THE Rev Tony Knapp was initiated as Dorcan Ecumenical Church's new Anglican minister in a service attended by the Bishop of Swindon, the Right Rev Michael Doe.
The new minister told the congregation at St Timothy's Church that he looked forward to the new challenges the role would bring.
The church comprises St Timothy's, Liden, St Paul's, Covingham, and the Eldene Centre and became the country's first ecumenical church in the 1960s bringing an Anglican and Methodist minister together for the first time.
The Rev Knapp a computer programmer and systems analyst before joining the ministry left his home in the Yorkshire Dales to take up the Dorcan post.
He said: "Swindon will be a complete contrast to the Dales but I believe God called me here and I am looking forward to working in a team with all the new challenges and opportunities that the ministry in Dorcan will bring."
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