A life in the Church of England seems an unlikely outcome from such Roman Catholic beginnings, but he owes that to his family. ‘My parents were not churchgoers, but they sent me to Sunday School when I was about four and I stayed with it. In the early years I think it was just part of the package of life, but there was never a time when I can’t remember having had some sort of Christian belief.’

Feeling at home in the church, Peter was 18 when he realised he wanted to take it one step further. He was a student not far from Hampton Hill at the West London Institute of Higher Education, in Osterley, now part of Brunel University. ‘As often happens when someone ends up being ordained, there’s a priest who’s particularly influential. In my case it was the local vicar, who was also the college chaplain. He conveyed the importance of the scriptures in a way that I hadn‘t heard before.’

In 1983, Peter went to Ripon College, Cuddesdon, to train for ordination, which then happened at the age of 24. His first posting was as curate in Kenton, Middlesex. ‘It was a little strange when I started wearing black and people’s perceptions of me changed immediately. I think that was the greatest challenge for me - being identified.’ Peter moved to Fleet, Hampshire, in 1990, before becoming vicar in Northwood Hills in 1993, and four years later at South Dulwich, before becoming Vice Dean and Canon Pastor at Wakefield Cathedral in 2005.

It might then seem surprising that he would want to replace the pomp and circumstance of a cathedral with parish life once again. ‘I do not believe that the church should be seen as a career. There is a proper place for ambition, but I’m not sure that the ordained ministry is the right place for it. I had 18 years in parish ministry and decided it was time to move from Dulwich after eight and was looking to do something different for a time. ‘What I think I discovered was the things I enjoyed doing most are things about the parish, and part of my Canon Pastor’s role was a lot of that, but at the same time not being in a position to lead a Christian community, to walk with it in faith, to grow with it, to help it to develop, to enter into visions already there and to see where they take us - and actually I miss that greatly. ‘One of the things about cathedrals that you do get are occasions like memorial services where the cathedral becomes the focal point for the whole community. But this is just the icing and not the cake and one can’t just live on the icing!’

Peter was attracted to Hampton Hill by the challenges. The parish profile explains that theologically and spiritually St James’ is within the liberal catholic tradition and the PCC was seeking an approachable priest with a happy disposition – someone who is a good listener and is able to relate to all sorts of people and their problems, whatever their age. Young people and children especially were identified as important for the future growth of the church.

Peter agrees. ‘I believe a parish communion is about bringing everybody together, right across the age range. It can be a celebration of all those different people and we should just be grateful that churches still have children in them. I want to do all I can to support them. ‘The parish profile gave a sense of there being practical tasks that people wanted to carry out, but also the PCC was concerned about having a wider vision and those two together are very appealing.

‘Being familiar with the area helped too. I was brought up in Hanwell, so there is a little bit of it that will feel like coming home. My aunt and uncle live in Hampton. My father was brought up in Fulwell Park Avenue, just across Fulwell golf course, so there are bits of familiarity. When I walked down the road from Fulwell Station to come to St James’ for the first time, I thought I can live and work in this kind of area. There are connections.’ Hopefully Peter’s beloved fox terrier Paddy will like the area too.

And having arrived, what are his priorities? ‘The important thing for me in the first few months is to get to know as many people as possible and to find out what’s going on here and not to presume. I remember a bishop once saying to me, “When you go somewhere new see what God has already put in people’s hearts before you get there”, which I think is very good. ‘This isn’t to say that there won’t be things that I’ll want to ask questions about, to challenge and change - but the greatest challenge for everyone is the change of personality - it’s not so much about what I do, it’s about who I am. So I want to adopt an approach that is very much about listening to people. In these months I will welcome comments and observations and I hope people will always feel that I’m there for them to talk to.’

