An Evening with KB
Interview: Dan Wells is with Kelvin Burke
Preamble with, 'you knew my father and Uncle John when you first came to IoW in 1980.... what were you doing on IoW?
I came to England to study Economics. Moved to Yorkshire for Accountancy work in 1977. Found a church. Found a Hockey Club. Bought a house. I was working as an accountant and studying for Chartered Accountant exams. Then I was in a car accident. My firm decided that the best way to continue my studies was to attend a residential centre. One of the Accountancy Tuition Centres was in St Lawrence! That was 1980.
Tell us about the car accident that changed your life. How long in hospital?
The accident happened on 30 May 1979, two days after my 23rdbirthday!
I was on a Spinal Injuries Unit fin Wakefield, Yorkshire for 9 mths.
How did your faith survive all of that?
I felt held through it all, the little Bible in my back pocket survived the crash and was a source of daily encouragement - bread of heaven!
I resumed work in Accountancy. Called into Ordained ministry in 1997 and ordained as a C of E minister in 1999.
When did you marry? Tell us about Jennie and the family.
Met Jennie through church. She was a Bretton student. We Married in 1986, 7 years after the accident.
You became a CofE minister and ended up in Hospital Chaplaincy – was that always your intention? No, I had a bit of a phobia about hospitals!
You were a full-time Chaplain in Yorkshire and then IoW – what was that like? Tell us about some of your encounters? Lindy, Steve T, Pam, Julie, Donald, Dr TJ.
Was Chaplaincy much different in Leeds to IoW? I was Lead Chaplain at both the Hospital and Hospice. Special encounters with Sandi (Sarah), Gina, Gloria & Robin, Quaker Richard
What are you up to now? Writing. Grandparenting. Greenhouse. Speaking here and there.
What is the Lake of Tears all about?
God answered my questioning in a dramatic way - the vision of the Lake of Tears.
