Radcliffe on Trent Methodist

Stephen Poxon (on the right) with David Walton

The Revd Stephen Poxon, President, introduces himself:

Born on 7 October 1951 in Beeston, Nottingham, I grew up in a Christian home. There were two influential groups in those early years - being part of the 17th Nottingham Boys Brigade Company and also belonging to Queens Road Methodist Church with a group of young people who grew together and shared in worship, pantomimes, social events and going away on holidays in the summer.

I responded to a call to preach when I was 17 and can still remember the first full service I led, with that cringing feel as I preached on the ‘Church: past, present and future’ in a little over 10 minutes!!

I enjoyed three very happy years at Manchester University from 1970-73 where I studied Maths and Economics. During this time I lived at Hartley Victoria College as a non-theologian and was fully involved in the vibrant university MethSoc. Whilst there I offered and was accepted for training for ministry and, wanting to do something different before going to college, I spent 2 years in Zambia with VSO working with the fledgling Boys’ Brigade in that country.  It was here that I began to understand something of the breadth and richness of God’s Church throughout the world.

In September 1975 I began training for ministry at Queens College in Birmingham and it was here that I met a young woman, training for the Deaconess Order, called Myrtle (I don’t think I’d ever met anyone called Myrtle before). We were married in July 1977 and offered to serve within the World Church when we left college a year later, and after a term at Kingsmead College (Selly Oak), we set off for Jamaica.

Those six and a half years in Jamaica were the formative ones for our ministry. After a short time at the university in Kingston I was appointed to be minister in St Ann’s Bay.  This single minister circuit had five churches with a membership of over 700, and after a year as a probationer became superintendent for the remaining five.  Although there wasn’t an official appointment for Myrtle we shared in this ministry and were blessed with some wonderfully rich experiences. We were loved and accepted by the people of Jamaica and they have given us so much. Our first two children were born whilst we were there; firstly Matthew and we then later adopted Tamara.

We returned to Britain in 1985 and spent 11 very happy years in Cardiff. I was appointed as full-time Methodist/URC chaplain to the large student population at the universities and colleges and shared in a joint ministry with Myrtle to the church in Cathays where we saw a dying congregation renewed with the arrival of an energetic and enthusiastic student community. They were wonderful years. Our other two children, Daniel and Joseph, were born whilst in Wales.

It was during these years that I began to be involved in the World Church. It has been such a privilege to serve the Church through many different ways, both in the British and wider Church as secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society (MMS)   Our church partners have so much to offer to us and we are beginning to see in the past few years how our own Church is being renewed by other parts of our Methodist family coming to live among us.

We moved to Preston in 1996 where we came to minister at Fulwood Church. With over 400 members it offered many challenges and opportunities for us, but this was cut short for me when that I was appointed as chair of the same district from 2000.
I have enjoyed the rich variety that comes with being a chair of district. To be able to minister to the ministers and their families is a wonderful privilege, as is the opportunity to work alongside some wonderful lay people.  I have tried to work together with other leaders within the district to create a vision and policy for the Church over the coming years.  Perhaps this year as President will see how well that has been developed!!

An introduction to the Vice President, Mr David Walton:

David Walton was born and bred in Salford in Greater Manchester.  His day-job is as a partner in DWF, a North West firm of solicitors, and he is committed to exploring how faith impacts on people’s working lives. As a local preacher for 25 years David cares about how we can better  talk about the Gospel in ways that make sense today and build a Church which is welcoming to all.

A life-long Methodist, David is a member at Monton, Eccles, where he conducts the choir and edits the church newsletter. Over the years he has been involved in leading local youth fellowships as well as circuit visits to MAYC weekends. 

Nationally, he has been one of the record secretaries of the Methodist Conference for the last 16 years and currently chairs the Law and Polity Committee.  He has  served on the Ecumenical  Committee and acted as Honorary Solicitor to Churches Together in England. He is also a member of the Faith and Order Committee of the Church.