I am married to Rev Kate and we have four children. I am a former Professor of Modern History and worked at Universities in London, Leicester and Loughborough (for my academic books on the racist-genocidal Nazis and the Holocaust, see here). God showed up relatively late in my life – totally unexpected and very powerfully. When I accepted Christ as my Lord in a packed church in Leicester, someone shouted ‘This is a miracle!’ God works in beautiful and mysterious ways and I am now Vicar of Holy Trinity Barkingside. Somehow God re-tuned me and is using in new ways my heart for justice, my compassion for the marginalised, and my pioneering spirit.
I desire to share Christ’s vision and encouragement to the broken and the marginalised, and I see myself as a Champion of Christ’s alternative to human’s propensity to scapegoat, exclude and punish the ‘others’; and to impose guilt and shame on individuals.
Together with my wife Rev Kate, we are called to build a welcoming, diverse, inclusive, family friendly, lively and creative Community Church in Barkingside:
- We welcome everyone because everyone belongs! We celebrate and affirm every person as beautifully made and wonderfully different from one another.
- We delight in Christ as our Lord! We embrace his unconditional love, hope and healing and want to share his mercy and grace, compassion and humility.
- We see God’s abundance around us! We want to help awaken the unique gifts and power of people, families and our neighbourhood.
- We have learned and grown by stumbling and suffering! It’s on our heart to walk with the broken and marginalised and help others embrace woundedness as the start of life-giving transformation discovering our true-self and dignity.
- We want to live a life worth living! Discerning the will of God and then doing it: making good choices; working for the Common Good; caring for all living things and our environment.
For my own life journey of growing, learning and transforming since encountering Christ, please see the link to my sermon from 22.06.2025 here. The sermon will help you understand where I am coming from, what’s on my heart, and what I am yearning to see flourish in our church and community.