People
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LMT Logo
Dymock was at the forefront of the 'Local Ministry Team' movement, having had ministry shared by Ordained and Lay persons for over 30 years. This shared concept was formalised into 'Local Ministry Teams' (LMT) where spiritual care and management of the parish is shared by both ordained priests and lay persons acting as a recognisable 'Team'. (Return to top)

We currently have a full-time priest (Rector) in charge of the "United Benefice of the Leadon Vale." He and our Assistant Curate are the only full-time stipendiary (paid) members of the Team. We also have three 'Associate Priests' - one retired from a career in commerce, one retired from a career as a Teacher and one a retired Psychologist. There are also 2 'Lay Readers' and 2 'Lay Pastors', as well as several regular members of the congregation who regularly work with the Team. There are also 4 honorary PCC Appointees: Secretary, Treasurer, Organist/Choirmaster and Bell Tower Captain. (Return to top)

The Ministry Team serves the whole of the Benefice, which comprises 9 parishes with 9 churches, so there is 1 more 'Associate Priest' and 1 'Lay Reader', but they tend to focus on other parishes in the Benefice and don't have a regular role in Dymock. (Return to top)

For details of Dymock's officers, click here: Priests, Readers, Lay Pastors, Churchwardens, PCC Appointees
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Priests
People trained in theology and ministry and 'set apart' (ordained) to serve God in Holy Orders
Picture, Tony Lomas
Rector: The Rev'd Anthony Lomas is married to Ingrid and they have four grown-up children, Jamie, Tim, Verity and Alexandra.  Tony graduated as an agricultural engineer and then spent most of the next 15 years selling agricultural machinery in Africa, including a short period as an ex-pat in Morocco.  In another short period as parish administrator and bookshop manager for the parish of Cirencester,  he worked until ordination as a sales and management training consultant. (Return to top)

Ingrid was head of Religious Education at Sir William Romney’s secondary school in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and first met Tony while they were training together as Readers on the West of England Ministerial Training Course (WEMTC).  They were married in 2000. (Return to top)

Tony has been involved with his local churches since childhood and his path to ordination spanned some 10 years,  including a very fulfilling time as a Reader in parishes in and around Cirencester, over which time he developed a particular interest in the challenges of rural ministry.  He went on to train for ordination, again at WEMTC, and served his curacy in the Coln River Group of Parishes, a benefice of 7 rural parishes just outside Cheltenham. (Return to top)

In his leisure time, Tony enjoys DIY, cooking, travel and is a self-confessed gadget-freak. (Return to top)

Tony and Ingrid will be moving to France at the end of July 2016, where Tony will be become Anglican Chaplain of Aquitaine, so he will cease to be Rector of the Leadon Vale and we will have a period of 'Vacancy' whilst we seek a replacement. (Return to top)
Assistants
Picture, Andrew Perry
The Rev'd Andrew Perry is married to Janet and they have two daughters. He became a lay member of the Dymock Local Ministry Team (LMT) at its formal inception in 1981 and was ordained in 1994 as a Non-Stipendiary Minister (NSM*) and was licensed as an Associate Priest to the Benefice as a whole until he retired as an NSM in 2014. He now has the 'Bishop's Permission to Officiate' so still takes Services and helps in the Benefice.(Return to top)

Before he was ordained, Andrew trained as an Agriculturist and worked first as a manager of farms, but then for 20 years as a Grain Trader, managing a local grain co-operative before he retied from business. He has since been heavily involved with the Rotary Club of Ledbury's "Tobago Diabetic Foot-care Project" to assist medics in the Caribbean to be aware of, and treat, those suffering from Diabetes, thereby reducing the previously high number of foot and leg amputations per year... and is fanatical about his lawn! (Return to top)

*NSMs are now part of a larger group called SSMs - Self-Supporting Ministers. They are full priests but earn their living and practice their ministry by working in industry, commerce. NSMs are a nation-wide ministry so can be asked to serve anywhere, which may mean they have to move house and job, although that's unusual as they usually serve in a benefice or parish near to where they live. (Return to top)
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Picture, Jill Bond
The Rev'd Jill Bond was married in 1967 and has two children, Oliver and Victoria. Jill taught in various primary schools, first in London and then in Northamptonshire before her children were born and then again after they children were at school themselves, between 1967 and 1994. She moved to Gloucestershire in 1995 and trained as a Lay Reader specialising in ministry to children and was licensed as such in 1998. (Return to top)

Jill has been much involved in work with children, particularly in the local village primary school, as well as in more general ministry. In 2004 she attended training again for ordination and was ordained as a priest in 2007. As an Ordained Local Minister (OLM*) Jill served her curacy here in the benefice of the Leadon Vale, where she was an Associate Priest until she retired as an OLM in 2015. She now has the 'Bishop's Permission to Officiate' so still takes Services and helps with children's work in the Benefice. (Return to top)

*OLMs are also part of the larger group called SSMs - Self-Supporting Ministers. They are full priests and like NSMs earn their living and practice their ministry by working in industry, commerce and after retirement, but unlike NSMs they are not a nation-wide ministry but are licensed specifically to the parish or benefice where they live, although they can occasionally officiate elsewhere for a special reason. (Return to top)
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Picture, Richard Franklin
The Rev'd Canon Richard Franklin is married to Ann, a retired Psychologist. They have two grown up children; Kate married to Jan with two sons in Bristol, and Thomas who lives in Berlin. Richard was born and grew up in Cardiff and Ann in Aberaeron and London. (Return to top)

Richard was ordained in 1978 and was curate of Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire. He moved to Dudley as Educational Chaplain to the Group Ministry, then back to parish work as vicar of Wollescote (Stourbridge), Fareham, Hants and finally Luton, where he was Area Dean and Canon of St Albans Abbey. Richard retired from full time ministry in 2013 and is now Canon Emeritus of St. Albans, with Bishop's Permission to Officiate in Gloucester diocese. (Return to top)

After a lifetime of town dwelling, he and Ann looked for retirement in a rural area and they are thoroughly enjoying it, despite the feeling that they have retired from one full time job to to another. (Return to top)
Assistant Curate
Picture, Lara Bloom
The Rev'd Lara Bloom is Assistant Curate* to the Leadon Vale Benefice.  She is married to Ian and they have two young children.  Lara trained as a management accountant after graduating in Chemistry and Business Administration and worked for much of her career in Unilever and L'Oreal. 

After moving to Tewkesbury in 2006 Lara became involved with the work of Tewkesbury Abbey and in particular with the setting up of a 'Fresh Expression' of church called 'Celebrate' on a local housing estate.  It was through this work that Lara realised a calling to ministry and after a two year discernment process trained for ordained ministry at Ripon College, Cuddesdon.

Lara and the family are very happy to have moved back to Gloucestershire and Lara looks forward to serving her curacy in the Leadon Vale. In their spare time the family enjoy music, cooking together and exploring the countryside. (Return to top)

* Assistant Curates work alongside a Rector or Vicar for the first three-four years of their ordained life.  At the end of this time, it's expected that they'll move on to take full responsibility as Vicar or Rector of a different parish or group. (Return to top)