Tim is Dursley's new curate (From Gazette Series)

Tim is Dursley's new curate

DURSLEY'S new curate is the Rev Tim Heaney, who was ordained deacon in Gloucester Cathedral on July 2.

Mr Heaney, 45, comes to the town via Devon, Bristol and Essex. He is married to Diane and they have three daughters, Samantha, 19, Katharine 12, and Rebekah, 11. The family moved into their new home in Cotswold View, Dursley, last month.

An accountant by profession, Mr Heaney had jobs in finance and marketing before working for a hospice in Essex.

"Coming to the Church was a very gradual process," he said. "I didn't really get involved until the age of 30.

"Diane was a practising Christian when we met and I always felt her Christian friends had something that I wanted. I began to feel there was more to life. But it was ten years before I realised God had something in store for me. Once again it was a gradual process before I knew that I was being called to be a full-time priest.

Mr Heaney spent two years training at Trinity Theological College, in Bristol, and then had the opportunity to return to the Essex diocese which had sponsored him. But he wanted to stay in the West Country.

"Having grown up in Devon and spent a lot of time in Bristol, I really missed the hills while I was in Essex," he said.

Mr Heaney also said that he chose to come to Dursley because the Church here was part of the community and worked together with the local people.

His first service in Dursley was on Sunday when he preached and served communion alongside the rector, the Rev Janet Bromley.