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
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
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