Holidays on the Northumberland coast inspired Reverend Christian Mitchell to become the new vicar of Alnwick, after first visiting the town in 2016.
The reverend, who prefers to be called Mitch, has visited Alnwick a lot as it is the place where his wife Vicky grew up, and he has become quite accustomed to it.
As he visited the town more frequently, Mitch found himself feeling very much at home, and upon learning of a vacancy in the town last year he got in touch.
Read more: Newcastle newlyweds to spend their honeymoon cleaning toilets at Glastonbury
In May, Mitch was installed as vicar of St Michael's Church after moving up from East Sussex, where he had previously served nine years of ministry in the Diocese of Chichester.
Mitch has spoken about his feelings soon after beginning his new role, and what the best parts of it have been for him so far.
“I am very happy to be here, I’ve had a lovely welcome and very much feel that God has called me to Alnwick. I can see already that there is a lot of potential here. I’m enjoying getting to know people and I want to spend time to listen, discern and pray, to see where the spirit is leading us. I believe it is an exciting time," he said.
“The church activities are great and they also provide a way for us to strengthen our relationship with our baptism families. There is so much opportunity for this church to be a real centre of excellence in so many areas."
Mitch has a self-confessed love and passion for music and, with a congregation of 50-60 people every Sunday, he was surprised to learn that there is currently no choir at St Michael’s.
He added: “I came to faith by singing in choirs at school. I have previously introduced a junior choir elsewhere, and I’d like to see more opportunities for people to sing and make music together here at Alnwick.”
