HE moved away to serve elsewhere in our diocese – now he’s been appointed as priest-in-charge of his home parish.

Bishop Jonathan has appointed the Rev Tony Forrest to serve as interim priest-in-charge of the Upper Meon parishes, which includes his home in East Meon. Tony’s previous ordained role was further south along the River Meon, in the Bridge benefice.

It marks a new era of collaboration for the four parishes of East Meon, Langrish, West Meon and Warnford. They have worked together before, but not in this way.

And Tony said: “Having returned to live in this area, I have been helping out in these parishes and have felt energised by it. I had a sense of calling to this role, and have felt welcomed back to this community. It does feel right to serve here.

“It is different being a vicar in a village such as this rather than being a member of the community, but there is much that is familiar and I think it will be very rewarding.”

Tony originally worked as a chemistry teacher, head teacher and university lecturer before he was ordained as a deacon in 2011 and a priest in 2012. He was a curate in North End Team Ministry and a chaplain at Portsmouth College. He also served as the Chair of the Board of Education.

He then moved to become rector in the Meon Bridge benefice, which includes the parishes of Droxford, Exton and Meonstoke with Corhampton. He was there from 2015 until last year, when he returned to his East Meon home.

He will spend 70 per cent of his time in new role – as interim priest-in-charge of the parishes of East Meon, Langrish, West Meon and Warnford – in line with the Petersfield deanery plan. He has plans to spend much of the rest of his time exploring journeys in the Bible.

“When I started at the Bridge benefice, the parishes had already been working together, and one of the things I realised is that there were some events and activities they could do together and others that were specific to each village,” he said. “So Remembrance and Harvest might be slightly different in each place.

“The parishes in the Upper Meon have been working together, but we probably need to work out which things we want to do together and which are distinct.

“As I’m a teacher, one of the things I’m also keen on is not just that people learn, but that they train to teach others as well. So if we’re doing a Lent Course, it’s not all about me leading it, but usually about helping lay people to have the confidence and ability to lead sessions.

“I’ve been trying to learn Welsh and also to look at a project exploring Biblical journeys. I’ve been working through 50 journeys in the Bible, from the Old Testament right through to Paul’s missionary journeys. I’d like to put together an Ignatian resource that will help people to revisit those journeys using imaginative prayer. I hope it will help their journeys through life.”

Tony will be licensed to his new role in All Saints Church, East Meon, on February 21. Details here.