It’s not often that a former Church of England vicar is inducted to the pastorate of an independent evangelical church. But that is what happened at Trinity Evangelical Church Rainhill, Merseyside on September 6.
The Revd David Wilkinson took on the leadership of Trinity, which is part of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC).
David left the Church of England 11 years ago and was, prior to moving to Rainhill, both an antiquarian bookseller and pastor of an evangelical free church in Kendal, Cumbria.
The service, with a packed congregation of around 180, was led by the Revd Keith Dimmock, elder of the church. The former pastor of Trinity church, Jim Mollitt, led the prayers and his brother, John Mollitt, former pastor of Ingleton Evangelical Church, gave the charge to the minister and the church.
John reminded the congregation, from Ephesians 4, of their need to respect the office of pastor and he reminded the pastor of his need to be both pastor and teacher to the church.
