On Sunday 30 June Sue Coleman and Keith Fox will be ordained. So we can get to know them and pray for them, Sue and Keith have written short introductions about themselves with prayer requests below.

Sue and Rich Coleman

We are delighted to now be living in the parish and are thankful for the welcome we have already received from some of the church family.  We are looking forward to getting to know you all and sharing our lives together with you as we discover what God has in store for us both here at Highfield.  I am excited to see what God is doing here in your lives, the church and in the community and to learn from all those who serve Him here in so many different ways. 

Please pray for Rich as he finishes up his work in Bournemouth at the start of July and seeks work here in Southampton after a short break and our trip to New Wine.  This coming Wednesday I head off on my pre-ordination retreat with all those being ordained at Winchester next weekend. Please pray that it will be a time of blessing as I spend time with God and getting to know my fellow curates-to-be, in preparation for all that is ahead. 

Keith and Sheila Fox

Sheila and I have been part of Highfield Church since we moved to Southampton in 1986. I have been an LLM (Lay Reader) since 1992 and have been involved in preaching and teaching, as well as leading small groups. I was a Professor of Biochemistry in Southampton University (I’m fascinated by DNA) and retired in 2022.  Between 2015-2021 I combined this with a half-time leadership position at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge. My passion is to ‘help people understand’. I’m keen to promote creation care and the integration of science and faith. I’m also involved with the local charity Caraway. As I approached retirement I felt called to ordained ministry, having considered that at several times in the past, and heard about the Caleb Stream at St Mellitus College, which offers an opportunity to explore ordination for those who are of ‘older years’. Sheila and I met while we were students. She is a retired pre-school manager and does volunteer admin work for Caraway and helps in the Basics Bank warehouse.  We have three adult children and four grandchildren. I run to keep fit and I’m a regular Parkrunner; Sheila also does triathlons (and was bronze medallist in her age category in the world triathlon championships in 2016!) Pray that in this new role, we will be enabled to serve people in Highfield to help them to become what God has called us to be.