I’m an oddity in the Church of England for a couple of reasons. Firstly I was a Roman Catholic priest who became an Anglican – you have a right to know my reasons:

1. The treatment of lay people (and especially women) at the time was neither healthy nor just. There was too much power in the hands of the clergy. I like to be accountable to you, the people of our communities.

2. As a full time hospital chaplain I found that working together was so life-giving and so Christian, from sharing our Communion Service to simply praying together as a team. Religion shouldn’t be a pyramid (rooted in power) but a circle (where we are all equal and all precious).

3. I met my wife to be and I realised that celibacy is only a blessing if one is called to that way of life. I find being a family person is far more a blessing to my ministry that living in a tower of separation.

Even more odd is that my background is very working class. I left secondary school with one qualification. I left after the 5th year (as was) and signed up for a home nursing course. I ended up working in an amazing nursing home in Shepshed where I lived. It was (along with my chaplaincy work) a true blessing. When I went to Seminary (College for priests) I found out that I was badly dyslexic in every way possible. So age 19/20 I started college doing primary education and a theology degree at the same time. Then later I did a Certificate in Pastoral Counselling. I’ve worked in a mixture of places from Westminster Cathedral and Nottingham Cathedral to Hackney and Stoke Newington. As an Anglican I’ve worked in Leicester Diocese and now Derby Diocese.

In ministry the key works for me are being welcoming to all people and serving all people without prejudice or bias. I believe passionately that our prayer and worship must inspire us to go out and serve our communities and beyond in Jesus` name, empowering our young people to have a real role in the life of the church and to support the whole communities of our schools. The church must also be there to serve the elderly, sick and dying with dignity and compassion.

We must serve all people with love and equality.

Finally, I am a sinner who often makes a right mess of things, but I keep trying. That’s all God asks of all of us.

The short answer is Christ centred, Bible based and catholic with a small c, seeing in everyone who enters our churches the face of Jesus. This is a very churchy question which doesn’t really mean much to a lot of people but we hold in tension over our three churches traditional worship and modern worship. We are very much rooted in the Eucharist (Holy Communion) but as well as celebrating it we also try to live it out in our daily lives. Jesus shared Communion just before he died but in one of the stories Jesus also said his followers must wash the people’s feet. This was the job of the servant in Jesus` day. We are called to serve people.

Why join us as a church or visit us for a wedding, baptism or funeral ? I’d say simply, because we’d do all we can to serve you, hold you in our prayers and also to make sure your day is special. We’d really listen to what you want and we’d help you have a joyful and meaningful day. (You’ll find more information on this in other parts of our website)

To be a Christian means we must serve all people. We must work for justice and peace. We must be not simply open to all people but willing to listen and learn from all who come to our churches. We have to live out concrete signs of Jesus` love. For example we prepare Dignity Bags for the homeless, we do events to fight loneliness and isolation in our rural communities, we reach out prayerfully to people who have been hurt by other churches and we work in support of our schools and our young people. We also serve people in the Marie Curie and Macmillan Charities and other charities both at home and abroad. We support the military in Help for Hero’s and the RBL. We work in actively welcoming people with mental health issues.

The Church is not mine as rector. I’m simply here to enable you to be the person God calls you to be because the Church in tradition and today -is you. You and me, we’re the church.