A New Parish Priest

16 Jul 2017 • General news

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of a new parish priest for our parish of Saint Alban and Saint Patrick, who will also be Chaplain for St Alban’s Academy. He is Fr Gerry Sykes, who currently is Priest in Charge of Alverthorpe St. Paul’s and St. Michael’s, in the diocese of Leeds. Ordained in 1998, he began his ministry in the Church in Wales, and has been in his present post for nine years, where alongside his parish ministry he has also served on governing bodies of church schools and shared in the design of religious education policies. 

He is keen to uphold the liturgical tradition of St Alban’s, and also to find complementary ways to help people into Christian worship. He will bring his concern for social justice and his interfaith experience into our very diverse community here.

Fr Gerry says:

“I am really looking forward to moving to Highgate St Alban and St Patrick, being your parish priest, and working with everyone in Church and Academy. My background is in life and earth sciences yet I have a passion for the spiritual and like to paint (including icons) to help me on my journey to God. I recently completed a course in spiritual direction so I look forward to helping others on their pilgrimage to be closer to Jesus.”

We look forward to welcoming Fr Gerry, his wife and children to Birmingham. He will start his ministry with us in the autumn, but a firm date for his arrival and his institution has yet to be agreed.