New vicar feels very much at home in Alnwick

Rev Christian Mitchell, who prefers to be known as Mitch, first visited the historic town and surrounding areas back in 2016.

It’s the place where his wife Vicky grew up, and as the visits increased in frequency, Mitch found himself feeling very much at home.

Upon learning of the vacancy at Alnwick last year, he made initial enquiries and was recently installed as vicar.

“I am very happy to be here,” he said. “I’ve had a lovely welcome and very much feel that God has called me to Alnwick.

"I can see already that there is a lot of potential here. I’m enjoying getting to know people and I want to spend time to listen, discern and pray, to see where the spirit is leading us. I believe it is an exciting time.”

With a congregation of 50-60 at St Michael’s every Sunday, Mitch has already identified clear strengths within the life of the church, including the monthly Messy Church services, and a thriving Mini Michaels weekly parent and toddler group, which includes everything from nursery rhymes and crafts to ‘bubble prayers’, and its own, Christian version of the Hokey Cokey!

“These activities are great and they also provide a way for us to strengthen our relationship with our baptism families,” said Mitch. “There is so much opportunity for this church to be a real centre of excellence in so many areas.”

A man with a self-confessed love and passion for music, Mitch has noted that there is currently no choir at St Michael’s.

He added: “I came to faith by singing in choirs at school. I have previously introduced a junior choir elsewhere, and I’d like to see more opportunities for people to sing and make music together here at Alnwick.”

Mitch is also pleased that his new parish has strong ties to its local church school, which he is looking forward to developing further.

After leaving Cuddesdon Theological College in 2014, Mitch enjoyed nine years of ministry in the Diocese of Chichester.

Before ordination, he worked as an operations manager for Jockey Club Racecourses.