Jeffrey has been our minister since 2009, before that in the West Country, in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Leicestershire.
‘I’ve also done lots of things for a living,’ he says. ‘My first ever job was as a commis chef (I still love cooking), then driver, warehouseman, tyre fitter, clerk, front of house manager in a theatre. Along the way, I’ve been Chair or Secretary or Treasurer for charities and voluntary bodies. I’m Chair of Trustees for our Ministers Pension Fund at present. In each kind of work I’ve tried to be an enthusiastic learner, to do the job to the best of my ability. So, I am a qualified tyre fitter (City and Guilds) and I have an HND in Business, as well as my qualifications for ministry.
‘I try to bring a wide mix of influences into our worship, poetry, sacred writing from many traditions, humour, a sense of awe and wonder. And I try to bring something interesting to talk about in the sermon.
‘As a Unitarian, I try to hold my beliefs lightly. Everything is provisional as none of us can know enough (at present anyway) to be sure that our understandings (however faithfully we hold them) truly describe our world, who we are, and what we are in relation to others. Trying to get spiritual and emotional insights about other faiths can be difficult, but it is always rewarding.
‘To do good, to do well, to love, to honour the dignity of people in the everyday — and to find delight and laughter in large measure, every day, these are how I hope to live and to do my ministry.’
