EXCITING NEWS FOR OUR CIRCUIT

Friends in the Thirsk and Northallerton Circuit,

It is a real joy to introduce myself ahead of joining you on 1st September as your new Mission Enabler and Community Engagement Pioneer.

My name is Michael Tang. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and have lived in the UK since 2020. For the past five years I have been completing a PhD in theology at the University of Birmingham, working at the intersection of music, faith, and the spiritual lives of people who often feel on the edges of church. My book on this research will be published by Routledge later this year.

Alongside my doctorate, I have spent the last few years bivocationally, working as a barista at Sacred Ground café in Soho, serving as an event steward at Southwark Cathedral, coordinating a parish development programme for the Diocese of Southwark, and running a small theological education platform online. I have also designed Kairos Cards, bilingual theology trading cards that were featured in Church Times and Premier Christianity, and that have ended up in some surprising places, from coffee shops in London to a YouTube channel of more than a million subscribers.

What draws me to this role is simple: I believe that God is already at work in every village, every market square, every coffee shop, and every quiet conversation across the Vale of Mowbray. My job is not to bring God to North Yorkshire, God is already there. My job is to listen, to learn from you, to walk alongside you, and to help build small communities of welcome, faith, and friendship wherever they are needed.

I come with no illusions about how much there is to learn. The first months will be listening time, sitting with congregations, meeting with the ministry teams already at work, walking the streets and lanes, getting to know the rhythms and stories of this beautiful corner of the country. I cannot wait.

A small practical request, if I may: I am currently in the process of finding somewhere to live in the Thirsk or Northallerton area. If anyone in the circuit knows of a one or two bedroom flat available to rent, ideally furnished or part-furnished, with a move-in date around August or September, I would be grateful for any leads. Please feel free to be in touch through the church office.

I hold you all in my prayers as I prepare to come, and I look forward so much to meeting you in person.

With every blessing, Michael