Parish Church of Saint Edmund - The Parish Clergy

The Parish Clergy

Fr James Mather ssc
Rector

Fr James is proud of being an East Anglian, growing up in rural Essex and (mainly) Suffolk.

After reading for a degree in Ancient History and Classical Civilisation at the University of Sheffield (1983-86), he worked in the City of London for a leading firm of Lloyd's Reinsurance Brokers, R.K. Carvill (1986-88), whilst considering his call.

Having received his theological formation at St Stephen's House, Oxford (1988-91), Fr James was ordained by the Rt Rev'd David Lunn, the Bishop of Sheffield (deacon 1991; priest 1992), and served two curacies in the Diocese of Sheffield, at SS Leonard & Jude, Scawsby and St Wilfrid, Cantley (both in Doncaster) before being appointed as Vicar of Lakenheath, north-west Suffolk, in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich (1995-2001).

In 2001, he took up his present appointment as Rector of Downham Market & Crimplesham with Stradsett, in the Diocese of Ely; serving additionally as a member of the Diocesan Synod (2003-8), the Diocesan Board of Education & Training (2003-6) and as Rural Dean of the Fincham & Feltwell Deanery (2005-8).

In the wider Church, Fr James has served on the Council and Patronage Board of the Society for the Maintenance of the Faith (SMF); the General Council of the Society of Mary (SOM) and as a District Superior of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (CBS) for four East Anglian Dioceses. He is, additionally, a Priest Associate of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and a member of the Catholic League (CL) and of the Guild of All Souls (GAS).

Fr James has been a priest of the Society of the Holy Cross (SSC) since 1992.

Fr Alan Davies
Assistant Curate

Fr Alan was ordained Deacon on 3rd July 2010. He is a Self-Supporting (or Non-Stipendiary) Minister, which means that he combines his ministerial responsibilities with his work as a painter and decorator.

He is a 'homegrown' ordination candidate, having been associated with St Edmund's for a number of years, during which time he contributed an enormous amount to the life of the Church in lay ministry, together with his late wife Julie.

For 10 years he served as a Churchwarden and was Licenced as a Lay Reader in 2006, starting his ordination training a year later on the regional Minterial Training Course.