Where are you from? Hmmm… I grew up in Devon, then later Kent, but my family have no roots in either place, so I don’t really feel like I’m “from” either county. I’ve spent most of my post-university years in or around the Greater Manchester area, so north-west England feels more like home than anywhere else.
How did you find St Margaret’s? I was coming to the end of my curacy (like an apprenticeship) and even though I was expecting to stay within the Diocese of Manchester, I saw this post advertised in the Church Times, and felt I was being called towards it. So I started to investigate it, and one thing led to another and… here I am!
What do you do here? I’m a stipendiary (i.e. full-time, paid) Associate Priest, spread across both here and St Giles’. Apart from all the general priestly duties relating to the sacraments, preaching and teaching, I have a particular focus on work with children, young people and families across the benefice, online engagement, and theological education with the St Giles’ Thursday talks series.
What do you like about the church? I love the people! It’s such a warm and welcoming place… Coming to Oxford, and North Oxford in particular, I was a little worried that I’d be overwhelmed with the amazing achievements and fascinating lives of so many people here, but none of that seems to matter here.
I’d say it’s a community that takes the worship of God very seriously indeed, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously, so we have that difficult-to-find blend of beautiful liturgy, music and architecture, but in a genuinely laid-back and inviting manner. To me that’s the perfect blend.
What are you looking forward to over the next few months? Well, Star Wars: Episode IX is coming out in a few weeks… oh, you mean in the church? Well, it’s my first Christmas here so I’m especially looking forward to seeing how things are done here. And I’m deep in the middle of doing all sorts of planning with different groups for different areas of church life, with some really exciting things on the horizon, so I’m looking forward to seeing some of that thinking and dreaming finally bear fruit…
What three words would you use to describe your faith? Well, “love”, definitely. I mean, that’s pretty much a non-negotiable for anyone who is trying to follow the way of Christ. “Failing” is probably the next one (I certainly don’t always feel loving!). As for the third… hopefully not “heretical”, although I’m sure there are some who would say that’s fitting! I’ll settle for “hopeful”. With all of our failing (personal and collective) we need to cling on to that hope in God’s love for us!
Tell us something most people would never guess about you… I would say having no sense of smell, but I think I already revealed that one before… another would be that I have an incredibly strong (and utterly irrational) fear and hatred of slugs. Urgh!