Our Minister
Our minister is The Rev. Andrew Parker BTh (Oxon)
Tel: 0161 643 1824
Minister – Rev Andrew Robert Parker B.Th
I was born and brought up in Gee Cross where I attended Hyde Chapel Sunday School with my sister and brother. The Minister there throughout my teenage years was the Rev Frederick W Barr whose dedication to his ministry and kindness to all those in need made a lasting impression on me.
I progressed over the years from being a Sunday School scholar, to teacher, Sunday School Secretary and eventually Superintendent, all before the age of 21! In the years which followed I found myself a member of the Chapel Committee, a trustee and eventually Chapel Secretary. These were boom years at Hyde Chapel during the ministry of the Rev Angus McCormick. At its height in the late 80s/early 90s there were about 120 children in the Sunday School and over 100 adults at the service EVERY Sunday! The Chapel Secretary's job was like having a second full time job. Every evening I would come home from my work in the Civil Service and spend two or three hours on chapel business and the phone never stopped ringing.
I soon noticed that I was enjoying the work for Hyde Chapel much more than the day job. I had been taking services around the East Cheshire Union for a few years and eventually I could ignore the call no longer and accepted that the Ministry was the life God was calling me to. I left my job in the Civil Service in 1994 and went to train at Harris Manchester College, Oxford for three years. During that time I undertook a student pastorate at Rochdale and on completion of the training was called to the pulpit of Stalybridge Unitarian Church where I have remained ever since. Dob Lane Chapel Failsworth was added to my ministry in 2003 and it has proved to be a most successful combination and one which I hope will continue for many years to come.