I was brought up in the Scottish Highlands which has given me a great appreciation of how God speaks through the beauty of his creation – not least in the Yorkshire Dales! After working in Nigeria just after the Biafran War and then practising as a barrister in London for 23 years at the Chancery Bar, I was ordained in the Church of England in 1993.

In the course of my ministry I served as a chaplain on the Lee Abbey Devon community 1997-2002. Our time at Lee Abbey was a deeply enriching time for my wife Inger (from Norway) and myself, living and working as part of an international Christian community from a wide variety of countries, backgrounds and denominations (from Russian Orthodox to Ethiopian Pentecostal) united by our faith in Jesus Christ and committed to one another though our community promises. Our experience there of the threefold Lee Abbey ministry to be God’s welcome, to build community and to renew and serve the church gave us both a profound conviction of the importance of Christian residential communities such as Scargill.

I am a member of the Council of The Lee Abbey Movement and a trustee of the Lee Abbey Household Communities. We are now based in Devon and serve in our local churches and also help out regularly at Lee Abbey Devon. After the sadness of the news of the closure of Scargill last summer, I was delighted to be part of the steering group which negotiated the purchase of the House, and to see how wonderfully the Lord led and provided. I count it a great privilege to serve as one of the two Lee Abbey representatives on the Council of The Scargill Movement at this critically important period in the history of Scargill; and will much value your prayers.