Who is the new man you will be inviting for tea?

The Reverend Robert Ellis has been appointed the next Anglican Chaplain in Majorca, to succeed Canon Jim Hawthorne, who retires at Easter. He is no stranger to the island, or his new parish (St Philip and St James in Calle Nuñez de Balboa, Son Armadams), as he has been the Locum on a regular basis for the past six years. In a telephone interview with the Bulletin yesterday, he said that he saw his mission as being one of “keeping the rumour of God alive in a highly secular society.” He added that Christians should be a meeting point between church and society and not live in a religious ghetto, saying that we should “rely on ourselves to make God's world a better place for all His people.” Like Canon Hawthorne, the Rev Ellis, who is married to Caroline and has three children, has a background in the media. Born in Yorkshire 52 years ago, he trained for ordination at Kings College London and did post graduate work at Christchurch College Canterbury. He was a curate in Liverpool (Our Lady and St Nicholas) before joining the BBC as a religious programmes producer, working on current affairs programmes, documentaries and outside broadcast church services.