Life in the Spirit 2012 Speaker
Sandy Millar
Cited as the principal person responsible for the Alpha Course, Rev. John Alexander Kirkpatrick (Sandy) Millar practised for 10 years as a barrister before being ordained into the Church of England in 1976. He joined the staff of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) as curate in 1976, becoming Vicar in 1985. During his nearly 30 years at HTB, he embarked on a church-planting mission to revitalize the dying, aging parish of less than 200, first as curate, later as vicar. Now more than 4,000 worshipers attend one of ten weekend services held by HTB. Key to the return to the church has been the development of The Alpha Course, a nonthreatening, helpful and informal way to discuss questions about the Christian faith. There are now over 55,000 courses worldwide in 169 countries. Alpha is supported by all the major denominations.
In October 2003, in a unique initiative for the Church of England, Sandy was inducted into the additional role of Priest-in-Charge of the north London parish of St. Mark Tollington Park. After 20 years as Vicar of HTB, he stood down in July 2005 and moved to St. Mark Tollington Park to devote more time to his role at that church.
On 27th November 2005, he was consecrated in Uganda as an Assistant Bishop in the Province of Uganda, in a joint initiative of the Archbishop of Uganda, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. In February 2006 he was licensed to act as an assistant Bishop in the Diocese of London at a major service led by the Bishop of London in St Paul’s Cathedral. He stood down from his role as priest-in-charge of St Mark’s Tollington Park in 2011. On 29 April 2012, Millar was licensed as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich,
He is married to Annette and they have four children.
Listen to Sandy Millar talk entitled, “Authority – Where Are Today’s Leaders?
Emmy Wilson
Emmy has been on staff for 26 years and is now a Curate at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, England. Ordained by The Right Rev’d Johnson Gakumba, the 7th Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Uganda in November 2011, Emmy is the first European woman to be ordained in Northern Uganda. She founded the Earl’s Court Project, a street ministry helping those affected by various addictions, and Alpha for Prisons. She has been involved with pastoral work and Prayer Ministry training and more recently, Listening Prayer. Her work includes prison Global Alpha Training.
