New Rector

The Reverend Matthew Stafford has been appointed Team Rector of the Wenlock Ministry. Matthew was previously Rector of The United Benefice of Holy Trinity Oakengates & Wrockwardine Wood in the Diocese of Lichfield.  He had been in post there since July 2002.

Greetings! My name is Matthew Stafford and it is a immense privilege to introduce myself as your new Team Rector.

I have had connections with Shropshire for the past 20 years which all started when the Church Army sent me to Stoke Heath YOI at Market Drayton in 1995 and from the outset I fell in love with Shropshire which was described to me as, ‘Devon without the sea.’

My roots stem from Abingdon in Oxfordshire where I grew up in the village of Radley, attending the local CofE School and actively involved in my local Parish Church of St James the Great, where I was a chorister, bell ringer, server, youth club member, PCC Rep and organist on occasion.

I attended Fitzharry’s Secondary School which I must confess I endured and on leaving school did a number of different jobs including managing a Fish and Chip Shop!  

In 1994 I trained with the Church Army before being selected for the Ordained Ministry in 1997 and trained for the Priesthood at Ripon College Cuddesdon in Oxfordshire, where I was Deaconed at Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford in 1999 and Ordained Priest at All Saint’s High Wycombe in 2000.  

I served my Curacy at St Anne and St Peter’s Wycombe Marsh (UPA) in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, before returning to Shropshire in 2002 to be Rector of Holy Trinity Oakengates and Wrockwardine Wood in Telford, where I have been Incumbent for the past 12 and a half years.

My family means everything to me and I am married to Julie who I met at College in Sheffield and we are blessed in having two Sons, Oran (14) and Conall (10).

We also have two big soppy black Labradors, Charlie and Jet which are a big part of our family life too, even though I fell over Jet and broke my hip in 2012!

As a family we are Season Ticket Holders of Shrewsbury Town FC and take a keen interest in all our Son’s special interests.

We moved to Much Wenlock in the new year and look forward to sharing in the worshipping and community life of the area in the days to come.