THE new vicar at Holy Innocents church in High Beach was licensed at a packed ceremony on Sunday.

The Rev. Gill Hopkins, 54, is the first vicar to be assigned to the church for three years and is also the first to take up the newly-created post of chaplain to Epping Forest and Lee Valley National Park.

The Bishop of Barking, the Rt Rev. David Hawkins, licensed her in a ceremony attended by more than 160 people at the church, which included cyclists, horse riders and others who enjoy the forest.

She said: “I'm looking forwards to living in such a lovely area, with all theses opportunities for getting outside and getting involved in conservation.

“I enjoy walking and I'm cycling a lot more since I moved here three weeks ago and I've always had a love of the outdoors and the landscape and how people interact with it.”

In her role, she will try to take the church to the outdoors and build up teams of people who can get involved in conservation projects and help look after the countryside.

“As a Christian, I believe God made the natural world,” she said. “It's refreshing for people to be able to go walking and I think it's a really good way of reconnecting with what's important in life.

“I think in the business and the noise of everyday life, we get caught up in the ways of the world, which aren't always the best ways.”

The Rev. Hopkins worked as a teacher in primary and secondary schools in Yorkshire and Wickford, Essex, before being ordained as a priest three years ago.

“I think education puts you in touch with the community,” she said. “I'm still passionate about education and I wanted to extend that to the wider community.”

She lives at the vicarage in Meridian Park, Waltham Abbey, with her husband Richard, who works in teacher training.

She has a son, who is about to become a teacher and a daughter, who has just finished her A-levels.