​CF – So what have you been up to Debbie? Any holidays this year?
DH -  We’ve been away to Gran Canaria with two of our children, Rosie and Tansy and also catching up with some of our friends from when we lived in Forest Gate, London.
CF –  Nice. Are the canaries really that big out there?
DH -  What?
CF – Never mind. Tell me why you left the leafy Home Counties for Ely? How quickly did you find your feet?
DH – We left after 18 years because Chris decided to become a full- time vicar (having fitted in planting and leading two churches around working full-time in a job which regularly took him abroad). It was quite a change for us; our youngest child left home at the same time and we went from a small church plant where we knew everyone to a much larger church where we knew no-one! Previous to moving I had managed to get a lovely part time job in a village primary school which I would have loved to continue with-so it was quite a wrench. However, I was sure it was the right thing for us to do. It probably took me about a year or so to feel at home.
CF – you have already mentioned your children, though they are hardly children anymore. Tell me a bit about them. Do they share any personality traits with you and/or Chris?
DH – Simon is twenty-nine and currently living at home with us, having had a career change from Chemistry teaching and mentoring new teachers, to working as a technical consultant which has brought him to Cambridge. He certainly doesn’t share our need for things to be done in advance or for things to be tidy! He is a voracious reader(takes after me!) and enjoys being outdoors whenever possible. In particular he enjoys walking in the Peak district and Ultimate Frisbee.
Rosie is a marketing manager for a company that rents out office space in London. She has a degree in photography and has a sunny personality (dad),is very creative (mum), fun to be with and very determined(?) when she wants to do something. She enjoys team sports and gets up ridiculously early to go to the gym! (not mum!)
Tansy is getting more and more like her dad every day! She is very organised and can think clearly about what she wants to achieve and then creates a plan to work towards it. She has just completed a business degree and is working for Microsoft. She loves music and is always singing and I love her playlists! She enjoys team sports(netball/hockey) and is very outgoing.
CF – Cracking. We have something in common in that my son has moved back in. I love the aroma of three day-old sopping wet towels and bacon cooking at 3 in the morning. Moving on (rapidly), what is your favourite book from the Bible and why?
 DH – Hard to say…probably John’s gospel. It was the first thing I read as a Christian and I love the way it is written-simply yet so profound.
CF – Many people I speak to love John, myself included. Favourite verse?  
DH - Psalm 1 v3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers.
It speaks of God’s continuing grace and how he helps us to flourish in our faith.
CF – Beautiful. The delicious poetry of Psalms never ceases to amaze me. Now a bit of a curveball. If you were an animal, what would it be and why?  
DH – Cat-they’re independent, funny, work on their own agenda without the slightest consideration for anyone else!
CF – But they also like to sleep all day, attack people without warning and get stuck up trees? That lump you took out of your head. Was that a cat or do you just walk about with your eyes shut?
DH – No comment. Move on please.
CF – Fair enough.  Tell me a bit more about your work and the teams you work with. What is best bit of your job?
DH – I work within a small team in Mission department as Children’s Adviser for the Diocese, along with Ed Olsworth-Peter and Rachael Heffer. My role is to support churches in their work particularly with families with young children. It is varied and interesting and I meet a lot of people and aim to support them with resources, ideas and training as they work in in their local churches and communities. The best bit for me is seeing how people I have trained develop in confidence and start new things and are a real blessing to their communities and a real encouragement to their clergy.
CF – Wonderful. and your least favourite part?
DH – travelling back from visits/events in the winter evenings across the fens!
CF – With you on that one. I was stranded at a railway station (if you can call it that) north of Littleport last November. Had visions of a hiker finding my skeletal remains three months after I disappeared. Tell me about a memory that has a particular resonance with you – good or bad
DH – As a five year old, being swept off a breakwater in Italy by a freak wave and being rescued by an Italian man who I didn’t understand!         
CF – Are you sure you weren’t knocked off the breakwater by an Italian and rescued by a Freak?
DH – Quite sure.
 CF – Ok then. What is good about the Church of England and what needs to change?
