Having graduated in maths from Glasgow University, I decided to spread the Scottish accent further afield, lecturing English in Lithuania to business and tourism students.  After a year, I progressed to lecturing phonetics to trainee English teachers, before returning to Scotland to train as a maths and computer science teacher.  I taught at a school in Middlesex for 5 years, resigning as Director of ICT to work as an analyst programmer for Tearfund. 

While there, I married Carolyn, shortly after she completed her training as a vet at Cambridge.  We met some years previously on a short-term Tearfund trip to Kenya.  Carolyn prefers working with farm animals, so their shortage in London prompted a move to New Zealand for three years, during which time I undertook distance learning with London School of Theology.  On returning to the UK, I took on some part-time teaching roles in Derby while finishing my course and exploring the possibility of ordination. 

I started training for ordination in the Church of England at Ridley Hall in Cambridge in 2013, completing a one-year Certificate in Theology for Ministry in 2014, and starting an MA to be completed by September 2015.  This means I will still be working on my dissertation when I start in Belper, so I’ll need to balance my time between work and study.  While I was in Cambridge, Carolyn remained in Derby, working mainly with cattle, and travelling down to Cambridge most weekends during term time to see me, as my attachment at Trinity College Chapel did not allow me to travel back to Derby.  When in Derby, we used to worship at St Barnabas on Radbourne Street, and I was on placement with Andrew Race at St Peter’s in the City, Derby in September 2014.  We’re looking forward to getting settled in Belper with our timid house cats, Bonnie and Bo, getting to know everyone and joining in with what God’s doing there.