is husband to Rachel, and father of five wonderful (and noisy) children. His design company Absence/Presence has developed the Gospel Imprint website and is responsible for the graphics and illustrations in its publications. Gary spends most of his life exhausted. The times he’s not, he’s swimming, turning compost, listening to music, looking at art, or working as a graphic designer. He lives and works in West Berkshire having moved from West London. He has been a school governor responsible for Inclusion and Special Needs, and enjoyed participating in various community activities. Previously he worked in a homeless project and a ‘parachurch’ arts development project, where he would be found waxing lyrical about art, spirituality, culture, and philosophy. Gary has for years been involved in various church initiatives that come under the loose ‘Emerging Church’ label; organising conferences and workshops, scripting meditative services, advising groups and writing theology. Gary’s passions are art, music, creativity and imagination. He has spent years supporting the radical engagement of art, science and culture, believing deeply in connections and not divisions. One day he plans to achieve global domination, but first he just needs a little sleep.
www.absence-presence.co.uk
The Rt Revd Stephen Conway, SCP
is a patron of Gospel Imprint. He was ordained priest in 1987 and spent all of his parish ministry in the Diocese of Durham. He also served as Diocesan Director of Ordinands and as Bishop’s Senior Chaplain. In 2002 he became the Archdeacon of Durham and the Canon Treasurer of its Cathedral. In 2007 he was consecrated bishop and became Bishop of Ramsbury. Stephen grew up in multi-cultural South London, read Modern History at Keble College, Oxford, and trained as a teacher before training for the ministry at Westcott House in Cambridge, where he also read Theology. Formed principally within the Anglican catholic tradition, his outlook has been shaded by positive experience of other traditions, such as the charismatic movement. Stephen is a trustee and past chairman of Affirming Catholicism and a member of the Society of Catholic Priests. He has a passionate interest in mental health and is the Chair of the Trustees of Mental Health Matters. He is a keen walker, enjoys rugby and cricket as a spectator, the cinema , especially making the connection between faith and film. He reads theology and history at any time and thrillers late at night. He enjoys cooking and inflicting the results on others.
The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, SCP
is the Bishop of Reading and a patron of Gospel Imprint. He has worked in parishes in London and Chichester, as Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral, as Missioner in the Wakefield Diocese, and as part of Springboard – the Archbishop’s evangelism team. He is a founder member of the Church of England’s College of Evangelists and serves on its governing body. He also chairs the Church of England’s Religion in Media Group. He has written widely about evangelism and spirituality, especially from a catholic perspective. His latest books are: From the Abundance of the Heart: Catholic Evangelism for all Christians (DLT, 2006), Do Nothing to Change your Life: discovering what happens when you stop (CHP, 2007), and a collection of children’s stories entitled The Adventures of Naughty Nora (BRF, 2008). He is married to Rebecca and they have three boys. When he’s not bishoping or writing books, he’s cooking, attempting to paint, playing the guitar, or busy with the joys of being a dad.
The Revd Dr Lida Ellsworth, SCP
was born and raised in the U.S. and came to England in 1970 to do a doctorate at Cambridge on the nineteenth century Ritualists. Inspired by such Anglo-catholic heroes as Keble, Lowder and Stanton, she has served in parochial ministry since her ordination in 1988. In a wider sphere, she was a member of Affirming Catholicism’s national steering committee from 1992 to 1994 and took an active part in diocesan debates preceding the vote to ordain women to the priesthood. She is the author of Charles Lowder and the Ritualist Movement (DLT, 1983), a contributor to The New Dictionary of National Biography, an occasional reviewer for The Church Times, author or editor of a volume of sermons, parish guidebook, and assorted magazine articles, and recently has written a (as yet unpublished) novel. She is editor-in-chief of Gospel Imprint. R&R include cycling, walking on the moors, birdwatching, music, reading (especially history and novels in French) and gardening with especial reference to wildlife.
