St Stephen’s Church Welcomes Reverend Darren!

ON Monday night, a new Priest-in-Charge, Revd Darren McIndoe, was licensed by the Bishop of Barking, the Rt Revd Peter Hill and installed by the Archdeacon of Harlow, the Venerable Vanessa Herrick at St Stephen’s Church, Tye Green.

Revd Darren is returning to the south after nearly 10 years in Stoke On Trent, where he was Rector of Burslem – one of the historic towns of The Potteries. Before that he was a Curate at St John’s Church, Stratford E15.

Whilst in Stoke, Darren was much involved as a Governor in two of the local Church Primary Schools, and had a short time as Acting Area Dean of Stoke On Trent. He was much involved in supporting the North Staffordshire YMCA, where he worked as Chair of the Street Pastors for some of the past ten years.

For the past five years Darren has been involved in encouraging those under 30 to consider their vocations – and has supported three young adults in their journey towards a lifetime of service in the Church and wider community. Darren has a heart to encourage as many people in the Church to serve their community as possible. He is excited when Christians discover their gifts, and start using their talents and abilities to benefit their friends, and those in their neighbourhood. He is excited to read about how folk at St Stephens are already working to benefit the community, and he intends to encourage the Church to share their love, support and joy throughout the parish.

Darren said “I’m impressed with the strong team at St Stephen’s that have seen them through a period of vacancy and I’m really looking forward to being part of that team”.

Darren comes to Harlow with his Mum and two Tortoiseshell Cats. He is looking forward to being near enough to London to enjoy the Theatre, and may even join the healthy folk of Harlow that are making good use of the footpaths and cycle-tracks to get around the Town.

Visitors from Stoke and Stratford attended the licensing along with Area Dean Revd Martin Harris and the local congregation. Chair of Harlow Council Clive Souter was also present and in welcoming Darren recalled his own time St St Stephen’s Church – as a choir boy in the 1960s!