DH – Quite a lot to say on this! It has an excellent Archbishop in Justin Welby and many wonderful priests doing amazing work which is frequently unseen. However it has often been slow to adapt and change and is often seen as rigid and judgmental. I would like to encourage the church to embrace variety, change and to adopt a belong, believe, behave/become mentality rather than expecting these behaviours in a different order.
CF – I like Justin Welby too. Safe pair of hands in turbulent times. So Debbie, what do you regard as your great likes and dislikes?
DH -likes-coffee, chocolate, cake, wine, bright colours, gardening, swimming, walking, meals with friends, being on my own
Dislikes-pears; parents who are cruel to children either deliberately aggressive or negligent; crowded places; being too busy with no ‘downtime’
CF – I “like” your likes. I would combine some of those – walking in the hills on one’s own, overwhelmed by the beauty and colours of nature, swigging hot strong sweet coffee. Children are a gift and they deserve unconditional love and care. Any failure to do so, whether deliberate or through negligence, is a catastrophe which always reaps an appalling harvest.
Back to holidays now. What is your favourite holiday destination and why? How do you relax (are you an active “Let’s get on the tennis court” type, a “heaven is a good book and a spa” type, or somewhere in-between)?
DH – Quiet, warm, good food, swimming pool and a good book!
CF – Finally, sum yourself up in fewer than 20 words
DH – Creative, passionate, witty…I would like my epitaph to be ‘She made a difference.’
CF – Well I believe you have succeeded in that. Many thanks for your time Debbie

CF – So what have you been up to Chris?
CF -  Well mate, I was working for “The World’s Local Bank” on a contract, but in April, the ”World’s Local Bank” decided it could survive without me, so since then, I have been “sans travail”. But you would know that, because you are me.
CF – True mate, true. Does that mean you have been sitting around in your vest, smoking roll-ups and watching Jeremy Kyle?
CF – Very poor stereotyping of people without work, mate, you should know better. Anyway, having worked pretty much continuously for 40 years, I decided that I would take the summer off, especially as Sal and I have a long trip to the States and Canada planned, so securing work as the big day has got closer, has been pretty much impossible. Consequently, I have busied myself with decorating (inside and outside), doing bits and pieces for the Church, house-work and entertaining my son (who is with us at the moment having recently returned after a long spell in South Korea). Oh yes, Sudoku. A few people have seen me in Nero, quaffing back-to-back lattes and battling with a fiendish puzzle. I also wrote a children’s book, set in Ely. I am now looking for an illustrator.
CF –  Strangely enough, I have a son in exactly the same position as you! Tell me, how did you end up in Ely and by extension, St Mary’s?
CF – I am a Kent boy and Sally is a Suffolk lass. When we decided we wanted “knock around together”, we settled on Ely as a place that was roughly half way between our respective families and friends. I also visited Ely as a kid and was really taken with it. Good train service also helps. As for St Mary’s, well I believe fate sometimes plays a role here. We bought the first house we looked at in 2011 and St Mary’s was the first Church we dropped anchor in.  Much as it felt right from the beginning, it is what Chris and Debbie have brought to St Mary’s that has made us stay.
CF – Aw, that’s lovely mate. I think they are great too, but it is the whole package I love – the Leadership Team, the music groups, children’s groups, the worship, the teaching, the friendliness and more recently, Lisa, Kirsty and Ruth and the fantastic Gospel Choir. Anyway, I gather you have children. Tell me a bit about them?
CF – Well I have 3. A son of 31, currently living with us and also “sans travail” and 2 daughters who live in London. Eldest (29) is a litigation lawyer and the youngest (26) is a Manager in the area of Children’s Services. Sally has two. Her daughter (32) is a medical professional in Norwich  and her son (31) an ex-teacher who is now an itinerant poet, doing his thing on stage and earning his cash however he can! At the moment, he is working at Festivals. Two very different individuals.
CF – Lovely kids mate, I have met them all. What is your favourite book from the Bible and why?
