Leighton Carr, Architect, seeker, teacher, designer, problem
solver, imaginer, communicator and now ...Priest in the Church of England. What drew this successful architect to offer so much of his life in the service of God and His church?
Some of my earliest memories are of my pioneering parents building a church (literally, physically, by hand) in a very poor district of Birmingham; of wandering around the building site which was to become my first spiritual home, curious about God and about the way things are put together.
Nearly fifty years later Im still doing the same things - wandering around building sites and wondering what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Its another curiosity then, that whatever diversions life has taken between childhood and now, whether in or out of faith, so little of the call on my life has changed.
June 5th, 2010 a few weeks before his ordination Leighton reflected on his Twitter entry: It's only when we know and tell the truthful story of our own lives that we can be free to help others to understand the story of theirs ... Like many of us his life has been shaped by key people who have encouraged and supported him.
My gratitude goes to my parents who have faithfully prayed for me since those early days on a faith filled building site. It is a blessing to come from a family of enthusiastic, passionate, single-minded and dynamic men and women who continue to serve God with tremendous energy and to lead great churches. I am humbled by their example and thank them. I hope to honour them by my life and ministry. And thank you Catherine, Georgina, Harry, Charlie and Ed for all your encouragement and support; more patience than I deserve or could expect!
In his work Leighton specializes in creating alternative and often radical design-led solutions in response to a brief. It will be interesting to see how these God given gifts work out with a new brief building the Kingdom of God. Watch this space.