A NEW parish rector who has worked in an investment bank and a prison says he is “not a very churchy vicar”.

Reverend Jack Dunn was installed as Wanstead’s new rector at a special service at St Mary’s on September 7, giving his first service at Christ Church just days ago on September 11.

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Around 150 people squeezed into the Grade I-listed church in Overton Drive to see Revd Dunn officially replace his predecessor Liz Horwell after seven years in the parish.

But although he claims he was called to the job at the tender age of 11, the 38-year-old has had a colourful career outside the church.

After finishing a PHD in Irish history at Oxford in his mid-twenties, Revd Dunn worked at investment bank J P Morgan, before he did his first two years at “priest academy”.

He said: “When I was 11-years-old I sang in the church choir and at that age it became clear to me that God was calling me to be a priest.

“I put it off for twenty years because I always thought there were people who would be much better at it.”

When Revd Dunn returned to Oxford to do his training, he visited Wandsworth Prison every week, where he worked with murderers, sex offenders, and prisoners on suicide watch.

He said: “I wanted to make sense of what I was learning in a practical way.

“It was tough work and undoubtedly some of the conversations I had with those prisoners will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“But I was never scared - I sat one on one in a cell with convicted murderers, but I believe people are people.

“In terms of how I viewed people on the inside, many of them simply made bad choices, often when their options were very few.”

He then moved on to do his two-year curacy in the parish of Chelsea, where he worked alongside young offenders carrying out their community orders at his church.

After another stint in Oxford working as a chaplain with students, many of whom were vulnerable, Revd Dunn’s first role as a qualified priest was at St Andrew’s in Leytonstone.

He said: “Leytonstone is a fantastic community and St Andrew’s is a wonderful church.

“During my year there we had quite a few murders and attempted murders – first the person found beheaded at Hollow Ponds, then the Leytonstone Tube attack.

“But it is such a strong and loyal community, I absolutely loved it there.

“It was very hard to leave and in an ideal world I would have stayed longer, but it’s great I am still so close.”

Revd Dunn says the main thing that called him to Wanstead was the number of families with children and young people.

He said: “The school’s central role in the parish is very exciting.

“There’s also a great depth of spirituality here.

“One of the promises you make as a priest is to proclaim the gospel afresh for every generation.

“So I need to make sure what I’m doing is relevant to a 93-year-old, a seven-year-old and a 24-year-old, which is something I take very seriously.”

Revd Dunn added that he hopes to “bridge the gap between the high street and the church”.

He said: “Social action should always be one of the church’s central roles, whether that’s AA groups, NA groups or foodbanks.

“Churches are people not buildings, and as William Temple said, the church exists for the benefit of its non-members.

“As you can tell, I’m not a very churchy vicar.

“There are a small number of people to help inside the church, but there are far more outside.

“We are all here to work together, no matter what church you go to or what faith or non-faith you have.”