Hello. I’m Mark James and I’m Assistant Curate here at Great Dunmow and Barnston. I’ve been here since July 2005. A curate is basically a vicar in training and I shall be here ‘learning the trade’ for about three years before moving on to my own parish.

How have I come to be here? Well, it’s a long story but in short I am actually an Essex man having been born and bred in Southend-on-Sea. For a number of years I was a teacher in a comprehensive school in Hornchurch near Romford, where I taught Geography and Information Technology. I ended up as Assistant Head Teacher with responsibility for the Curriculum and Assessment. Round about the year 2001 I felt that God was calling me out of teaching into something new, so after a lot of thought and reflection, I gave up my teaching job and went to train for the Church of England ministry in Cambridge.

Some people might suggest that I need my head examined! Giving up a good job, moving house, becoming a student once again, experiencing a complete change of lifestyle and all for what? Becoming a vicar! But to be honest I have never found the Christian faith to be boring or irrelevant and my faith in Jesus Christ gives me tremendous resources for living in the 21st century. I want to try and share something of that faith through my work here.