Bishop Peter is pleased to announce that the Reverend Ruth Walker has been appointed to be Priest in Charge for the Parish of Malew and Santon. Ruth will take up her appointment in the Parish from the 1 October.
Commenting on the news of her appointment Ruth Said, ‘I’m really looking forward to getting involved with the communities at Malew and Santon and meeting the people there and building relationship with them and working ecumenically with the other churches in the Parish.’
Ruth has lived in the West of the Isle of Man since 2003, when she and her family moved from Yorkshire. She said, ‘It definitely felt like a nudge from God, as before that time, I didn’t even want to move to another village in Huddersfield.’
Originally born in Leeds and raised a Methodist, she moved into the Church of England as a teenager, attracted by the lively local youth group, the great hospitality and Bible Studies at Pudsey Parish Church, where she married in 1978. A move of house to Huddersfield led to attending St Thomas’s Church, Bradley – very close to the village of Mirfield and home to the Community of the Resurrection whose church she could see in the distance, when walking the dog never dreaming that one day she’d be so drawn to go on retreat there.
Ruth followed her first vocation (declared aged 3!) into Nursing and Midwifery, training at St James’ and Leeds Infirmary, and working as a Ward Sister. On moving to the Isle of Man, her speciality changed from Gynaecology to community and care of the elderly, becoming Deputy Matron at Castleview Nursing Home in Peel (where she now returns having established a monthly Holy Communion service with hymns.)
After time in a House Church in Peel, the call to Anglican Ministry was a long and interesting journey. Initially, having a year of study with Elim Pentecostal Bible College in 2008, she felt the pull back to the Church of England. After several years at the Cathedral, her local Parish Church, and some experience in the Anglican Church in South Africa, Ruth eventually began training with All Saints College for Mission and Ministry and was ordained in 2019. She served her curacy in the Parish of the West Coast, mostly at the Cathedral, but also with involvement in other churches in the parish. She has had placements in the North of the Island, in Liverpool and in London, and her work as Chaplain to Mothers’ Union takes her all over the island.
She has a wide ranging love and appreciation of music (from watching Glastonbury with family to being Acting Precentor at the Cathedral and chaplain to their choir!) and this is also reflected in her feeling able to be very flexible in styles and expressions of Worship.
Ruth is mum to two grown up sons (one on Island with his family and one in London) she very much enjoys spending time with family, especially two young granddaughters, and sharing in the care of their dog Murphy.