writes for Gospel Imprint and is Archdeacon of Cleveland, the northern part of the Diocese of York which includes Middlesbrough, the moors, and several market towns from Thirsk to Whitby. He grew up in Birkenhead and read Music as Organ Scholar of New College, Oxford. After a period of schoolteaching (and a research project that never came to fruition) he studied for ordination at Westcott House and King’s College, Cambridge. He served his title at St Mary’s, Chester, moving to Westminster Abbey where he was Chaplain and then Precentor, and then to York Minster as a residentiary canon. He was appointed Archdeacon in 2001, in addition to which he is Warden of Readers for the diocese and participates in their training. He was a co-author of the hymn-choosing companion Sing God’s Glory (Canterbury Press). For some years he was secretary to the House of Bishops Theological Group, and maintains a particular interest in Scandinavia and the Church of England’s partnership with the Nordic Churches. Paul and his wife Penny have two sons and a daughter (all musical but otherwise wonderfully different characters). He walks, cycles and goes to the gym very inconsistently. He admits to finding grocery shopping therapeutic.
graduated in Theology from the University of Leeds after studying at Leeds Trinity and All Saints, where she subsequently took up a year’s post as Assistant College Chaplain. She is married to Kevin and mother to Kaitlin, with whom she enjoys sharing an extensive ministry of hospitality. Anne currently works both as Learning Mentor in a Roman Catholic primary school in Leeds and as a funeral arranger. In her spare time she runs a Brownie Pack, helps Kevin to run a church youth group, and loves reading and doing all sorts of crafts. While waiting to find out what else God has in store for her, she is production executive for Gospel Imprint.
is Precentor of Truro Cathedral, a director of Affirming Catholicism, and liturgy project leader for Gospel Imprint. He has spent all his ordained ministry in Cornwall, including a period as Domestic Chaplain to Bishop Michael Ball, and seven years as Director of Ministerial Training. As cathedral canons tend to do, he has acquired a large number of chaplaincies, including the Royal British Legion and a local retreat house. Perran is passionate about the transforming power of worship, and enjoys devising all kinds of services, from the installation of a bishop to a celebration of the music of Elvis Presley. He is married to Rainy, a psychiatric nurse, and together they enjoy walking and birdwatching, especially along the Cornish coast; travel to unexpected parts of the world; and the constant challenge of living with four cats.
was part of the inaugural team which developed Gospel Imprint. She became Dean of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 2005, before which she was Rector of the Benefice of Gamlingay and Everton in the Diocese of Ely. In her life before ordination she was a classicist with a special interest in the writings of the ancient historians, especially Caesar and Livy. She spends as much of her spare time as possible tending her ever-growing collection of tropical orchids; she also enjoys birdwatching and keeping fit, and watches Arsenal play at the Emirates Stadium as often as she can afford.
is Coordinator of the leaflet project for Gospel Imprint and has served on the governing bodies of both the Society of Catholic Priests and Affirming Catholicism. His sense of vocation to priesthood has persisted since it came up in conversation with the Vicar when Mark was still a treble in the church choir. Since then he read Law (at what was then Leicester Polytechnic) and has worked in a variety of settings including British Gas, and the British Council where he ended up specialising as in employment relations and managing human resource projects. He was in his thirties before he was allowed anywhere near a seminary and was prepared for holy orders at the College of the Resurrection at Mirfield, when he graduated (from the University of Leeds, with the Armes Prize). He is now Vicar of St Wilfrid’s Halton, a parish in east Leeds that includes the Halton Moor social housing estate and part of the golf course on the grounds of Templenewsam Park, not that that Mark plays golf or any other kind of dangerous sport, though he has been known to get his bicycle out now and again when it isn’t raining.
is Vicar of Betws-y-Coed and Capel Curig with Penmachno with Dolwyddelan in the Diocese of Bangor, and was part of the inaugural team which developed Gospel Imprint. He is a graduate of the universities of York and Oxford. He has served in parishes in Hull and Ifield and as Chaplain of St John’s College, Cambridge, and was Chaplain among Deaf People when he served in the Diocese of Ely. Clive is a copywriter for the GI Christian Prayer leaflet series.
was the Director of Affirming Catholicism from 2004 to 2007. He read Theology at Oxford University and has a Masters Degree in Modern Theology from Leeds University where he focused on feminist developments. He trained for ordination at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. After serving two curacies in Yorkshire, he worked for five years in the UK Central Government, particularly developing policy on the voluntary and community sector policy. He lives in London and works across England as a freelance consultant and researcher, specialising in facilitation and organisational development, and making policy on capacity building and investment in the third sector. Richard was part of the initial project team which conceived, designed and developed Gospel Imprint, and has written for the GI Christian Faith leaflet series. He is interested in the interface between contemporary spirituality and psychology, and the role of faith groups in delivering social action. He continues to study, think and write on these themes.
