00:00 Hi, I'm Roland, I'm Roland Harvey,
00:01 and I'm the new hub leader of the churches
00:03 around the town centre of Wigan.
00:05 A bit different to my predecessors
00:08 who were rectors of the parish,
00:09 I'm the leader of the seven churches
00:11 that make up the town centre of Wigan.
00:13 I'm actually from St. Helens, and that's my hometown,
00:18 and yes, I'm a St. Helens fan,
00:20 but please don't hold that against me.
00:22 My previous churches have included
00:24 Garston in St. Michael's and Widnes at St. Mary's.
00:29 But also, I was here 11 years ago.
00:31 I was the vicar of St. Francis Church in Kittgreen,
00:34 and during my time here,
00:35 I was also the chaplain to Wigan Warriors for three seasons,
00:38 so hopefully that can strike some sort of balance.
00:41 I'm here with my wife, Leslie.
00:43 My two children are now grown up,
00:45 but my daughter, Sarah, still lives in Wigan,
00:47 and we have two grandsons, Alec and Ewan,
00:50 who are four and two years old.
00:52 So we've come back also nearer to family,
00:54 and we're having a great time with our children.
00:57 People often ask me what sort of priest I am.
01:00 I'd like to think I'm quite modern,
01:02 but I'm also quite traditional.
01:03 I'd like to think I can tick a lot of boxes.
01:06 I do play guitar a bit.
01:09 I have puppets from time to time,
01:11 but I can even do the traditional sung Eucharist.
01:14 So I've got quite a wide variety of styles.
01:19 The exciting thing about Wigan,
01:21 because we have this hub system,
01:24 is that we're working across seven churches
01:27 within the town centre,
01:28 and that means we can pool our resources better,
01:30 we can reach more people,
01:32 and hopefully be a real force for good within Wigan
01:36 in all of its aspects.
01:38 And that's what excites me
01:39 about coming to Wigan at this time.
01:41 Hopefully you're gonna see me around town for quite a bit.
01:43 I like to walk around,
01:44 I like to have a coffee and a chat,
01:47 and so if you do see me in the streets,
01:49 don't be afraid to stop and say hello,
01:50 and if we've got time,
01:52 we can have a chat and get to know each other.
01:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]
