United Benefice of Hurstbourne Tarrant & Faccombe

and Vernham Dean & Linkenholt

Appointment of New Priest-in-Charge

The Reverend David John Keighley

The Churchwardens of the United Benefice of Hurstbourne Tarrant & Faccombe and Vernham Dean & Linkenholt are pleased to announce that the Reverend David Keighley has accepted appointment as our Vicar.

 Career before Ordination:

Born in 1948, David Keighley obtained a teaching qualification in 1970 from Worcester College of Education, where he read Rural and Environmental Studies. While teaching in Northamptonshire, he specialised in adolescent problems, which led him to train in psychotherapy at London’s Tavistock Clinic. His call to the ministry developed from his work as a counsellor and psychotherapist.

 Ministry:

David Keighley attended theological college in Salisbury and was ordained in 1983. From 1984 to 1986 he was a Curate at Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire, where he set up a nursery school, and Assistant Chaplain at Harlow Hospital in Essex. In 1986 he was appointed Team Vicar in the market town of Saltash in Cornwall, where he again started a nursery school. In 1988 he obtained a degree from the Open University in Comparative Religion with Education and Psychology. In 1989 he became Vicar of the ‘very rural’ Benefice of Lanlivery with Luxulyan in the Diocese of Truro. He remained in Cornwall until 2000, when he was appointed Priest-in-Charge of the United Benefice of the Candover Valley in Winchester Diocese. Since 2003, he has also been Priest-in-Charge of the Benefice of Wield, and is now responsible for five churches.

Churchmanship Tradition:

David describes himself as a ‘typical central Anglican’. He enjoys services from the Book of Common Prayer, while at the same time developing services to meet the needs of the next generation of worshippers: he supports ‘steady evolutionary movement rather than revolutionary change’.

 In The Candovers, services on offer have included:

‘Traditional; all-age (babies to grandparents); pet (hamsters to horses); and meditative services. Some, like the Taizé service (a quiet, meditative service lit by candles and accompanied by cello and flute music) attract visitors from far afield… nativity plays and duck races, harvest suppers and a Good Friday pilgrimage down the valley to all five churches with picnic on the way’.’

Outreach to Uganda:

When the Bishop of Lango in northern Uganda visited Winchester, he told David Keighley that his car was falling apart. Keighley challenged his parishioners: ‘We probably drink more gin in this area, in the course of a year, than would pay for a car for the Bishop’ and invited everyone to contribute at least the price of a bottle. Within a year they had raised £7,500. Bishop Odurkami invited David Keighley to visit Uganda, which in October 2006 he  did,  driving  4 ½  hours  through  the

dangerous territory of Northern Uganda to deliver the car in person.

 In 2007 he set up ‘Uganda Lifeline’, a project to raise £100K for education projects. A sponsored walk from Oxford University to Winchester Cathedral raised £20,000 for bursaries to allow girls at St Katherine’s School, Lira, Northern Uganda to continue their education.

 Appointment:

Although David Keighley’s official title will be ‘Priest-in-Charge’ rather than ‘Vicar’, a change that is being phased in throughout the Church of England, he will be normally be called ‘the Vicar’, or simply ‘David’ . The appointment is half-time. We do not yet know which days he will not be working on Church matters, but it will be important for us all to respect this. It is hoped the Keighleys will move into the Vicarage in Hurstbourne Tarrant this summer and that he will begin his ministry among us after formal induction by the Bishop of Basingstoke in St. Peter’s Church, Hurstbourne Tarrant, on Monday 29^th September at 7.30 pm.

Family:

David has been married for 34 years to Sally, a music teacher. They have three daughters (Hannah 29, Emily 25, and Lucy 22), one son (Paul aged 27), and three grandchildren including Joe, the latest arrival, with whom they are pictured here.

Interests:

The Keighleys enjoy sport in general and angling, sailing, riding and walking in particular. Music is an important part of their life (in the Candovers Sally established a choir and David is a bellringer). 

 They go regularly to concerts and the theatre and have been involved in local dramatics. They are both keen gardeners.  Joining David and Sally in Hurstbourne Tarrant will be their two (well-behaved) German Shepherd dogs and two cats.

July / August Services