 CF – I would have to say Proverbs. Deep, deep wisdom there. Chapter 10 – “Wise sayings of Solomon” is particularly thought provoking.
CF –   And what is your favourite verse?
CF – Isaiah 53, verse 5. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole and by his bruises, we are healed”
This just simply describes the Jesus I know and is a chilling foretelling of what He had to suffer because of what we, humanity, had sunk to. What a debt of gratitude we own Him!!!!!!
CF – I am very struck by that hook into the New Testament. Next, if you were an animal, what would it be and why?  
CF – I would be an elephant because I am forgetful, so love the idea of having a great memory. Also, it would be a lot of fun spraying people with water.
CF – Hmm, ok. Tell me a bit more about your work and what do you like best about it?  
CF – Now you’re taking the mick mate. As I said, I am “sans travail”. My area of expertise (if you can call that) is Business Change – implementing Business, Regulatory and System Change in the area of Financial Services. I enjoy mentoring most of all. Trying to use my experience to help others.
CF – Oops, sorry mate, just dozed off for a second there.  Can you repeat that?
CF – No. Next question. I need to get over to Nero for my caffeine fix.
CF – Ok, no problem. Don’t be so touchy. What is your least favourite part?
CF – Without a doubt the standardisation of work practice that has infested our Industry in the last 10 years. Management Consultant-inspired waffle and fluff that Programme Managers now prefer to adopt as “good working practice” rather than looking at a specific programme/project and set of circumstances and coming up with a solution/approach that suits that particular circumstance. I am also sad to see how much fear there is in Town now. People with families sitting in the office until 9pm because their boss measures them on time spent at work rather than the quality of what they do. In recent years, my contract extensions have got fewer because I, point-blank, refuse to play the “who can sit at their desk the longest” game. All it leads to is exhaustion, stress – and piles
CF – Tell me about a memory that has a particular resonance with you – good or bad
CF – One of each ok? Good. Looking up at the stars in October 1993 and being hit with a thunderbolt from above (not literally, mind). I had been pondering the after-life, faith etc and I think God just wanted me to stop messing about. A real Damascus Road moment. I was in a forerunner of Alpha course within weeks and baptised 2 months later – 19th December 1993.
Not so good – on holiday in Corfu with my first wife, brother, his wife and a few friends, sun-bathing on a platform, around 5 metres above the sea. Ever-competitive, my bro and I embarked on a diving contest. With nothing much between us, he suggested we try from a hand-stand starting point. “You can go first” he said innocently. Well I did and failed spectacularly. Did a belly flop that could be heard back in England. I emerged in agony, chest a mass of red, to a chorus of hysterical laughter. I have never trusted him since!
CF – Ha, ha, ha. Serves you right for showing off – not a great attribute mate. Next up, what is good about the Church of England and what needs to change?
CF – Well as you know mate, I am a real expert of the workings of the CofE and have given this question a lot of thought. After serious consideration, I would answer as follows
Bad  – (1) the Bishops need to bin those silly hats that look like they belong at a fancy dress party and (2) Incense. I know it is tradition but for me, it smells foul and belongs on Father Ted.  
Good – interfaith initiatives. There is far more that unites us than divides us.
CF – What do you regard as your great likes and dislikes?
CF – Likes – Church; love (wish we had as many words for love as the Greeks); compassion; tolerance; diplomacy; thoughtfulness; family; good friends; curry; beer.
Dislikes – dogma; hate; cruelty; selfishness; pedantry; flat-earthism; war-mongering; celery.
CF – What is your favourite holiday destination and why?  
CF – There is so much that I find enjoyable when on holiday. Perfection would be sun, beautiful scenery, places of interest, good books, nice places to eat (local cuisine). Camping or apartments rather than hotels. Sitting in a Croatian sea-side open-air restaurant with Sal, eating a lovely meal and watching the sun set is about as good as it gets. Can make me very emotional as I realise how lucky I am. I try to remember to thank God for my good fortune. On a different level, waking up in a tent to the sound of the Atlantic tide racing in: waves smashing against the rocks, seagulls screaming and that slow-sucking sound as the waves retreat from the shore leaving trails  of foaming salt behind. I can stare at the sea for hours. Please put St Agnes (Scillies) on your places to visit list.
