Coventry born of a German mother and English father in 1954, I was part of a good household which had little to do with Church. Mum died of Leukaemia when I was six. All of the people in the village she came from die of the same illness - the village is built around a uranium mine in what was East Germany. I was brought up by my Gran and Dad with a younger brother, Ron.

I went to a Grammar School and even got a scholarship - though I don’t know why! A key memory from that time is of my making a decision with a friend of mine to become an Anglican priest. The friend is an actor, me, here I am. Not that I was spectacularly religious, though I was confirmed and went to church until I was 14. My career at school ended at 16 with ‘O’ level results confirming what I knew - I was hopeless at maths and physics.

The next step, illogical as it turned out, was for me to join the Royal Navy in order to avoid those subjects. I saw little of the sea - but lots of a classroom where I further confirmed my lack of ability in maths and physics. I really enjoyed the engineering I was learning. I left the Navy after eight months or so and went to work for Courtauld’s as a trainee research chemist. It was during this time that the Lord finally made himself heard. I lived a normal life. I drank, as did my friends, and I smoked cigarettes, as did my friends. None of these actually helped make me happy. I knew about prayer so asked “God, help find me a girlfriend and if you do I’ll serve you forever.”

Well, God answers some interesting prayers doesn’t He? The very next morning I was operating an experimental machine making tyre cord. The yarn was not spinning correctly so I took a sample for testing. The tester looked good so I asked her to go to the pub. She said, “no” so you can guess which church she went to. Shy though I am, honestly, I persisted, finding out something about her church and a little more about her. A mutual friend arranged for us to go out for a day in the Malvern Hills just two weeks later. I remembered my prayer and asked the girl, Tina, “Can I go to Church with you this coming Saturday?” After picking herself up off the floor she said, “of course” - and I never looked back.

Well, I did have to do some serious thinking as my Dad and Gran asked me to leave my home with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and an empty wallet. Not a great start, but it turned out to be helpful to me. I was baptised in the Coventry church a year later - though I was teaching a youth Sabbath school class every week after a month or so - and then found myself with my new wife, Tina, at Newbold.

Our first son, Timothy arrived as a prayed for Christmas present a year before we left Newbold to begin our first Pastoral work at Leicester firstly with Vince Goddard and then with Ken Clothier. Rachel, who is now 22 and a trainee teacher arrived during this time. The first district we cared for on our own was in Chesterfield, Rotherham and Sutton-in-Ashfield where I had prepared Sandy Couzins - wife of the previous minister in the Teesside Area - for baptism. A five year stay there was followed by time at Preston where Hannah, now 13, was born.

While at Preston, we had a number of churches and outside responsibilities to care for - although we still found the time to start three new churches; Wigan, Lancaster and the Isle of Man. A spell out of Preston in the Lake District and a return to Preston and then care for a number of churches in the Manchester area. I have been pastor at Blackburn Church on three different occasions. Now I am located in the north-east - sadly as a divorcee - I’m looking forward to serving the Lord with all of you. I leave three children on the west coast - where Timothy is now a chef.

What do I want to do? The first thing is to listen, the second if to help equip us all for a ministry together - and then, by God’s grace see three sorts of growth.

1. Personal spiritual growth for us all

2. Numerical growth in the district

3. Starting at least one new church in the area

But what of me? I like walking - usually long distances at some speed. I have been known to walk over six miles in an hour during races. I like to go on cycling holidays. This year I went to Shetland while last year I went to Orkney. I take lots of photographs as well. You will see one of my recent slide shows about the Shetland Island on nwtv.co.uk - an internet TV website run by Kendall Down from Wales.

So that is something about me. I hope to be able to learn about you and grow friendships and relationships that will help us all get closer to God.