Glencraig Parish welcomes its new rector
The parishioners of Glencraig in the Diocese of Down, have welcomed Revd Simon Richardson as their new rector. Bishop Harold Miller instituted Simon whilst Revd Graham Spence, a friend and former parishioner of Hillsborough Parish, gave the address at the service on 18 June.
About Simon
Simon Richardson was born in Bedford, and expected to live his whole life in England; but while studying theology in Durham, he met Moyra Gray, daughter of the late Revd Henry Gray, a Presbyterian minister from Belfast, and they have been married for sixteen years, with two children, Erin (13) and Patrick (11).
Although not from a Christian background, Simon has always had an awareness of and relationship with God, and became a Christian when he was 21. Having worked as a nurse, and in hospitality and in an office environment, he trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, and has also studied theology in Canterbury and Belfast. Having served a curacy in Kent, he was (to his surprise) invited to be curate in Hillsborough, later becoming Rector. He went to be curate in Holywood to facilitate post–graduate study focussing on the Temple of Zion, and is embarking on a PhD studying Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious, and how this could promote communication of the Christian faith to the unchurched in the 21st century.
Simon is genuinely thrilled to be the new Vicar of Glencraig. “I am looking forward to engaging with traditional Anglican life and worship in Glencraig Parish Church, but also to connecting with those living in Craigavad and beyond who do not yet know the Lord Jesus, helping the parish to express His love for them, and enabling different opportunities to experience the call to conversion that God extends to those he is calling.”
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