London Priest Set to Serve the City of God

The Archbishop of Brazil, Dom Mauricio Andrade, the Revd Nicholas Wheeler, and the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres

24/09/07

A long-serving priest in the Diocese of London is set to swap the Parish of Old St Pancras for the streets of Rio de Janeiro to become Priest Missioner in the City of God.

The Revd Nicholas Wheeler, currently Team Rector of the Old St Pancras Team serving Camden Town and Somers Town, will head for Brazil in March next year to take up his new role.

Fr Nicholas has been invited to the three year post by the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil through a new partnership between the Diocese of Rio de Janeiro, the Diocese of London and USPG: Anglicans in World Mission, who have supported the vital and life-changing work of the church around the world for over 300 years.

Built in the 1960s to provide a new start for slum dwellers, the City of God has become a notorious haven of drug trafficking and gun crime and in 2002 Fernando Mireilles' award-winning film "City of God" brought the community to international attention.

Fr Nicholas will be based at the Church of Christ the King and will seek to engage with the local community, open up the church space, grow the congregation and sustain a number of social projects. He will also help other parishes in the Diocese of Rio de Janeiro to reflect on their work with the poor.

The project will cost £60,000, so Fr Nicholas, who has spent his entire 20-year ministry in the Diocese of London, needs to raise the first £20,000 before he goes, then continue raising funds for the rest as his ministry develops. An appeal for support from the parishes and people of the Diocese of London will be launched shortly by USPG.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, said:

"I urge you to support Nicholas in this courageous and spiritually adventurous journey that will aid our challenge to be a Church for a world city."

The Bishop of Rio de Janeiro, Dom Celso Franco de Oliveira, said:

"I ask you to stand alongside Nicholas as he joins with us in the struggle for hope in the City of God."

Fr Nicholas said:

"It has been a very hard decision to leave the people and a place that I love deeply and a diocese that I have served for 20 years. But the past decade in Camden Town and Somers Town has affirmed my confidence in the priesthood and this is an opportunity to renew my vocation in a new culture that will enrich what I can bring back to London when I return.

"I am now looking forward to serving the spiritual needs of the people of Rio de Janeiro and exploring what it means to be an Anglican on the other side of the globe."

For more information about the work of USPG, visit www.uspg.org.uk. Donations for USPG's work can be made by t: 0845 273 1701. General queries about USPG should be addressed to Hamish Bruce, USPG Press Office, 020 7378 5693.