Family tree Servaes, Maastricht/Venlo/Straelen/Neuss/Düsseldorf » John Philip McMurdo Sweet (1927-2009)

Personal data John Philip McMurdo Sweet 

• He was born on June 10, 1927 in Ootacamund, India.
• Fact: (vermelding) starting 1954 New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957.Source 1

  Name:John P M Sweet
  Event Type:Immigration
  Event Date:1954
  Event Place:New York City, New York, United States
  Gender:
  Age:
  Birth Year (Estimated):
  Birthplace:Britain
  Ship Name:Queen Elizabeth
  Affiliate Publication Number:T715
  Affiliate Publication Title:Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, 1897-1957
  Affiliate Film Number:8486
  GS Film Number:002321932
  Digital Folder Number:007265854
  Image Number:00436
  
  Citing this Record:
  "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H48-MGM : 3 October 2015), John P M Sweet, 1954; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• He died on July 2, 2009 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, he was 82 years old.

  Obituary - The Independent, 6 August 2009
  John Sweet: Biblical scholar and educator who taught a raft of Church leaders
  
  John Sweet was a faithful priest and academic, full of compassion, wisdom and care. In his death, the world has lost someone irreplaceable.
  
  For 36 years, the Revd Canon John Philip McMurdo Sweet gave unstintingly of his time and energy, his scholarship, wisdom and his pastoral gifts to teaching and caring for his students both at Selwyn and at other Colleges in Cambridge.
  
  Born in Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu, Dr Sweet's childhood was spent in India, where his father served in the Imperial Forestry Service. Educated at Eton, he won a scholarship to New College, Oxford, where he got a first in theology, in spite of a two-year interruption for national service, for which he was commissioned in the Royal Green Jackets.
  
  He then spent a year at Yale Divinity School as Commonwealth Fellow, before returning for ordination training at Westcott House, Cambridge. Ordained in 1955, he served as curate at St Mark's in Mansfield before returning to Cambridge as Fellow and chaplain at Selwyn College and a lecturer in theology. Here he spent the remainder of his working life, before retiring to the College he loved where students and staff, past and present, loved him dearly.
  
  Dr Sweet was always gracious and generous in his criticism of his students' work. In a supervision class with a fellow student who'd rushed his essay, Sweet said, "This is a very wobbly piece of work. It could do with more attention to the text." In my case, arriving as a young lawyer from Uganda, he commented: "You must not treat the examiner as a jury to be convinced."
  
  He was always concerned about the body, mind and spirit of his students. He was a kind and caring tutor who always had our welfare very much at heart. Many treasure the memory, especially, of the wonderful Sunday lunches he and his family hosted for cash-strapped and hungry graduates and undergraduates. And in tutorials, the students he supervised were always treated to home-baked scones, cakes, a pot of tea and crumpets, warmed on the gas fire.
  
  Academically, his commentary on the Book of Revelation was both wise and balanced, and played a very important role in helping ordinary readers make sense of this strangest and most puzzling part of the New Testament. He tried to see it as a whole, without the distortions of inherited assumptions. Drawing on the latest scholarship, Sweet explored the literary and theological dimensions of the text with great skill and lightness of touch, with the commentary serving as a reference point for students and scholars ever since its publication in 1979 by SCM Pelican Commentaries.
  
  Alongside the academic was Sweet's own devotional life, which was reflected in his introduction to Using Common Worship: Times and Seasons, where he wrote: "Worship is what we were made for."
  
  He taught his students and lived his life in a way that made this evident to all. His former pupils include three Archbishops of England and Wales (Rowan Williams, Barry Morgan and myself), together with numerous bishops and clergy in the Church of England. Many of us were taught not only Greek and the New Testament, but also a way of being in the world marked by graciousness, kindness, generosity, courtesy – old-fashioned values that are all too rare these days.
  
  My abiding memories are of him cycling down King's Parade conjuring images of a tall ship sailing stately down the river. Many of his alumni will recall the fingerless gloves he wore on "F" Staircase against the winter cold.
  
  Others have remarked on his holiness, yet he would have been the last person to think that about himself. Not only was he a great scholar and pastor, he was, of all the people I have ever come across, one of the most humble and caring, and a true servant of others.
  
  His wise counsel, sense of humour, gracious manners, and quiet and witty presence, will be greatly missed.
  
  Dr Sweet was indeed a respected Cambridge don of the old school. His empathy, compassion and hospitality shown towards all members of the College community were deep and genuine and lasted for years, even decades. He was a godly and scholarly man whose humility and deep Christian faith encouraged so many that came into contact with him.
  
  He has, in his ever-self-effacing way, made a major contribution to the education and training of Church leaders. Though his passing is a great loss, we want to celebrate and give thanks for a life that enriched the lives of very many others beyond measure. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary and the family at the close of a life lived well and to the glory of God.
  
  Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
  
  Dr John Sweet, teacher, pastor and Biblical scholar: born Ootacamund, India 10 June 1927; married Mary Trotman- Dickenson (one son, two daughters); died Cambridge 2 July 2009.
  
  Canon John Sweet - The Telegraph, July 30, 2009
  Canon John Sweet, who died on July 2 aged 82, was for 36 years a greatly admired and much loved figure in the life of Cambridge University.
  Sweet epitomised an older style of clerical don who combined distinguished scholarship with strong teaching skills and pastoral gifts that won the affection of several generations of his pupils, among whom are numbered the present Archbishops of Canterbury, York and Wales.
  He became a Fellow and Chaplain of Selwyn College, Cambridge, in 1958 and remained there until his retirement in 1994. During this time he was also Dean of Chapel, Tutor and, later, Vice-Master then Acting Master. He was appointed to Selwyn shortly after Professor Owen Chadwick had become Master and, together with David Harrison, who was Senior Tutor in the 1970s, played an important part in the college's renaissance. Its reputation had seriously declined, but now stands among the highest in Cambridge.
  Sweet was a New Testament scholar who lectured in the university Divinity school from 1960 to 1994 and was chairman of the faculty board of Divinity from 1976 to 1978. He contributed to what is now seen as a golden age of 20th-century Cambridge theology when his colleagues included Professors Charlie Moule, Geoffrey Lampe and Donald Mackinnon, as well as John Robinson, Hugh Montefiore, Alec Vidler and Howard Root.
  He also remained firmly entrenched in the life of the Church, serving for many years as New Testament adviser to the Liturgical Commission during the long period of revising services that led to the publication of Common Worship. For 32 years he was an honorary canon of Chichester Cathedral and, as well as strongly supporting his college's long association with the Melanesian Mission, was chairman of the Cambridge Committee for Christian Work in Delhi.
  John Philip McMurdo Sweet was born on June 10 1927 in Ootacamund, India, where his father was in the Indian Forestry Service. He was a King's Scholar at Eton during the years of the Second World War before going up to New College, Oxford, where he took a First in Theology and won both the junior and senior Greek Testament prizes. On completion of his time at Oxford he spent a year at Yale Divinity School as a Commonwealth Fellow.
  He next prepared for Holy Orders at Westcott House, Cambridge, and from 1955 to 1958 was a curate at St Mark's church, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, before moving to Cambridge to begin his long academic career.
  At Selwyn, Sweet soon knew all the undergraduates by name and was particularly kind and helpful to those just starting their university life. A somewhat formidable, austere appearance was belied by a warm, gentle personality and a deeply caring ministry among all in the college.
  He was a fine tutor and noted for his hospitality; Sunday lunches with his family were remembered by many pupils who remained in touch long after they had left Selwyn. Besides the three archbishops, several other bishops and deans were taught by him, as well as many parish clergy. His influence also extended to those who pursued secular careers.
  Sweet was widely respected as a New Testament scholar, but, apart from articles in learned journals, he published only one book. This was a commentary on the The Book of Revelation which appeared in 1979 in the distinguished Pelican series. Since he had been allocated the most difficult book in the New Testament, it was perhaps unsurprising that it took him many years to complete the commentary. It recognised that some parts of Revelations cannot now be regarded as Christian, but suggested helpfully that it should be regarded as something akin to a poetic drama or an opera, written to sustain Christians under persecution.
  John Sweet was awarded a Lambeth DD for his services to scholarship and the Church.
  He is survived by his wife, Mary, and by a son and two daughters.

• A child of Jack McMurdo Sweet and Phyllis Lilian Servaes
• This information was last updated on July 26, 2016.

Household of John Philip McMurdo Sweet

He is married to (Not public).

They got married in the year 1961 at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, he was 33 years old.Source 2

Name:John P M Sweet
Event Type:Marriage Registration
Registration Quarter:Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration Year:1961
Registration District:Cambridge
County:Cambridgeshire
Event Place:Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Spouse Name (available after 1911):Trotman-Dickenson
Volume:4A
Page:455
Line Number:78

Citing this Record:
"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVDB-R4KN : 8 October 2014), John P M Sweet and null, 1961; from “England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005,” database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1961, quarter 4, vol. 4A, p. 455, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

Name:Mary V Trotman-Dickenson
Event Type:Marriage Registration
Registration Quarter:Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration Year:1961
Registration District:Cambridge
County:Cambridgeshire
Event Place:Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Spouse Name (available after 1911):Sweet
Volume:4A
Page:455
Line Number:30

Citing this Record:
"England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVDB-THW1 : 8 October 2014), Mary V Trotman-Dickenson and null, 1961; from “England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005,” database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1961, quarter 4, vol. 4A, p. 455, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)
2. (Not public)
3. (Not public)

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Timeline John Philip McMurdo Sweet

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