I don’t like crowds and when I see union jack swimming trunks or signs saying “Full English served all day” my heart sinks.
CF – With you on all of that, fella. Finally, sum up your thoughts in fewer than 20 words
CF – Care about other people, just as Jesus taught us. A listener is worth the price of a thousand talkers.
CF – Many thanks for your time Chris

​CF – So what have you been up to Stephen?
SD – It’s a joy to be able to spend most of my time investing in ChristChurch, planting a church has been a super adventure. I also recently started going to boot camp – which is a lot of fun but hard work and I seem to spend a lot of time aching.
CF – The term “boot camp” suggests to me a burly red-faced sergeant-major yelling in your face, but enough about Chris. Tell me a bit about your pre-Ely life and how you ended up here:
SD – Before moving to Ely I was studying Interior Design at University in Portsmouth. Which I loved but sensed was perhaps not what God was calling me into. After some phone conversations with Chris and a few visits to Ely instead of moving into that industry I ended up moving to Ely to be Lay Pioneer for the Ely Team, which was to involve planting a new church. Before university I was a Volunteer Youth & Schools Worker for a year at one of the churches in the family of churches I grew up at. I grew up in Berkshire and spent a lot of time in Devon and on the Isle of Wight, so for me Cambridgeshire is most definitely the north (potentially an unpopular view!)
CF – North? North?  When my children were tiny, we would spend many a Friday evening driving to Carlisle to see family – now that’s PROPER north.
In the past, you have made searingly honest and I feel, brave comments about your life and touched on quite difficult subjects such as bullying and loneliness. Why do you think that being open about yourself in this way is important?
SD – We’re all real people with real emotions – not all of them positive. I’d feel I would be doing a great dis-service to everyone if I pretended that life was always great. I hope that by sharing those times when God picked me up, dusted me off and set me back on my feet, others will be encouraged that God can and will do the same for them. I also want everyone to know that just because I stand up the front and talk it doesn’t mean I have life sorted – I am as much, if not more, a work in progress as everyone else is.
CF – I greatly admire and respect your openness as it isn’t easy standing there and opening up to nearly 200 people. I would now like to move on to the subject of attire. You have an interesting, dare I say it, idiosyncratic taste in clothes (I confess to being a man who wears a pair of jeans until they become a part of his legs). To what extent does your taste in clothes dovetail [sorry, couldn’t resist that] with your personality?
SD – Clothes are possibly my greatest weakness, it’s like your body is a canvas and you get to choose each day what the painting looks like. I think what I wear is an expression of my personality. I wear things that make me happy and that I feel comfortable in, they may not conform to classical standards for masculine attire but I’ve never let those kind of things hold me back.
CF – Very poetic Mr Dove. What is your favourite book from the Bible and why?
 SD – Strangely perhaps I love Genesis. It’s the book where we see how perhaps the world came into being which points to the magnificence of God. Then it’s an eclectic mix of the first humans attempts at living with God, such a rich catalogue of inspiration. Isaiah comes a close second!
CF –   Bravo. I have had a few uncomfortable moments in bible classes over Genesis (Nod paradox etc). However, whatever position you take on the literalism versus symbolism debate of the early chapters, the description of the early earth is pretty amazing, especially as one can assume Moses was not an astro-physicist. I also like Isaiah. Chapter 53, for me, is one of the most powerful and moving chapters of the Old Testament – it really makes me think. And what is your favourite verse?
SD – Apart from all the ones that make me laugh that never get read out in church it would have to be Colossians 3:12-14 from the Message translation:
“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offence. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”
 It’s a beautiful passage that lays out the life God envisages for us, emulating the way Christ lived. I love the concept of love being a ‘basic, all-purpose garment’. It also inspired my first tattoo, but that’s another story for another time.
