Our New Vicar

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of our new Vicar, The Reverend Canon David Banbury. Pictured here with his wife Kathy, David is currently Diocesan Missioner in the Blackburn Diocese, where he is the Leader of the Parish Mission Support Department.

He will be instituted as Vicar by the Bishop of Liverpool on Sunday 25th March at 2:30pm here at St John's.

From Archdeacon Jennifer:

Announcement for The Revd David Banbury—appointed as Vicar, St. John the Baptist, Burscough

Dear Sisters and Brothers of St. John's,

I want, first of all, to commend you for not only coping, but stretching and growing through a very difficult period in your parish life. The loss last summer of your beloved vicar and my dear colleague, Simon, was a shock and a great sadness. I hope you have felt supported by many along the way. I, for one, am grateful for your open communication and generosity of spirit under the leadership of your two very capable Churchwardens, Ian and Caroline. They, supported by your curate Elliott and the several clergy and lay leaders who are part of your community, have been far more than just a safe pair of hands to guide St. Johns over these last several months.  I hope you will join me in thanking them for their very good work, care, and leadership of St. John’s during this interregnum.

As you will be aware, the decision was taken in late summer that the PCC would defer any decisions about a new vicar until its September meeting. Since then the wardens and PCC worked diligently to create a parish profile and move forward with the appointment process. The appointment panel then met in December and interviewed a patron’s preferred candidate. As a result, the very good news is that candidate, The Revd Canon David Banbury was unanimously and enthusiastically called, has accepted, and will be licensed as your Vicar in late March. Your curate, The Revd Elliott Ireton, also had the chance to meet David, and is very affirming in his support of this call, too.

 Many of you will already know David, because of events he has led for you in the past. For those who might not know or remember him, may I take just a moment to commend him to you? David is currently the Leader of the Parish Mission Support Department and is Diocesan Missioner in Blackburn Diocese.  He's a keen runner, has a hopeless devotion to Sunderland Football Club (which might muddy the waters a bit!) and loves classic cars.  He is married to Kathryn who worked for 20+ years as a teacher and now works for Heritage Learning (an organisation that runs educational visits at a number of historic sites across Lancashire).  David and Kathryn have two grown up children Ruth and Philip.  Ruth is married to Toby and they are both curates in York diocese.  Philip is a civilian working for Lancashire Police and he is married to Eilis (pronounced Eyelish) who is a Teaching Assistant. Both Ruth and Philip got married last year, so 2017 was pretty special year for the Banbury family!

 Notably also, David has served as an Army chaplain, which he credits with broadening his theology and practice of pastoral ministry. In addition to evangelism, Bishop Julian notes, “he brings the ability to patiently work through vision and strategy. This is seen in his national work with Leading Your Church into Growth as well as his work with Mission Action Planning. Both have involved David in writing material for publication and also delivering courses to a variety of groups in a variety of situations.” More recently David has embarked on a journey of evangelism through performing arts: he has authored two plays, one of which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year to a sold out audience; his second play is due to be shown there this year.

 I, along with Bishops Paul and Richard, are delighted for you and for him. Bishop Paul knows David well and rates him highly and I have become quite fond of him, getting to know him over the past couple of months. As mentioned, David also brings with him a loving family, including his wife, Kathryn, who feels equally called to Burscough St. John’s. I look forward to formally welcoming them here in the Spring! 

David will be instituted as Vicar by the Bishop of Liverpool on Sunday 25th March at 2.30pm at St John’s.

With Love and Blessings for a new chapter,

The Ven. Jennifer G. McKenzie

Archdeacon Wigan and West Lancashire

Diocese of Liverpool

Message from Rev. David Banbury to the Parishioners of St. John the Baptist, Burscough.

Thank you so much for the invitation to be Vicar of St John the Baptist Burscough.  I am thrilled by the opportunity to serve amongst you and to work alongside a great team. 

St John's vision statement 'knowing, growing in and sharing Jesus' love in Burscough and beyond' is a wonderful expression of the gospel and I am excited to play my part in helping more of that vision become a reality. 

Over the last few years I have visited St Johns on number of occasions to lead missions, speak at outreach events, support youth work and engage in men's ministry and it is a great privilege to move from being an occasional visitor to becoming your new vicar.

Kathy, my wife, and I are looking forward to moving to the parish and renewing old acquaintances and making new friends.  Our grown up children Ruth and Philip and their spouses Toby and Eilis will also be visiting Burscough from time to time.

I look forward to my licensing in due course and to sharing in ministry in 'Burscough and beyond'.

Every blessing

David

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