John has always been an advocate of the need for the Methodist Church to work ecumenically. His experience in urban areas has also led him to the conviction that we need to be willing to work with people of all faith and no faith for the sake of God’s kingdom. Developing ways of working in teams of both lay and ordained people where they work together to share ministry, leadership and responsibility is important to John. He has a particular concern to encourage a culture of life long learning in the church so that Christians are more confident about relating discipleship to daily life.

John is married to Mary, a teacher who currently works as a curriculum manager in a Further Education College. They have three children, David, Jennie and Peter. He enjoys reading detective novels and has recently started to learn about the world of digital photography.