CF – Lovely, truly delightful and thought-provoking verses. As for the tattoo, my wife Sally loves Kenya and has a map of the country tattoed on her left bicep. She will show you it if you ask her nicely. Next, one of my favourites (other than Natalie not wishing she could become a gnat). If you were an animal, what would it be and why?  
SD – I’ve often wondered about being a zebra – but that’s mainly because of their snazzy monochrome attire. 
CF – So not a Dove then?
SD – Nope
CF - Not sure about a Zebra though. All they do is hang around in the heat until they become a lion’s dinner. Now, what is the favourite part of your job?
SD – Journeying alongside people as they walk with God, it’s a privilege to be with others as they make steps forward in faith. It’s also a complete joy to plant a church. Working with some absolutely wonderful people on this spirit led mission is amazing, what an opportunity to shape a church from scratch and hopefully bring God’s love to a new housing development!
CF – and the least?
SD – The amount of cake has definitely been detrimental to my waistline, hence taking up boot camp.  
CF – So you are definitely a “have your cake and eat it man”. I have many food weaknesses – primarily chocolate, scotch eggs and stinky cheese (though not all together). Sally’s suggestion of “why don’t you snack on dried apricots?” doesn’t really cut it. To me, eating that “stuff” would be like going to La Gavroche and eating a stale bread roll. Next, tell me about a memory that has a particular resonance with you – good or bad:
SD – when I was 13 I had the opportunity to go with my school choir to New York. It was amazing, one of those once in a lifetime trips that you never quite forget! At certain points we were given freedom to explore parts of the city and had the opportunity to sing in some cool places. This was followed by tours to Venice & Salzburg and then Paris & Barcelona. So many memories!
CF – Wow! My school choir never went anywhere. My music teacher once said my singing reminded him of the noise made when someone turns off a vacuum cleaner (praise indeed!) So, a tricky one: what is good about the Church of England and what needs to change?
SD – I love how broad it is, I like to think that there really is something for everyone. Which is how it’s meant to be surely? If we’re going to make the bold claim that we’re the Church OF England we’ve got to be open to anyone in England popping through the door. Which I guess leads me to what needs to change. I think we’re still working on accepting people for who they are and for accepting new ideas and ways of doing things. But then I would say that, I’m a pioneer.
CF – Totally with you on that. What do you regard as your great likes and dislikes?
SD – Likes: Chocolate deserves a mention, although I’m starting to prefer savoury to sweet so bread and cheese should get be noted. Music is a big love of mine. An evening with good friends and a good bottle of wine or prosecco – that’s bliss!
Dislikes: Definitely bananas and peanuts – they both make me feel really sick! Uncomfortable clothing and hot weather would have to be added to that. Discrimination, exploitation, bullying and any act by humans that isn’t loving, all make me so irate. We’re better than that. 
CF – Cheese and prosecco – now you’re talking. Agree on your non-food dislikes. To be fair, things have improved somewhat. I still cringe when I think of some 1970s “comedy” shows and stand-up “comedians”. In the mid-eighties, I was twice driven out of jobs by bullying management (that probably wouldn’t happen now in Financial Services). My boss at a metal broking firm pushed me to the edge of a breakdown (and to my horror, she became one of my Clients ten years later!!). Ok and finally, sum yourself up in fewer than 20 words
SD – oh gosh – my twitter bio is: “Lay Pioneer for the Ely Team. Leader of ChristChurch Ely. Music Lover. Coffee Drinker. Skinny Jean Enthusiast. Follower of Jesus” will that do?
CF – That is a great summary. Many thanks for your time Stephen

​CF – So what have you been up to Natalie?
NA – In a big picture kind of way I would answer that question by saying, I’ve been trying to live out and focus on my relationship with God, my family and others as well as myself. Some areas have been attended to more fully than others this week.
It’s now Friday, the week has been varied, I’ve been leading and preaching, worshipping God, praying and reading, had various pastoral visits, different meetings such as exploring the vision of Children’s and Youth Work at St James’ Stretham and today preparing reports for our annual general meetings. I have spent time with my family, but my day off tomorrow will be more family focused. I went to the cinema this week to see the film LION (really recommend it but do take tissues!). I’m now catching up on emails as I turned up to my weekly Pilates class and it was cancelled this am!
