We welcomed Revd Jeongsook Kim as our Pastoral Minister, also covering Caversham, from September 2023. Jeongsook is from Korea, but has lived in this country for some 20 years; she was previously Methodist minister in Leamington Spa. She will work with our Associate Minister Revd Jackie Case, who lives in Woodley and has been working with us since summer 2021.
Former Ministers
Former ministers, taken from both the URC and the Methodist church, have included hymn-writer Peter Jarvis and Bernard Arnold, the Methodist minister at the time of formation of Christ Church in 1982. He was followed by evangelist Bill Mason and then Audrey Simpson who moved on to be circuit superintendant elsewhere. She was followed by scientist Mike Hill, who left in 2008, after seven years, to take up an appointment in the High Wycombe Circuit. Our Minister from September 2009 until March 2019 was URC minister Martyn Neads. He helped set up a culture of games and quizzes at Christ Church. He was on sabbatical in autumn 2018 studying the character of Jesus in movies. He is married to Lynn, with a young son Alex. He was previously based in Plymouth and left to move to Swanage, with URC churches there and in Wareham and Poole.
Our pastoral minister from May 2019 until May 2022 was Revd Dr James Mather. He is a semi-retired minister now living, with his wife Jane, just north of Caversham. James worked as an architect before entering the ministry with the Church of Scotland in London. He worked with the Methodist Church in Chelsea and had been taking care of a URC church in Kensington. David Shaw was then in pastoral charge until July 2023 when he retired.
After Mike, our Interim Moderator until the next appointment was Gordon Connell. Gordon was at the time unpaid URC Minister, working also in the library at Reading University. Helping out with the pastoral work was Valerie Fisher who had recently retired from full time Methodist ministry.
Our ministers work with the local Methodist circuit, even if from the URC tradition. We were part of the Reading and Silchester Circuit and from 31st August 2014 became part of the larger Basingstoke and Reading Circuit (26/4).