We are sad to announce the death of Enid Barron who passed away earlier this month at the age of 80.
Enid is remembered in the Diocese not only for her long-term commitment to ministry at St Stephen’s Ealing, where she served as a Licensed Lay Minister for many years, but also for her commitment to the treasuring of God’s creation.
As a member of the Diocesan Creation Care Advisory Committee, Enid pushed the Diocese of London to take greater steps towards caring for creation. As a London representative on the General Synod, she pushed the entire Church of England to adopt ambitious environmental targets.
Many will remember this ‘Eco Grannie’ being the clarion call at the 2019 General Synod in London. Enid moved the motion which began the process of calculating the carbon emissions of the CoE, and set in motion a process that would lead to the adoption of the ambition to reach Net Zero Carbon by 2030. The motion was passed 279 – 3 with Enid responding to questions with great passion. The current environment programme of the church of England can truly be said to have Enid as one of its progenitors, and that due to her persistence and passion the entirety of General Synod got behind this call to mission.
Brian Cuthbertson, former Head of Environment and Sustainability for the Diocese, said of Enid:
She was among the pioneers, going back decades, during which time her enthusiasm and commitment never flagged. Her constant theme was to cherish and extol ‘God’s beautiful creation’.
Enid was committed to improving the life of her local community as well as the Church of England. A long term steering group member of ‘Act for Ealing’, she will be remembered for visiting schools and community spaces across Ealing, spreading her love for creation and her local area. She brought to all of this her wisdom and knowledge around environmental issues and her experience of many years working for the civil service. If anyone was known for getting things done, it was Enid.
She brought to every endeavour inside the Church and out a passion and energy that to many seemed boundless. We pray for her husband James, children John and Emma, and grandchildren.
Enid’s funeral service will be at St Stephen’s Church in St Stephen’s Road, W13 on 5 September 2025 at 12pm. The committal will take place at South Ealing Cemetery at 2:00pm and a reception will take place at St Stephen’s from 3pm.