Much of Peter’s philosophy stems from his experiences as a teenager. ‘I think for the whole of my life I’ve seen the church decline and when I was ordained I was determined that any church I was involved with would not decline. ‘The church I went to as a child until I was 18, where I was baptised and my parents were married, closed. Having seen a community die I know it can happen and I don’t want to see that. ‘There’s that image in the book of Ezekiel (37:1) about The Valley of Dry Bones, about making dry bones live and flesh and sinew grow, and I’ve always wanted to say, “Well how can dry bones live and does it have to be like this?”

‘I’m concerned about the future and I wonder what we can do to make sure there are some churches in a few years time. I would be sorry if there was no longer a place for churches which offered an ordered liturgy, formal thoughtful preaching and a range of music, both traditional and contemporary. I believe we need all of this because people are different. It’s about looking for the points of connection with people’s personal spirituality, so I guess it’s taking the old and looking at what there is now and asking how they connect. ‘If Christ is all in all then there must be a connection and it’s a question of looking at what that is and asking if the only way to do it is the kind of contemporary Evangelical way, or is there actually something more? I think there is something more.’

Evangelical churches, such as St Stephen’s in Twickenham, attract larger numbers of young people. Should St James’ follow suit? ‘I’ve learnt a great deal from evangelical churches and they obviously seem to be in the ascendancy at the moment, but I don’t think it is the only answer. ‘I come from people who want a different sort of spirituality, that’s perhaps more contemplative, more reflective, and is as much rooted in silence as in speech. ‘If one looks at the church in Western Europe (the only place in which it’s in decline) it’s much broader than just what’s happening in our own backyard. I think we need to have a wider vision and not to get too despondent.

The congregation at St James’ still represents a minority of residents in the parish, but Peter plans to help the church to reach out to more people. ‘I think schools in the parish are the natural centres for the community - indeed I have already been asked to do an Easter service at the junior school. If the church is seen to be visible in the community at least people may feel it is something for them as opposed to people who keep it as a kind of private chapel for themselves.

‘Many are drawn to the church at certain times in their lives, whether it be Christmas, or in time of war or after a disaster, and my hope is that the church will try to connect better with these people and inspire them to become regular worshippers. A warm welcome to newcomers always helps, as do friendly service papers and sermons that don’t try to be too clever, but at the same time offer some sort of challenge. I always try to think what there is for people to take away so that they will want to come back again. We need to look at what sort of literature we have; offering people who are new to the church some way in and explaining who we are.

‘The good news is that worldwide religion is not declining. A lot of people blame religion for the world’s problems. Religious terrorism is certainly not justified. But it’s a big mistake to blame religion for all the world’s wars. Unfortunately faiths can be distorted and people can believe their point of view is an absolute truth. They may even consider worthless those who disagree with them. For Christianity, this is a corruption of what we are supposed to be about. ‘I don’t see in Christ someone who is intent on castigating and rejecting in that way. Rather, he wants to see people’s lives lived fully and to be transformed, which is very different from wanting to see those lives ended. It’s about being life-enhancing rather than life-denying.

‘I think an effort has to be made to connect with everyone and Christ always offers the possibility of new life and new beginnings. An example is further marriage after divorce. ‘I know some would argue that the fact that in the Church of England divorcees can now remarry is a watering down. But I wouldn’t see it as such, because are we saying that divorce is the only thing you can never forgive? New beginnings can be expressed sometimes through a further marriage, rather than by saying “You can’t”, which means we shut the door on people. ‘Some people would see this as very liberal, but to me it’s just applying the fundamental principle of how Christ is, in new circumstances. If you forgive and allow people to find their own new life in each circumstance it’s not always easy, but I think that’s the challenge.’

Peter joins St James’ at the most important time of the year for the church. Does he think the message of Easter has been lost on some people in the 21st century? ‘Yes, I think so. More people come to church at Christmas than Easter. Perhaps people connect more easily because of the carols and the image of the baby in the manger. It’s more difficult when you’re talking about death and resurrection, but there is still the common theme of new life, new hope and new possibilities as we grow and change.’

Welcome ‘home’, Peter.

Source: The Spire Magazine, March 2007