I’m a priest in the Church of England exploring what it means to be a child of God. I’m interested in play and the gift of playfulness to the church and world and am called to be part of a movement of people starting new things; co-creating contextual forms of church and social enterprises in partnership with their local communities.
I work at the Church Mission Society (CMS) http://www.churchmissionsociety.org as a facilitator of learning for clergy, church councils, engaged lay teams and individuals who seek to engage with people who are beyond the reach of church as it currently is. I’m co-founder with Greg Bakker of Pioneering Parishes, a small nationally funded training organisation hosted by CMS: http://www.pioneeringparishes.org.
As the leader of a tiny off-grid space for theological education – the CMS Southwest Hub in Pioneer Mission – I seek ways of learning that are embodied, trauma informed and as inclusive as they can possibly be. The gift of play is important here. As a survivor of trauma myself I’m fascinated by neuroscience, psychology, the integration of body, mind and spirit, and the mystery of what it means to be fully human.
My background is in secondary education. I have qualifications in teaching, modern languages (German and Russian), education management and theology for ministry. The adjective that people most consistently use to describe me since teaching days is ‘inspiring’. It’s not something I try to be; most of the time I’m making it up as I go along and hanging onto the coat tails of the Holy Spirit. I do however love seeing people flourish and find freedom in becoming the person they are called to be.
I live in Bristol but enjoy travelling for work.