My name is Wayne Simmonds, and I am your new curate. I was born in Jamaica and migrated to the UK over 30 years ago.

I was trained as a primary school teacher, and I have taught for about 10 years. I completed a BA (Hons) in Social Policy and a MA in Migration, Superdiversity and Policy, specialising in refugee integration at the University of Birmingham.

I was born into a religious family, and as such, I attended church almost every Sunday. My personal relationship with Jesus and my faith in God have always sustained me. My theology is one which is centred around hospitality. I have worked  with some of the most marginalised people in society for over 17 years.

My calling to ordained ministry began over 30 years ago. However, it was not until 2018 that I formally and seriously acted upon my calling. I trained for ordination at the Queens Ecumenical Foundation in Birmingham. I was ordained as a deacon in 2023 and priested in 2024.

 I served my first curacy in the diocese of Birmingham.