REV Jeremy Putnam was recently licensed at Holy Cross, Crediton, as the new associate priest, and to take up the new role of Team Missioner for the Crediton and North Creedy Ministry Team.

Jeremy and his wife Ruth moved to Sandford last year, with the intention to support and serve local churches, alongside their existing roles in Exeter for the Church of England.

Ruth works full time for the Diocese of Exeter, and Jeremy, alongside his parish ministry, works part time as the Mission Enabler, a support role for local churches in areas of evangelism, mission, and community engagement.

Jeremy said: “I am delighted to be serving alongside clergy and licensed colleagues here in Mid Devon, and have very much enjoyed getting to know the communities and people. We have felt tremendously welcomed.”

Jeremy and Ruth have been involved in church ministry for the last 25 years, serving on PCCs, involved in church administration, and together as Youth Leaders in a new Anglican church plant in Weston-super-Mare.

Jeremy was ordained as a deacon 2011 and as a priest in 2012, initially serving his curacy in Bath and Wells Diocese, whilst supporting the diocese in their work to encourage “younger vocations”, a project that introduced him to Rev Preb Matthew Tregenza, who at the time was one of the diocesan advisers for vocations in the Church of England.

Jeremy and Ruth then moved with their daughters to Cornwall, where Jeremy took up his first incumbency, as Priest in Charge for All Saints Highertown and Baldhu serving there until 2022.

When asked what drew them to Devon, Ruth said: “It was the right time.

“Both our daughters were making the big step into work, and settling in their own homes, and we were ready for a new place to call home too.

“We were both excited about the prospect of living in Devon, and supporting the Church here”.

Jeremy also liked the prospect of a shared role that brought parish ministry and the church’s strategic work closer together, in short, to see rural ministry better inform the life of the church as a whole.

Jeremy said: “If there is one passage of scripture that encapsulates our thinking it would be Romans 8:28, “For those who love God, all things work together for good”.

“That doesn’t mean its always plain sailing, but it does mean that in every situation the goodness of God can be found. And it’s the goodness of God that has led us here.”