Meet the Team
Stephen became Bishop of Ramsbury in June 2006 and now feels very much at home in Wiltshire and in the Diocese of Salisbury. He grew up in London, went to university at Oxford and then taught in Scotland before training for the priesthood at Westcott House in Cambridge. Inspired by the Faith in the City initiative of the mid-80’s, he went to work in Gateshead and spent the next twenty years in the Diocese of Durham as parish priest, DDO and then Bishop’s Chaplain. Before he came to Wiltshire he was the Archdeacon of Durham and a residentiary canon at Durham Cathedral. Chairing the trustees of an agricultural estate opened the door to ministry in the rural context which is such a fascinating feature of his current ministry. He has always been closely involved in adult Christian learning. He has spent many years, too, receiving and offering spiritual direction. He chairs the trustees of a mental health charity as a former carer in his own family. He loves walking and is always keen to be introduced to new routes.
John was appointed Archdeacon of Wilts in 2004. Originally from Dorset John was sponsored for ordination by the Diocese of Salisbury. He trained at Ridley Hall Cambridge and served as curate in Bromyard in Herefordshire. From there he moved to Sheffield as Team Vicar in a large urban priority area parish on the edge of Sheffield. He then spent 9 years as Vicar of Clifton in neighbouring Rotherham where he became very involved in urban regeneration. He was Chair of the Faith and Justice Committee in the Diocese, and also chaired Voluntary Action Rotherham. In 2001 he was made an honorary Canon of Sheffield Cathedral and appointed priest in charge of Wickersley – a suburban village in Rotherham. From there he returned to his roots in Salisbury Diocese.
Alan has spent his whole life in the Diocese, serving at the Altar in Ensbury Park, Bournemouth and then training for the ordained ministry at Salisbury and Wells Theological college in the mid eighties. He served his title in Parkstone, Poole, and then was incumbent at Bishops Cannings, All Cannings and Etchilhampton near Devizes, until moving back to Salisbury in 1998 as Parish Development Advisor until 2005. He was appointed Archdeacon of Sarum in 2003, and from September 2007 has been the Diocesan Director of Ordinands whilst continuing as AD Sarum. Alan is married to Anita, has two grown up daughters, loves walking, cooking and his MG car.
Rachel has lived in Wiltshire since 1986; she worked for the NSPCC until redundancy in 2002. She then worked as an independent social worker and as the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser (part time) and was ordained as priest in 2004. In September 2007 she took the gigantic step of giving up her independent work and becoming a member of the Ramsbury Core Team as the Transitional Ministry Adviser (TMA) for Ramsbury (more about this on the blog) whilst retaining her other diocesan role.
Interests include reading, music (anything from Gregorian chant to heavy metal), gardening, creative sewing and laughing. It is with sorrow that she was unable to obtain a white jacket to wear when her photo was taken, she will try harder to be in uniform at the next photo-shoot although she will not alter her hair!
