John was raised in Westport, Christchurch and North Canterbury, and comes originally from a Pentecostal background. He has been an academic, worked in family and community restoration, public policy, and children’s and youth work, as well as stints in pastoral care for students and disabled people. He was ordained in 2018.  He is Priest in Charge at St Christopher’s, and Senior Ecumenical Chaplain at Canterbury University. He is married to Emma.