The Bishop of Whitby, the Rt Revd Paul Ferguson, will licence a new Vicar for Marton on Saturday 17th January. The Revd Andy Grant, previously assistant curate in Boston Spa, will be licenced at a special service at St Cuthbert’s Marton at 3pm.

Before being ordained in 2011, Andy previously served in HM Forces in 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment. At Marton, he’ll be helped by pioneer minister the Revd Ben Norton, who is also a chaplain with The 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.

Andy said, “While it may seem a bit of a leap from being a soldier to becoming a vicar, there are lots of strong links between the church and the Forces. I was involved in an accident in a troop carrier whilst serving in Bosnia, and after that I felt a shift in my thinking. I didn’t become a pacifist, because you can’t be a pacifist in the army, but I found myself wanting to do a different job there. I trained to be a clerk in administration, and in a few years I re-trained again to become an occupational welfare worker. I was still a soldier, but doing a very different role, involved in welfare work with the serving community.

“I was ordained in 2011, serving four parish churches within the Benefice of Bramham, Boston Spa. During this period I was made aware of a plan by Colonel Ian Harris (whom I served under when in the Army) to return to Bosnia with a team to re-dedicate a memorial stone in honour of colleagues who died there back in 1994. It was a great honour to be invited along to lead the service of rededication as a minister, and the service was a great success. Half the people in the congregation for the rededication were Bosnian Muslims - it was a challenge to get the content of the service right, but it was well received by everyone there.

“I’m looking forward to starting my new role as vicar in Marton, working with Ben and everyone else at St Cuthbert’s, and getting to know everyone in my new parish.”

Andy was born in Bristol, is married to Allison and has three children: Adam, Holly, and Heather. Adam is married to Ashleigh, and they have a baby daughter, Eleanor.