The Revd Canon Dr Charlotte Methuen
is Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in the Theology Faculty at the University of Oxford, specialising in the history of the Reformation. Her main areas of research are the intellectual history of the Reformation, and twentieth-century ecumenical relations. She has also worked on many aspects of the history of the ministry of women in the Church. Charlotte studied mathematics at Cambridge and theology at Edinburgh, where she also completed her doctorate. She has taught in a number of German universities. She was Diocesan Director of Training in the Diocese in Europe and currently assists in the Old Catholic parish in Bottrop, Germany. Charlotte is Canon Theologian of the Cathedral and Diocese of Gloucester. She serves on the Church of England’s Faith and Order Advisory Group, is a member of the Meissen Commission and of the Anglican Lutheran International Commission. She has published widely in historical theology and Church History, and is the author of If you love something, let it go ... Reflections for Ash Wednesday to Pentecost (Inspire). Charlotte is theological editor of Gospel Imprint and a member of the Editorial Board. Between working at her desk or travelling between Oxford and Germany, she is hoping to find time to resume her ballroom dancing classes with her husband, Robert.
www.charlotte-methuen.dehas written for the GI Christian Prayer leaflet series and is Rural Officer for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. In a varied ministry he has been Chaplain at Nottingham University, Residential Canon of Southwell Minister, Director of Post-Ordination and Reader Training, and Rector of St Peter and St James, a city centre church in Nottingham. After returning to his native North Yorkshire, he has served as advisor on rural life and ministry for the last eight years. He continues to be involved with ministry matters at diocesan and national level, being a course moderator for the Ministry Division of the Church of England. He has been actively involved for over forty years with a care charity which offers respite care for those with physical and learning difficulties, and which also runs a number of children’s homes. He is keen on birdwatching and cooking, latterly having been part of a duo known as the Cooking Canons, providing entertaining cooker demonstrations at local shows to draw attention to the needs of the farming community and the work of farming charities. He is married to Georgina who teaches theology. They share their home with two cats and a dog.
was ordained in the Diocese of York in 1993, after training at the College of the Resurrection at Mirfield; he was then a chaplain at Cardiff University (Diocese of Llandaff) where he took his doctorate in continental philosophy, before teaching philosophy at Liverpool Hope University. Paul was until recently Principal of the Salisbury diocesan Ordained Local Ministry Scheme before this merged into the ecumenical Southern Theological and Education Training Scheme (STETS), and he is now a STETS and diocesan staff member developing with others pre- and post-ordination Initial Ministerial Education, with particular concern for Anglican and priestly formation. Paul is married to Jo, who is a lecturer at Winchester University and (as Joanne Pearson) researches and publishes on British Wicca.
is the author of Sensing the Passion (published by Upper Room and Triangle) and Women on the Way (Triangle). He was a contributor to three other books: Called to Be Saints (CTBI), This is Our Calling (SPCK), and Consuming Passion (DLT). His book Into Your Hands is published in November 2008, to be followed in 2009 by Five Impossible Things to Believe Before Christmas (both BRF). He is a reader for Gospel Imprint and helped to develop the series from early days. Kevin is a Church of England priest, having served all his ministry in inner-city London. He is currently the Rector of St Matthew’s, Bethnal Green in the East End of London. Previously he was the Vocations Advisor and Director of Ordinands for the Bishop of Stepney. A former actor and journalist, he has written ten stage works which have had productions in Britain and Australia. Two radio plays, A Grain of Rice and Verbal Assaults, have been broadcast in Ireland and Australia respectively. He is married to Adey Grummet, author of Suddenly He Thinks He’s a Sunbeam (Triangle).
