Ministry Team
Rector
After 14 years ministry at St John's, John Armes has now moved on to become Bishop of Edinburgh. We wish him well in this new phase of his ministry and look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.
The process of appointing a new rector is now underway, and more information will be posted on this website shortly.
Donald Reid – Associate Rector
Donald is currently taking on the additional responsibilities arising from John's departure as rector. During this time he will be continuing to maintain strong links between St John's and the Festival of Spirituality and Peace and the Edinburgh Interfaith Assocation.
Kenneth Boyd - Non-stipendiary priest
Kenneth Boyd has been a non-stipendiary member of the St John's ministry team since 1987, when as a Minister of the Church of Scotland he received permission to officiate from the Bishop of Edinburgh. Born and brought up in Easter Ross and educated there and at Edinburgh University, he worked after graduation for the Student Christian Movement, where he met his wife Pat, and after ordination as a University Chaplain. He is now Professor of Medical Ethics in the Edinburgh University College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. He is also an elder of St Cuthbert's Parish Church and, whenever possible, a member of the congregations of the Leith-Lyvennet parishes of the Eden Valley in Cumbria.
Clephane Hume – Non-stipendiary priest
Clephane has been at St John’s most of her life! She was an Occupational Therapist in the field of mental health, clinically, and then as a lecturer at Queen Margaret University. She was ordained deacon in 1992 and priest in 1994. The two professions combine happily in her pastoral work. After retiring from secular work she found a committee position which enabled her to travel extensively, thus combining her interest in international development with a love of travel and photography.
Sarah Kilbey – Non-stipendiary priest
Deaconed in 1992 at St Columba-by-the-Castle, Priested in 1995 at St Martin of Tours, Edinburgh, Sarah joined the Ministry team at St John’s in 2011 where she continues her work as Bishop’s Chaplain with deafened and hard of hearing people. (She has had a hearing loss since her teens and is now profoundly deaf) After graduating in Political Science she spent 25 years initiating and developing a lipreading service for Lothian Region for which she was awarded the MBE. She leads an informal church service for deaf people on the first Monday in the month. A fanatical swimmer, cyclist and walker, she also enjoys poetry, novels and Current Affairs. Married to Brian, a molecular geneticist, they have four children and three grandchildren.
Freda Alexander - Deacon
Freda joined the ministry team at St John's several years ago. She is a maths graduate but gave up pure mathematics after 10 happy years. Since then she has loved working as an epidemiologist and her last paid job was as professor of cancer epidemiology at Edinburgh University. Ordained as a Deacon in 2008 she is a Tertiary of the Society of St Francis and, currently, Area Minister for the Scottish Area. She has one son, one daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. When she has time, she enjoys golf, skiing, cycling and reading.
Amanda Wright - Lay Reader
A member of St John's since 2005, Amanda has been involved in church life in various places, and before moving to Edinburgh lived and worked on Iona for three years. She was licenced as a Reader in 1999. She is interested in children and young people's faith, varieties of church music and exploring liturgy and prayer. She is Sacristan, and St John's Lay Representative on Diocesan Synod. She is married to Andrew and they have two teenage sons. Amanda enjoys music, knitting, reading, writing, walking and eating (with friends) and is a Tertiary of the Order of the Holy Paraclete.