CF – I am not sure about adults playing Pirates, but hey. Tell me a bit about your pre-Ely life, your family and how you ended up here:
NA – Well I trained at Ridley Hall, Cambridge a few years ago and then went back to Leicestershire where I grew up. My family and I were in some churches in Loughborough before coming to Ely. My husband first saw the advert for my current role in the Church Times and when I saw it and had a conversation with Chris Hill on the phone I was keen to apply. My husband and I prayed about it and when I was offered the role and met with Bishop Stephen we sensed God was calling us to Ely.
CF – What is your favourite book from the Bible and why?
NA – It has to be John’s gospel because it’s the gospel that made me realise that Jesus wasn’t just an interesting character but my Saviour, my Healer and My Lord. I love the way that the more you chew and meditate on John’s gospel the more you see and encounter.
CF –   And mine, and Chris H’s. It is truly amazing. And what is your favourite verse?
NA –Having just preached on Sunday on John 3:1-17 Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus, I love the reminder in 3:8 that the Spirit blows where it pleases. An encouragement that when we give our hearts (not just our heads) to Jesus he gives us new life, the hope of eternal life and his Spirit works in us in ways we don’t always understand, transforming us from within so that we might daily receive Jesus into our lives,  becoming all we are called to be in Christ and impacting the world around us.
 CF – Wonderfully poetic. If you were an animal, what would it be?  
NA – Well not really an animal – a bird…..a humming bird!
(Because – they are small yet bright and vibrant, and have a unique way of making sound with their wings….I love the fact that we are all made differently by God and we all have a part to play in life’s great orchestra – the humming bird reminds me that God wants me to be me and not a carbon copy of someone else.)
CF – So not a knat then?
NA – No!! (Laughs)
CF – what is the favourite part of your job?
NA – Seeing Christ being birthed in individuals’ lives and seeing lives transformed especially those who are struggling in any kind of way. I also love enabling others to go deeper in Spiritual practices. I enjoy thinking and hopefully putting into practice the ways in which the Church can live out her calling and flourish in the 21st Century.
CF – and the least?
NA – Meetings for the sake of meetings!
CF – Agreed. I am the world’s number one hater of meetings, unless there is a stated purpose, a clear desired outcome and everybody is fully prepped. Next, a little bird told me that you an astonishingly accomplished skier. Care to elaborate?  
NA – Well maybe not accomplished!!! I went skiing for the first time last year, I was doing really well, the ski instructor was impressed J Just as I was feeling rather proud, I started to whizz down the slope like something out of Wallace and Gromit….ending in a heap….the next day I got smacked in the face by the button lift!! The moral of that story is?????
CF – Well I think the moral of that story is always wear a suit of armour when skiing and avoid buttons. Next, a trickier one. What is good about the Church of England and what needs to change?
NA – I love the way the Church of England as the Established Church and with the Parish model has access to the communities it finds itself in in very privileged ways. For example through local schools and through weddings, funerals and baptisms, as well as other aspects of community life. It means that the Church still has a presence and potentially a voice in our parishes. As the Established church it is still expected that we will be present in various forums including the House of Lords, this is a gift.
In terms of what needs to change, I think that when we consider the ‘future’ of the church we need to ensure that we don’t allow perceived lack of finances and scarcity to be our focus, but to keep the main thing the main thing, asking ourselves what does it mean to be Church as opposed to a corporate organization and what would Jesus do with a lack of resources?
CF – What do you regards as you great likes and dislikes?
NA – Likes – I Love travelling and exploring – loved India – visiting the Diocese of Trichy.  Like creativity. Healing and wholeness – seeing lives transformed through Jesus. Interested in New Monasticism and passionate about spirituality in our everyday lives….in order that we might be sent out into the world to join in with what God is already doing!
Love walking the dog and spending time with family and close friends.
Dislikes - Capers!! And Peanuts (well I like them but am allergic to them!). Injustice, inequality, abuse of power, insincerity and falsehood!
