Volunteer profile
Martin Russell
USPG has a special place in Martin Russell’s heart for one particular reason: He met his wife Madeline at USPG’s College of the Ascension in 1970! Martin is a retired Anglican parish priest who volunteers for USPG as a Bishop’s Nominee. ‘My main role is to report back to our bishops on what USPG is doing, and to affirm the importance of the world church in our life and mission,’ he explains. ‘About two years after I retired, our diocese was enlarged to become the new Diocese of Leeds. So I now report to both the Rt Rev’d Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds and my local area bishop, the Rt Rev’d Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Huddersfield.’ Following those early days at College of the Ascension, Martin spent a year-and-a-half as a volunteer teacher with USPG in the Windward Islands. Later, he spent seven years with USPG in Trinidad: first as a curate at the Parish Church of St Paul in San Fernando, then as a parish priest at St Mark’s Church in Point Fortin. ‘Those years in Trinidad were very happy ones,’ Martin says. ‘They gave me a strong sense of being part of the worldwide church. Just before we left, some of the local clergy said to me, “We’re now sending you back as a missionary to England”. That was relevant because in Trinidad we were all part of the normal culture, whereas I found a much more secular environment when we returned to the UK.’ Back in the UK, Martin was priest-in-charge of two parishes on the outskirts of Huddersfield for 15 years. From there, he went to Halifax where he was vicar of Holy Trinity and St Jude’s until his retirement in 2013. ‘Before I retired, the then Bishop of Wakefield asked me if I would be willing to be a bishop’s nominee for USPG,’ he says. ‘I agreed and went to the USPG Annual Conference. I enjoyed the conference very much; it gave me a renewed sense of being part of the world church. I’ve attended every year since.’ Thanks to his experiences in the Caribbean, Martin is a passionate champion of USPG’s short-term mission programmes and his youngest son recently went to Tanzania on a ‘Journey With Us’ placement. ‘USPG’s approach has changed since my trip,’ says Martin. ‘It’s now more of a mutual support and link, rather than sending long-term mission partners. I would say to anyone who’s considering volunteering for USPG that it’s a very worthwhile thing to do. Volunteering is something that anyone who feels strongly about the world church can do and USPG will give them full support.’
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