Staff

Steve Paynter

I have been Vicar at St. Mary's, Ealing since 1998. It is an exciting, challenging and fulfilling ministry, seeking to share the grace of God within the diverse, vibrant and growing Christian Community of St. Mary's and beyond. My particular prayer for St. Mary's is that each person will discover their God-given potential and calling, and be equipped to live out that calling in their lives to the glory of God.

I grew up in Hampton, Middlesex, studied Physics at Bath and taught in a Comprehensive School for four years. I was ordained at Wells Cathedral in 1989 after training in Bristol. In my youth my great passions were rock climbing, ocean sailing, travel and natural history. Today my special joys are mountain walking, cricket, and natural history. I am married to Jennie and have four sons: Jono, Dan, Matt and Luke, aged 14 to 19 years old.

In my teens I went the Maths and Science route at school and moved away from any faith or belief in God. But science does not offer answers to the deepest questions of life, for example "Why am I here?" or "What is the purpose for our lives?" In seeking answers to these questions I found a personal faith in Jesus Christ while studying in Bath. Trusting in Jesus Christ has proved, from the first, both life enhancing and life changing.

Justin Read-Smith

I joined the team here at St. Mary’s in July 2008 as curate. I am originally from the States, but have most recently lived in Vancouver, British Columbia while I worked on my Master of Divinity at Regent College.

I grew up in the States. My father was in the US Air Force, so we moved around more than most but less than some. As long as I can remember I have had church in my life. But it wasn’t until I went to university that I came to an understanding of my own personal faith. It was during this time that I had a ‘crisis of faith’ where I walked away from Christianity. I wrestled with the ‘big’ questions and no one seemed to have the answers. But through a series of events I returned to church and began to understand the fullness of what Christianity entailed. It was at this time when I joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to pursue short term missions. I met my wife Liz through YWAM. We were in 13 different countries in three years with YWAM. After four years, we moved to Vancouver, where we spent five years and our two boys, John and Nat, were born.

I am interested in seeing people grow and mature in their own faith. Also, I have a great interest in monasticism, ancient forms of Christian spirituality and a desire to see Christianity impact contemporary culture. I am looking forward to seeing Christ transform all our lives.

Michael del Rio

I became an NSM curate at St Mary's in June 2005.  My non-stipendiary role has enabled me to continue my career in teaching.

I grew up in a church-going family but only came to a personal knowledge of Christ at the age of sixteen, after being challenged by a friend to read my Bible. That led me to realise that I couldn't claim to be a Christian simply because I went to church, or because I went to a church-school. Rather, Christianity required me to make an individual commitment to follow Jesus.

I studied first in Cardiff and then went overseas to work for CMS in Pakistan for two years. I worked at an English-speaking college on the Afghan/Pakistani border. That experience led me down the route of continuing to work in education, where I have been ever since.

I first worked in a variety of educational contexts, both formal and informal.  This was followed by several years at a secondary school in north-west London.  During this time I did a two year course part time at Oak Hill College in Southgate as preparation for ordination.  I was appointed as Assistant- Headteacher at a secondary school in Hanwell from September 2008. 

I have a strong desire to see individuals grow in their faith as they come to a greater awareness of God's Word, and its impact upon their lives.