Thank you for calling me to serve you as your next Team Rector. Alex & I are so looking forward to joining in with all the Lord is doing in the next season of our life together as a Church.
In due time, there will be plenty of opportunities to share our stories and get to know one another. For now, you may like to know that I currently serve as Bishop’s Chaplain in Peterborough diocese, a role I initially combined with being Canon Missioner at the Cathedral. Before that I had been Director of Ordinands in the diocese, which meant leading the team overseeing the selection and training of lay & ordained ministers. During that time we belonged to an informal Anglican church that met in a school and helped lead the youth work & music. Previously I had been vicar of a large cand growing church in Kettering. I started ordained life in south-west London after a few years teaching, and following curacy worked across the deanery developing a project which enabled Christian young people to serve and share their faith with unchurched young people.
I love to help people come close to God in worship, understand the Bible better, be attuned to the winds of the Spirit and discover their place in God’s service, for the Church to be a practical blessing to the community, sharing the good news of Jesus & seeing the church grow.
Alex is an administrator, working over the years in publishing, local government, the NHS and most recently as EA to the Director of Education. She also ran her own catering business for some years. We’re a musical family with pretty varied tastes. Our three sons have now left home and live in the Midlands and Wales. We love the mountains and the sea and have developed a soft spot for North Wales in particular. Our collie, Freddie, adores the waterfalls and beaches. Neither of us come from particularly Christian families. Alex came to faith as a teenager when invited to a Christian camp by some school friends. I became a Christian through meeting Alex in my last year at school. Our childhood roots are largely in Surrey. Alex grew up there, I ended up there after moving around a fair bit. I was born in Australia – but that’s a story for another time!
Thank you for your dedication to the Lord and one another, especially those carrying particular responsibilities during this period of vacancy.
“The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust I him…” (Romans 15:13)
Steve & Alex