I am delighted to be Mothers’ Union chaplain for Birmingham. I have been vicar of St Peter’s Hall Green for the last 21 years and am a proud member and advocate of Mothers’ Union worldwide. We have a newly formed younger members group at St Peter’s, formed by Adrienne Dodd, well known to Birmingham MU, and recently inspired by returning visitors to our partner parish of St Mark’s Mzuzu, Malawi, who saw Mothers’ Union (and Fathers’ Union!) in action. They joined too! Telling the story of Mothers’ Union, both in this country and around the world, the Wave of Prayer, the work with vulnerable families, with strong and inspiring parents and children, enabling the church to look outwards in service, breaking down preconceptions about what a Christian family means and what a Christian family can be; these are all important to me, and I am looking forward to being part of the team. In some senses too this feels like destiny! My mother and my aunt were both very keen Mothers’ Union members, as was my paternal grandmother – and I have a letter from Mary Sumner to her which I will share with you at some stage. My maternal grandmother was a Sumner, and her great uncle, George Henry – one of the sons of Charles Richard Sumner, Bishop of Winchester – was married to Mary Sumner. I was ordained in 1981 in Winchester Cathedral by the great John V Taylor, former General Secretary of the Church Mission Society, and served in parishes in Eastleigh Hampshire, Ferryhill County Durham, Leicester and now Birmingham. Prior to my training at Westcott House Cambridge, I had worked in a factory in Ladywood and as a student minister at St Peter’s Spring Hill. I have been Chaplain at Durham University and Assistant Director of Ordinands. In Birmingham I have been Warden of Readers and Chair of the House of Clergy for Birmingham Diocesan Synod. I am particularly passionate about parish ministry, and have trained several curates (all women!) over more than 20 years, learning a great deal from them too. (Recently I read a quotation from Patrick Kavanagh, who said that the parish was not a perimeter but an aperture: a space through which the world could be seen. ‘Parochialism is universal,’ he wrote. ‘It deals with the fundamentals.’ – from the introduction by Robert McFarlane to The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd.) I have been a spiritual director for 25 years. Spirituality, beautiful worship, loving pastoral care, intelligent engagement with Scripture and tradition, a passion for justice and peace, a love of place and the natural world, varied reading (I reckon you can learn more about pastoral care from novels than text books) are all essential to my ministry. I am a keen cook, gardener, maker of things, beekeeper and explorer of the world around us. I am married to Kay and have four adult children. I look forward very much to getting to know more and more of you all. Please pray for me as I will for you.