Mid Loes Benefice - who are we?
The Revd Dr Stephen Brian
Stephen was licensed by the Bishop of Dunwich as Priest-In-Charge of the Earl Soham and Charsfield benefices at a service in Earl Soham Parish Church on 4th September 2007. When the benefices are formally united later this year, he will be instituted and inducted as the first Rector of the new benefice.
Stephen’s spiritual journey began at All Saints Church, Laleham, in Middlesex, in what was probably the largest church youth group in the country in the nineteen-sixties and -seventies. Many members went on to become ministers, ordained and lay.
Stephen trained as a teacher in Brighton and taught Religious Studies in an urban comprehensive school in Luton for two years, followed by three years at another, large comprehensive school in Newbury, Berkshire. Training for ordination followed at the Queen’s College, Birmingham - an institution which still takes ordinands from the Anglican, Methodist and United Reformed Churches. Stephen met and married Liz at Queen’s before moving to Lancashire to serve a three-year curacy at St Paul’s Scotforth, followed by nine years as the Vicar of Freckleton, on the Fylde coast.
This was followed by a move south to serve another nine years as the Vicar of Bagshot in Surrey. Stephen left this post to move to a school chaplaincy in Wantage, a position which came to an abrupt end when the school closed one year after Stephen’s arrival!
Stephen has maintained an interest in education, both practical and theoretical throughout his ministry. He initially completed a BEd degree from Sussex University, followed by a postgraduate Diploma in Theology from Birmingham. He later completed an MA in Educational Studies with the Open University, and an MPhil by research into the theology of education with Lancaster University. Later still Stephen researched the Alpha course for a PhD awarded by the School of Educational Studies at Surrey University.
Stephen has been a tutor for Readers in Blackburn Diocese and for Ordinands in training with the Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme, as well as an examiner for AQA. He publishes occasional articles in academic journals and is a specialist book reviewer for the journal Theology (SPCK).
To relax, Stephen enjoys watching football, playing golf (badly), fishing, walking, reading murder mysteries, and looking after two enormous tropical fish.
Stephen and Liz (a careers officer) have three daughters: Sally who has just gained a degree in Social Policy from Bristol University, Jenny who is seventeen and has just started in year 13 at Thomas Mills, and Mary who is 14 and has just started in year 10. All are looking forward to meeting new friends and exploring a new county.