CF – Marvellous. Finally, sum yourself up in fewer than 20 words
NA – Calm yet passionate with an inner lioness that gets out sometimes.
CF – Hence the reason you want to see Lion? Well I will keep away from that lioness when it is feeding time. Thank-you for very much Natalie

CF – So what have you been up to Chris?
CH – preparing Alpha, preparing sermons, leading and speaking at four services on Sunday, driving my daughter to Canterbury and carving out time to pray.
CF – What gets you out of bed in the morning?
CH – I love seeing people come to faith in Jesus, realising that God has gifted them to take a role in His Kingdom and encouraging people to practice and develop those gifts in the church.
CF – Lovely summary. How was your Christmas? Highlights?
CH – It was very family oriented – all three children were with us – the highlights were watching the film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them” in Bury, and spending New Year’s Eve with friends.
CF – Not sure why anybody would want to go beast hunting in Bury, but hey. This is a toughie so sorry.  Is it true that you leave your dirty socks lying around on the floor?
CH – Nope – I value my relationship with Debbie far too highly to take that risk!!!
CF – Very diplomatic. What is your favourite book from the Bible and why?
CH – I love John – he brings to life the drama, the passion, the energy of the gospel.
CF – Mine too. It just seems to manifest beauty, power and truth. And what is your favourite verse?
CH – Isaiah 40:31
“but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.”
CF – Is it true you never win an argument with your children?
CH – Yes. These days – it was different before they went to primary school!
CF – I know the feeling! Much has been made of 2016 as a year of shocks – BREXIT, Trump in particular. Thoughts?
CH – The world seems like a much more divided and unloving place after Brexit and Trump. I want to play my part in including everyone in God’s family – the safest but most audacious family in the world.  I’m looking forward to Michelle Obama’s election as president in 2020. 
CF – I agree. Should she stand, I hope it doesn’t go the same way as Hillary!
Choose one of two – hotel or camping; summer or winter; Italian or French cuisine; Bach or Wagner; Blue or Boyzone?
CH – Hotel, Summer, French Cuisine, Bach, Blue (but only in preference to Boyzone!)
CF – I love Bach, especially Jesu Joy of Our Desiring. You speak passionately about reaching out, stretching ourselves and moving out of our comfort zone. How can we best achieve this?
CH –  By taking care every day of our relationship with Jesus. Spending time with him so that he can fill us with his love, his Spirit, his vision, his reassurance, his healing….. fill to overflowing – so that we can then bring that to all those we engage with during our days.
CF – What do you love about your job and what do you find less enjoyable and why?
CH – I love developing people – I love building partnerships with complementary organisations – schools, councils, Cap etc – I love listening to other Christian leaders – McManus, Hybels, Gumbel, Ortberg – for inspiration – I love preaching and leading – I love sitting down with one person to listen  and pray and to walk with someone on their journey of faith. I really don’t like committees, institutions – did I say committees? I’m a really bad choice for school governor.
CF – I bet you don’t miss the City!! What do you feel God has gifted you to do in His Church?
CH - Well I’m a bit of an all-rounder really – reasonable at lots of things – but not outstanding at anything. However, I do feel my main gifting is to help people find faith, find their place in the family of God, find their gifting and encourage them to get on with it – within the context of the church and our community.
CF - How do you express that at St Mary’s?
CH - Well its difficult sometimes – because there is a lot of day-to-day work that needs to be
done – just to keep the kettle boiling – but I do try to spend as much time as possible face-to-
face with people.
CF - How do you feel about the impact it makes?
CH - I just love it when lives are transformed  by God and if I get to play a very small part in that I’m as happy as!
CF - Would you recommend others doing try this particular role?
CH - We send a steady stream of people to discern their vocation – lay and ordained – and I
always love having those conversations.
CF – Sum yourself up in fewer than 20 words
CH – I want to change the world – but by encouraging not controlling – I am an optimist and I look for people to partner with on the journey. (and I can’t count to 20).
CF – Thank-you for time