About Us

Parish Pump Ltd
PO Box 236
Macclesfield
Cheshire  
SK10 4GJ

Editor: Anne Coomes
Technical Support & Administration: Shirley Henshall

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Introducing the Parish Pump Team

Parish Pump is an independent, registered limited company. It began in May 1999. Our theological stance is: orthodox, historical, Bible-based Christianity. What CS Lewis called 'mere Christianity'.

The Editor and co-Founder, Anne Coomes, has worked in Christian radio, newspapers and publishing, and as a diocesan communications officer for Peterborough Diocese. She writes for the Bible Reading Fellowship and has worked extensively for Operation Christmas Child. She has written several biographies on African church leaders, and is a Reader for Holy Trinity Hurdsfield, near Macclesfield.

Shirley Henshall , a former office manager for a large firm in Cheshire, runs our Administrative and IT support department. She can be contacted via the Contact Us link at the top of the page.

The Parish Pump creative team includes:

Philip Barron is a Quaker journalist who has been involved with a number of health-related charities (he edited Hearing Concern Magazine for several years). He lives in Polegate, East Sussex. Leisure interests include membership of the Light Music Society.

Nigel Beeton is an NHS radiographer working at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. He is also editor of 'The View', the parish magazine of St Mary with St Peter, Bury St Edmunds, where his wife is the Church Warden. To relax from these duties, he enjoys "messing around with words", writing poetry ranging from the comic to the more reflective.

The Rev Dr Gary Bowness is vicar of Henbury, near Macclesfield. In his former diocese, Blackburn, he served as Director of Post-Ordination Training. He is currently a Bishops' Selector for those offering themselves for ordained ministry.

Dr Peter Brierley has been involved with church research for over 40 years, working initially with the government and then moving to the Bible Society, before starting MARC Europe which changed its name to Christian Research in 1993. He launched the UK Christian Handbook in 1972. He lives in Kent, where he now runs a private research consultancy for churches throughout the country.

The Revd Michael Burgess is priest of Oughtrington and Warburton in the diocese of Chester. A former sub-warden at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden for six years, he has been involved in ministry training and CME along with parish work. His interests include music and choral singing, the theatre and reading.

Noel Ford is also a nationally known cartoonist, not least through his regular single and double page spreads in contributions to Punch over 18 years, and work as an editorial cartoonist for the Daily Star. These days Noel is an editorial cartoonist for a number of national UK publications, including the Church Times. He lives on the edge of the beautiful Cors Caron Welsh National Nature Reserve (aka, The Bog), with his wife Margaret and three dogs. Noel is a founder member of the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation, member of the Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain, The British Cartoonists' Association (BCA) and also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

Jean de Lemos is an illustrator who worked in Fleet Street for many years. She is based in north London.

The Rev Paul Hardingham is vicar of St Peter’s Halliwell, Bolton in the diocese of Manchester. Parish ministry has taken him all over the country including Cambridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham and Ipswich, during which time he has contributed to Parish Pump and it’s predecessor, Church News Service.

The Rev Daphne Kitching is a poet whose work is published in over sixty anthologies and in two collections of her own poems. A former primary school teacher, she now teaches pupils with Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia). Based in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Daphne was ordained in July 2009 in York Minster. She is curate at St Barnabas’ Parish Church, Swanland.

The Rev William Mather has been an Anglican vicar for 30 years and with his wife Libby retired in 2010 to Fortrose, near Inverness. He has worked on local newspapers as a journalist and has had a number of exhibitions as an artist. Now in retirement there is more time for the latter! He and Libby have three grown-up children. Areas of ministry have ranged from parishes in the UK to short-term missions in Africa wiith SOMA - Sharing of Ministries Abroad.

Deborah Noble is a freelance illustrator and a vicar's wife. Her illustrations and graphics have been used by a number of Christian publishers. She writes and illustrates Mouse Makes and has been creating logos and illustrations for Parish Pump since 1999.

Francesca Ross is an artist and illustrator and vicar’s wife in Essex. As well as producing front covers for Parish Pump, she also paints RHS grade botanical illustrations, and works in a variety of media including watercolour, ink and textiles. More of her work can be seen at francescaross.co.uk.

Olave Snelling is a former TV producer and has worked professionally in many forms of media: print, film, TV and radio. For 11 years she was a presenter and producer on Premier Radio and is now Chairman of the Premier Editorial Board. She is CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Council and Chairman of African Enterprise.

The Rev Dr Jo White is a rector in Derbyshire. Jo has also taught, and worked in social services and education - planning, training and managing a variety of projects and budgets. She has co-written two books on Pilgrimage.

Angela Webb is an artist in Staffordshire, and is a speaker for the Mothers’ Union for Lichfield Diocese. She produces Our Page for children. She co-authored Children: the Churches’ Care and has written a number of other publications. She also produces cartoons based on old engravings.

David Winter has had four working lives, as a teacher, journalist, BBC producer (radio and television and then Head of Religious Broadcasting) and finally as a parish priest in the Church of England. Now retired, he lives in Berkshire, writes endlessly (43 books and counting), does a column in the 'Church Times' and only gave up doing 'Thought for the Day' this Summer because he couldn't cope with getting up at 6am to do it.