John Wigfield appointed Tutor in Mission and Evangelism

It is my great pleasure to announce the appointment John Wigfield to the position of Tutor in Mission and Evangelism. John has a wealth of experience as a theological educator and missionary, and will be a great addition to the staff team and the community. He will join us in January 2021.

John holds an MPhil in Old Testament (University of Nottingham), and an MA in Aspects of Christian Missiology (Open University). Appointed as Director of Pioneering Ministry with The Yorkshire Ministry Course in 2010, John initiated and developed The Contextual Pathway, a programme for full-time ordinands focused on pioneering integral mission. He became Dean of Contextual Formation upon the inception of St Hild College in 2017, of which YMC was a founding partner. After graduating in French and Linguistics/Phonetics and doing a PGCE (University of Leeds), John taught Modern Languages, largely in northern multicultural schools, and also in Hertfordshire, and English in rural Zimbabwe as a volunteer with a lay-Catholic mission society. For nine years, he served in theological education with The South American Mission Society, first in Chile, and then more widely in Latin America as Theological Consultant. A cradle Anglican, John became a Lay Reader in the Church of England in 2007, and in summer 2020 was selected for training for ordination. He will combine his role at ERMC with undertaking ministerial formation with Westcott House, Cambridge, where he began in September 2020, continuing his research into the fourth mark of mission for a PhD under the supervision of Professor Douglas Davies and Professor Mike Higton at the University of Durham. John is married to Angela, who teaches Modern Foreign Languages. They have three grown up children. John grew up in the Holme Valley on the edge of the Peak District in Yorkshire, and enjoys the great outdoors, going to live acoustic/roots gigs, song-writing, and European travel.

Theses and Publications

MPhil Thesis: Evoking a conversation between two conflicting theologies, and configurations of kingship, in the joint introduction to the Psalter (Psalms 1 & 2).

MA Thesis: Church, Society and Economics in Chile: A conversation between Evangelical Social Ethics and the critique of the Pinochet regime (1973-1990) effected by the Conference of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Chile.

“The Spirit Level and Deuteronomy: Evoking a missiological conversation” (in Gavin Wilkinson and Nigel Rooms (Eds) Northern Gospel, Northern Church (Durham: Sacristy, 2016).

Marking Mission! : As you go, Make Disciples (2005) A Lent Course on the 5 Marks of Mission for the Diocese of Derby in collaboration with the South American Mission Society (co-author, responsible for Biblical sections)

Chanterelles (Mary Glasgow Publications, 1990). A series of French songs written and performed to accompany the text book Arc en Ciel for use in schools at Key Stage 3.