Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2015 | Page 35

INTERVIEW

Island
parish

An

We meet the vicar of Newport’s
historic Minster Church to hear what
brought him to the Island - and his
vision for the future
Interview and main picture Martin Potter. Words Jackie McCarrick.

Y

ou could say that the Rev Kevin
Arkell is a man who thrives on a
challenge.
Over a period of more than 35 years,
his ministry has taken him to deprived
areas of the North, hard-hit mining
communities in the Midlands and among
people with addiction problems on the
south coast.
So after all that, it might appear that
his current position as vicar of Newport
is something of an easier ride – but
appearances can be deceptive. As
he says, this is a role that has distinct
challenges all of its own.
That might explain why the Isle of
Wight job was one that had proved hard
to fill. In fact the vacancy had been
advertised without success for some time
before the Rev. Arkell decided to apply.
“They couldn’t fill it because it’s rather a
difficult job that calls for quite a wide and
diverse range of skills,” he explains.
These include not just running the
regular church worship services, but
also being able to come up with creative
ideas for the huge range of Island events

and services that take place
at the Minster Church – as
well as being able to relate to
local government, in the role
of Chaplain to the County
Council.
No less importantly, the
ideal candidate also had
to be someone who was a
good fund-raiser, given the
huge and costly renovations
currently being undertaken at
the Grade 1 Listed Newport
Minster.
And added to all that, the
incumbent also needed to
be able to work with the
parish of St John’s, which is
evangelical in character.
“It was a tall order for any
minister and whilst my
background had given me a lot of those
skills, I am certainly not the Archangel
Gabriel!” he jokes.
“My way has always been to work
with people, so in applying for the job, I
suggested that by working together with

local communities and church wardens,
we could gently nudge the agenda
forward and do what needs to be done”.
And so it was that the Hampshire-born
minister took up the demanding role of
Vicar of Newport, in January 2011.
www.goilife.co.uk

35