Paul Bartle-Jenkins, who is known by many as Father Paul, spent years of his life as a chaplain at St Agnes Church in St Pauls. He taught children across many schools in Bristol and volunteered in prisons, supporting people, some of whom were ex-pupils, during their lowest moments in life.
Mr Jenkins was also a counsellor, a mentor and a friend to anyone who needed a helping hand. He was also an activist, who valued the importance of Black History and justice. Lloyd Russell, who has known Father Paul since he was in his early teens and would always see him at community events, is currently leading an initiative to get him nominated for an honour.
The Queen's Honours are usually released every New Year and in summer to celebrate Her Majesty's birthday, recognising people for service to their communities and to the country. Last night (Wednesday, June 1) the Queen's Birthday Honours were announced, with several Bristol people on the list including a dance teacher now aged 104 and a St John Ambulance volunteer.
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In a recent post on social media, Lloyd called for Father Paul to also be recognised. He wrote: “Can someone please explain to myself and many others, who are also asking the question, why this much-loved individual has not been honoured for his long and tireless work he has done in our city of Bristol and across the seas.
“Paul Bartle-Jenkins aka Father Paul has devoted his life to God and has been doing the Lord's work in Bristol for many decades. To this day he has not been awarded anything for his committed services to the people.”
He continued with a list of achievements, which include helping children in an orphanage in Africa and mentoring young people in schools. He made a plea to “influential people” in Bristol to help honour Father Paul before it is too late:
“Time is not on Father Paul's side, his family has publicly announced that he is not well, he is showing signs of dementia, so the clock is running down for him. Not just in the Black Community but the whole city is pleading for some justice for this icon, role model and a massive inspiration.
“Father Paul has given his all, but for god sake, surely not for nothing in return. So let us all hope and pray we are able to celebrate his life and witness this great man having his great moment with some dignity please.”
The Facebook post was shared 176 times with more than 100 people making comments in support of the statement or highlighting how he had helped them over the years. Others put forward additional ideas of how he could be honoured locally and nationally with a couple of people suggesting that a statue or mural of him could be installed in St Pauls.
Lloyd was inspired after celebrating Father Paul’s birthday at St Agnes Church recently, where there was an open mic and one person after another got up to thank him. Lloyd worked with him for years, mentoring young people at Fairfield High in Montpellier in the early 2000s. The school was a challenging inner-city school at the time but they were successful in making a positive impact on the pupils and parents.
Terry Henry, who is now a 51-year-old maths teacher, first met Father Paul when he was attending what is now called City Academy. Although Mr Jenkins was never a class teacher to Terry, he used to teach him Black History as part of a fortnightly extra curricular lesson.
As a young boy, Terry said that he didn’t appreciate the value of the classes but saw them as a way to get out of other lessons. He didn’t know his teacher very well but soon after he’d left school, Father Paul showed up and was there for him at a time when no one else was.
Terry said: “I left school with nothing, literally no qualifications. I guess there was a bit of an inevitability that I was going to make some wrong choices.
“They say that it’s in the face of adversity that you know who your real friends are and none of my so-say friends found time to come and see me. He took it upon himself to come and see me when I was at my lowest point.
“He was there at a key moment, without question it was my lowest time.”
Terry didn’t suddenly have life figured out at that time but just knew he didn’t want to go back to the life he had been living. He went back into education and eventually studied to become a teacher.
By chance they were reunited as colleagues 15 years later and subsequently became good friends. It was at that point that Terry realised that Father Paul was a “giver” who was constantly helping others.
Samuel Smith, also now in his 50s, ended up spending time at a young offenders' institute at the age of 13. Father Paul supported him at that time and has since given him a place to stay when he was homeless.
Samuel said: “He’s the father to many people in and around Bristol, he is exceptional. I ended up in a young boys' detention centre, he went out of his way to make sure I was okay.
“He’s a person who helped me in many ways, he’s that kind of character who gives help, advice and signposts you in the right direction. He put me up in his home with his family when I was homeless and he’s been there for my children.”
Father Paul grew up in Wales before moving to Bristol in the 1960s. His best friend at primary school was of Jamaican heritage and he would later become an important and well-known figure among the Afro-Caribbean community in St Pauls.
His role at St Agnes Church meant he saw so many throughout the years to mark their birth, marriage and death. Many people from the Bristol Afro-Caribbean community would request that Father Paul lead their families’ funeral service, regardless of their denomination or religious beliefs.
Father Paul was the face of St Agnes church for many years and has been described as the "the outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible God", by the Associate Minister, Reverend Chris Davis.
Beverley Forbes, who first met Father Paul at the church, said that his Sunday services were always overflowing with people. Beverley said: “Whenever I mentioned St Agnes Church to people they'd usually say something like, ‘Ah, Father Paul's Church! What a wonderful man.
“The African Caribbean Community has adopted him as one of their own. He gets us, he knows what makes us tick, an he don't judge us nor discriminate, even when we get into trouble, he's always there for us’".
Mrs Phyllis Whiskers who also knows Father Paul from the Church, said: "He's very loving to everyone, whether you're black or white. He's a person who will never say no to you, he will always try and help."
Another member of St Agnes church congregation, Petrona Powell, added: "He is a kind and loving man, he's done so much for St Pauls and the black community. I wish I could give him a plaque."
Others remember Paul as Mr Jenkins, a teacher, working across many schools in Bristol over several decades. Michael Daley, who attended school in the 1970s, still has fond memories of his Art classes with Mr Jenkins.
Michael said: “We never had a groovy teacher before so when Mr Jenkins became our art teacher, we had a lot of fun. I’ve known Father Paul for 50 years and what an inspirational man, teacher, friend, father, confident, honest, kind and generous person.”
