 Since his time at the University of Oxford he has been interested in the history of the Church of England in the nineteenth century.Between Oxford and commencing his training for ordination he worked as a nursing auxiliary at St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham.He was ordained deacon in 1980 and priest in 1981 and served as assistant curate of Newbold with Dunston (1980–83), Cowley St John (1983–85) and Islington St James with St Philip (1985–86).