My friend John Collins, who has died aged 71, was a key figure in the revival of the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM). He served as the movement's general secretary from 1985 to 1988.
Professionally, John was an architect and local government officer, working initially on council housing for Camberwell, south-east London. He left to take up a post in 1965 in the newly independent Zambia, working on low-cost housing and winning a design award. He returned to London to work in planning, and subsequently in economic development, for the boroughs of Haringey and Hackney.
John was a lateral thinker. He was good at making connections, a useful attribute in multidisciplinary posts, and also in his work for CSM, an organisation that combined his twin enthusiasms, Christianity and politics.
We met when we were elected to the CSM executive in 1976. The movement then had fewer than 500 members and had been heavily dependent on the personality of Lord (Donald) Soper, chair until the previous year. John recognised that CSM needed a longterm strategy to survive and convened a working group. His plans included a press campaign, vigorous recruiting, and the setting up of a branch structure. He envisaged a membership of 2,500 – a figure that some of us thought was wishful thinking.
A press conference was held in May 1978 at Kingsway Hall, London, chaired by Soper, supported by John and me. Several members of the religious press attended, including Baden Hickman, religious affairs correspondent of the Guardian. The following day's edition had a report under the headline "Souls group gets a relaunch".
A few years later, John proposed that the Tawney lecture should be revived to attract a wider audience, and should also be published in pamphlet form. His role in developing CSM was formalised by the office of membership secretary (1980-84). He remained on the executive into the next decade.
The membership increased to 1,300 during his time as general secretary. The next step was to affiliate the movement to the Labour party, which was agreed following a referendum of the membership. The party had closed the door to affiliating new socialist societies but changed its mind, and CSM was accepted in 1989.
John was the epitome of the level-headed organiser. He worked hard but quietly to fulfil his vision for CSM. I greatly valued his support and advice when I chaired the movement between 1983 and 1993. Latterly disillusioned with the Labour party, he used his organisational ability for the Green party and was instrumental in getting three Green councillors elected to the London borough of Camden.
He is survived by his wife, Judith, their son, Stephen, and a granddaughter, Anna.