with all the inmates. The first time this happened to Barry was when he was 19 years old. When Noel noticed Barry at the Salford leaders’ day, the first thing he did was put his hand in his pocket and pull out his Extra Strong Mints. He put one in Barry’s hand and said, ‘there’s your anti-swearing tablet for the day!’ Of course, this brought back many memories of Noel and his role as a Prison Chaplain and the part he played in Barry becoming a Christian in 1995. Noel was the speaker at the event Barry where made a commitment to Christ.

Before Barry addressed the leaders, he sat and had lunch with Noel and his wife, and they had a good catch up. It was a real ‘Red Letter Day’.

 

< Prev   Next >