If James Hills looks nervous during his ordination it might have less to do with the service and more to do with the fact that at any moment his third child might decide to put in an appearance. *

James’ wife Sarah is due to have a baby just two days after the ordination and so contingency plans have already been put in place should baby Hills decide to come early. James said: “I joked with Bishop Tim that he should come to the hospital and we do two for the price of one, he could ordain me and baptise the baby at the same time!”

Providing all goes well, James will be among those being ordained at Truro Cathedral on Saturday, July 4.

James grew up in Kent and was well on his way to becoming an engineer when he realised being a Christian was more than just attending church and doing good things. “I was at university doing an Engineering Masters’ degree. I’d always say I was a Christian but in my third year I realised a Christian wasn’t just someone who did religious things but someone who had a relationship with Jesus, I realised Jesus died for me and I found it so exciting. The strange thing about it is that if you’d asked me while I was in my second year of university about a life in church work, I would have laughed and said that’s not for me.”

Friends from his church suggested James attend a Christian conference. “From that I decided to work in a church for just one year. My parents were keen I had a ‘serious job’ and I had already got a job lined up with the MoD but fortunately I was able to delay starting and I moved to Preston and worked as an apprentice at a church. I loved it.

“The privilege of doing that job full time, and others suggesting I should do it long term, meant I decided to stay for a second year. It meant giving up the MoD job even against my parents’ advice.”

At just 24 and with Sarah training as a nurse, James felt he was too young to take full time church work further so he spent three years working in engineering with the RAF and the Red Arrows. He then went to college in London for three years.

James says: “Some people talk of having some kind of moment when they knew but I didn’t have that. I just had a growing conviction and desire, a deep love for people and a growing group of people encouraging me down that road.”

Now a proud dad of two boys and with his third baby on the way, James is based at Kea Church, which boasts a thriving and lively congregation. “Kea has great vitality and life with people spanning all ages.”

Kea Church is proving so popular it now has four services on a Sunday. “We’ve just started a new service at Penair School which means we run four services in three different locations; we simply long to see more and more people coming to know, love and trust Jesus Christ.”

James is responsible for outreach and church evangelism. “I am involved in training people to be able to speak about Jesus in their normal lives without having to give an entire sermon.”

James says he has had a great first year. “I am very thankful to God. There have been real joys this year in both all that’s been going on at Kea church and the privilege of ordained ministry. We are in a privileged position of people telling you things they wouldn’t tell others and you see beneath the veneer that we all project. But yet I get the privilege of giving them certain hope in the good news of the gospel.”

 

  • James did indeed look tired as his baby was born in the early hours of that morning leaving James with just 50 minutes sleep before the service!