is a writer and reader for Gospel Imprint and was part of the initial project team which conceived, designed and developed the concept. She is Rector of the Ascension Church, Hulme in Manchester, and has served in Manchester Diocese since 1988. She was elected to the Church of England General Synod in 2005, and serves on the Council of Wescott House in Cambridge as Synod Representative. Her interests in ministry centre on encouraging vocations to ordination and reader ministry. She has been a Bishops’ Selector for ordination and an Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Manchester since 1993. Clergy training and retreat work are also areas of ministry she is involved with when time allows. Having worked as a university chaplain for eight years, she continues to be concerned with student life and higher education. On the personal front, she is a continuous and compulsive reader in areas too numerous to mention. She loves fine art, most kinds of music and has a lifelong love of Roy Orbison. She hates football and is computer illiterate.
The Revd Canon David Sharples, SCP
was brought up and lived in Manchester for most of his life. He read Theology at King’s College, London and trained for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. Altogether he served in parish ministry for twenty years – as a parish priest in Royton, Oldham where he was also a hospice chaplain and area dean. He was appointed Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Ordained Local Ministry Development Officer in 2002. He cannot imagine a greater privilege than being a priest called to share in others’ joys and sorrows and (as Michael Ramsey used to say) to be before God with your people on your heart. Amid the challenges and difficulties facing the Church and in an increasingly polarised world he believes we need to maintain the Anglican way of patience, forbearance and mutual respect, and, without losing sight of the agony of God’s world, to retain our sense of fun and playfulness. He enjoys reading, cooking, travelling, cinema, theatre, walking, and TV, and is a season ticket holder at Manchester City – not always much fun! David is a writer for the GI Christian Life leaflet series.
The Revd Geoffrey Thompson, SCP
is Senior Curate of Croydon Parish Church in south London, Communications Officer for the Society of Catholic Priests and will represent the European Provincial Council on the Gospel Imprint Editorial Board. He is a graduate of St Peter’s College, Oxford and, after studying at the South East Institute for Theological Education, has served in the Diocese of Southwark since 2002. He is stimulated by London, architecture and railways.
The Most Revd Carlos Touche-Porter
is the Presiding Bishop of La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico and Bishop of Mexico. Born in the port of Frontera, in the State of Tabasco, he has been Dean of the Seminary of San Andrés in Mexico City, the oldest Anglican theological institution in the Spanish-speaking world. In Mexico City he founded the Church of Santa Maria Virgen in Iztapalapa, one of the largest Anglican congregations in Mexico. After more than thirty years of ordained ministry, he was consecrated as Bishop of Mexico in 2002. He writes for journals in Mexico and internationally. Archbishop Carlos is a Patron of Gospel Imprint.
is Vicar of the Parish of St James, Sussex Gardens in central London. He was previously Rector of Holy Innocents’, Fallowfield in the Diocese of Manchester. He has initiated and brought to completion three major reordering projects and has a special interest in the presentation of the liturgy as the Church’s ‘shop-window’. He aims for (and maybe achieves) decent liturgy, good music, and intelligent preaching. He works in a team of four priests, two of whom are NSMs, in a diverse cosmopolitan area containing many different faiths. Bill has written for the GI leaflet series, Christian Prayer.
is the Parish Priest of Saint John Chrysostom with Saint Andrew in Peckham, South London and Area Dean of Camberwell. After reading Theology at New College, Oxford he worked as a researcher for the Westminster Ethical Policy Forum, as a pastoral assistant at a school on the Peabody Estate in London, and then as Administrator to the Headteacher at the same school, before going to train before ordination at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. Toby is passionate about mission and liturgy. As a Vice-Chair of the national Round Table for Catholic and Contemplative Fresh Expressions and also as a member of the Southwark Diocesan Board for Mission, he is committed to developing catholic mission within the Church of England. He has experienced a number of parish missions and mission initiatives and is especially interested in the relation between ancient and new monasticism. Toby serves on the Board of Affirming Catholicism as Director for Gospel Imprint and with responsibility for Mission and Parish Development. Toby is delighted to be involved with the work of Gospel Imprintas a project which can have a real impact on simple catechesis in everyday parish life. His hobbies include cooking and reading political biographies. Among his other interests are the gym and following the England rugby squad.