As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?

I went through all the usual desires to be a train driver or fire engine driver, but the one that became the longest lasting and perhaps the most focused was to play in goal (I am a long standing goal keeper - goal keepers peak late) for Bradford City. For years I saw myself running out onto the Wembley pitch in an FA cup final, playing a brilliant game and being awarded with the cup.

How did you get involved in education?

I kind of stumbled on it by chance. Having become a Christian and got involved in mission work in Scandinavia, I came back to the UK and did a degree in Theology with a sense of calling to church leadership, but nothing seemed to open up for me. So it seemed like a good idea to train to teach. I did a PGCE in physical education and taught PE for a couple of years, before moving on to running a unit for children with behavioural problems and eventually became a head of department in a large community school in West London. I guess I had been the right person at the right time with the right kind of skills and had some great opportunities working in a number of different secondary school settings.

And now you are a church leader. So where did it all go wrong?

I am not sure it all went wrong! However there was a moment of real decision. While my teaching career was developing quickly, alongside this I was increasingly taking responsibility in my own church. It became obvious that it was unsustainable in the long term for me to maintain the level of work in both areas. So the moment of truth came when my church came and asked me if I would be willing to be employed by them on a full time basis. I guess that was a real watershed moment in my life - whether to really dig in and see my contribution in the educational sphere as my priority, or whether to go back to the calling which I felt God had given me many years previously in the area of church leadership. In the end it wasn't a difficult decision, although I have said many times in the past that I am sure had I chosen to commit myself to education, the opportunities would have been enormous and what a privilege it would have been to be able to shape the lives of thousands of young people. However, the call to church leadership was strong and clear and therefore I responded to it gladly.

Who has been the biggest influence in your work?

I am thankful to God for the privilege of having an opportunity to work with a whole crowd of great people who have influenced, challenged and shaped me over the years - Lynn Green, Roger Forster, Gerald Coates as part of the March for Jesus leadership - Mike Pilavachi at Soul Survivor - Ness Wilson and Linda Ward in church planting and church leadership. There is not one I would want to focus on. I am grateful to God for each of them.

Tell us one of your most hilarious faux pas.

I guess the worst has to be one of my first preaching appointments as a young student coming out of the London Bible School (London School of Theology as it is), I was enthusiastically preaching to this small congregation of elderly Baptists endeavouring to enthuse them as to God's vision for the church, this living, vibrant ……organism. Sadly it came out wrong.

What is your greatest fear and your greatest hope?

I don't tend to 'fear'. We are living at a time of enormous challenges - credit crunch, breakdown of confidence in financial institutions, spiralling unemployment (with all the social impact of that). I live in London where young guys are killing each other on the streets. Then of course there are the global issues such as global warming and the inequalities between the northern and southern hemi-spheres. With so much going on at this time I see this as an age of enormous opportunities, where we as Christians can engage in the conversation as to what kind of world we want to emerge out of this time of crisis. In my lifetime success has tended to be measured by the size of my bank account, the type of house I live in, the stuff I fill my house with and the holidays that I go on, but I have a sense at this moment that all these measurements of success are being challenged and I would love us to be part of the conversation that explores what our society could look like in 50 years time.

What's the first thing you would do if you ruled the world for a day?

Implement the Millennium Development Goals, fast track - no excuses.

When are you the happiest?

Sitting around our large family table with a whole crowd of family and friends - eating, drinking and celebrating life together.

What's the one thing you couldn't live without?

The opportunity for relationships which allow me to sit around a large family table with family and friends.

What makes you angry?

Injustice wherever I see it.

What living person do you most admire, and why?

The answer to that question depends on what day you ask me - perhaps even what time of the day. However, at this moment you can't help but admire the journey of Barrack Obama. Who would have thought that in our lifetime with all the history of racial prejudice across so many nations (not just the USA) that we could have today a black president of the United States.

What has been your biggest disappointment?

It has to be around friends who I have done life with, church leadership with, even church planted with who today aren't following Jesus and are living a very different life than either I or they would have anticipated even a short time ago.

What do you consider your greatest achievement so far?

I am thankful to God for some wonderful opportunities to serve Him with some great people - small scale local initiatives at a grass roots level right through to big international and national initiatives such as March for Jesus International and HOPE 08 right across the UK. I wouldn't want to pick any one thing out. I have often said I have ended up getting paid for doing things which I would have chosen to do for nothing.

Who would you put in a celebrity Big Brother house?

I am not sure I would put anyone in there. I don't believe it would be good for their 'humanity'.

What Christian story or biblical text motivates you in your work?

The life and calling of Abraham has always been a source of real encouragement and challenge to me. It was central in my sense of God calling me to the Evangelical Alliance. Hebrews 11 v 8 puts it like this - 'By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went even though he didn't know where he was going.' The call to an adventure of faith - I want to participate in that adventure and do with my life whatever God might ask of me next.

What would you do with a million quid?

That would take a lot of thought.

Martin Luther King Jr had a dream for society. What is yours?

That the love that God has for His world is expressed, as the church of Jesus Christ is rightly positioned at the heart of communities and as individual Christians express that love, shaping and transforming their work places, their neighbourhoods and their network of relationships.

What is the main hindrance to living the dream?

A distorted view of God, the distractions of life and disunity among God's people.

What is your least/most green credential?

My least green credential is my old BMW. My most green credential is I am officially my household's 'recycling officer.' I live in a borough which has a brilliant recycling programme, which does take a fair amount of work to make sure it works well for my home.

What would 'wellbeing' in society look like 10 years from now?

I love that Hebrew word 'Shalom' - peace. Wouldn't it be wonderful if wherever you looked, particularly at the margins and among the 'have-nots' that peace, harmony and wholeness was being discovered. Then in some really surprising places fresh expressions of humanity as God designed it start bursting out modelling new ways of living, new ways of relating and new priorities for life; therefore challenging so many pre-suppositions of the later part of the 20th century.

Tell us a joke.

I am predicting that Bradford city will win the FA Cup in 2010.