Wallingford Methodist Church

Dear Friends,

Karen and I joined the Wantage & Abingdon Circuit in September 2023. Four years earlier I had every intention of seeing out my active ministry by continuing in my role as Chair of the Lincolnshire Methodist District, a role that had been a great privilege to undertake. Lincolnshire is a county that had become dear to my heart. However, as I sat in the Stationing Matching Group in November 2021, I began to feel drawn to a number of the appointments. A few weeks later, after much thought and prayer, Karen and I decided that I should curtail after 12 years as Chair, enter stationing in the autumn of 2022, and offer my final two or three years in active ministry serving in a Circuit. When I received the profiles suggested to me we were quickly drawn to the Wantage & Abingdon Circuit appointment. The subsequent visit did not disappoint, far from it. We felt this to be the place that God has called us and we were excited at what may be in store for us all.

We were in no doubt that it would take a little while to readjust to circuit ministry again, though I think that a number of things I learnt as Chair were of benefit! Prior to Lincolnshire, I served for eighteen years in Manchester, three in training at Hartley Victoria College (Methodist Inter Collegiate Football Cup winners for two of those three years, robbed on penalties in the third!). This was followed by five years in three inner city churches and ten years in a large suburban church. During that time, through various encounters, I developed a keen interest in faiths other than Christianity.