Formation

As an infant, my parents offered my life to Christ in the church they then attended, where my family had worshipped for some generations.

This was the church of my childhood; where I found friendship and challenge, and where a faith of my own was nurtured and strengthened. Supported and encouraged here, I first grew into the two things that have shaped me since: worship, and the care of others.

When I moved away to university, St George's gave me a stable and familiar footing; still Methodist, still a community to belong to, while I began to explore the callings that university was opening up.

It was at York Minster, where I had found work, and among friends in the university Catholic society, that music and tradition I had not yet encountered began drawing me toward Anglicanism. A desire to belong locally led me to St Thomas', and there I was welcomed and encouraged; not to leave Methodism behind, but to carry it with me into the Anglican church. I was confirmed at the Minster itself; supported by friends and family.

Returning home after university, before work took me elsewhere, I attended the local Anglican church to affirm the choices I had made at York. Even so, I had not left my home church behind, and still deputised there as organist from time to time.

Alongside a lonely job, I found it hard to settle into the local parish church. Weekends were often spent away with friends; those at home were rare. This was, thankfully, a brief period.

Through my years as a teacher, the church at Little Heath was the one part of the week untouched by school; a familiar and steadying presence. I was welcomed at once into a warm community, and encouraged to sing and to play the organ alongside its regular organist. It was here that I married, and on that same day came the job offer that would move us to Devon, everything seeming to arrive together. Leaving was a sadness; the church had anchored me throughout, even as it set me on my way to havens new.

Arriving in Devon, the local parish church was the natural choice. I served on the PCC and kept up my organ playing, yet for all that, I never quite found my place there.

Joining this small church set on Dartmoor, I soon stepped in as organist, allowing the previous organist to retire. From there we became, more and more, part of the life of the place. St Petroc's is shaped by care for one another and stewardship of the land around it; a truly nurturing home, for me and my faith.