New Chief Exec for Germinate

The Revd Claire Maxim, Rector of Ludgershall and Faberstown in Stonehenge Deanery, will be the new CEO of Germinate, formerly the Arthur Rank Centre, which helps communities flourish by working alongside local churches nationally.

“I am excited by the direction Germinate has taken over recent years, and look forward to continuing and extending that trajectory” said Claire Maxim. “There is a wide diversity of rural contexts so, in terms of communicating the Gospel, one size does not fit all. Germinate is ideally placed to encourage the sharing of ideas and to enable the peer support necessary to allow risk and failure as well as success.”

Claire was originally an engineer, has an MBA from Henley Business School, a Diploma in Applied Theology from The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham, and is studying for a Professional Doctorate at the Centre for Rural Ministry Studies at the University of Warwick.

She will take up post after the retirement of Jerry Marshall in 2018.

“Claire’s appointment was a unanimous decision from a field of exceptionally strong candidates,” said Chairman Howard Petch. “We are thrilled that Claire accepted the offer to be the next CEO of Germinate and to build on the foundations laid under the leadership of Jerry Marshall.”

Germinate (www.germinate.net) is the churches’ rural resource centre. The organisation helps rural communities flourish by encouraging and equipping local churches for mission and ministry, providing a wide variety of resources including leadership training, rural learning communities, conferences and the magazine Country Way.

“This is an exciting though challenging time in rural mission as churches increasingly move towards lay leadership and work ecumenically with a ‘mixed economy’ of traditional and fresh expressions of church,” said current CEO Jerry Marshall. “Claire’s sense of humour, hands-on experience, ecumenical perspective developed at Queen’s and her understanding of the wide variety of rural context will stand her in excellent stead.”

More information on Germinate can be found at germinate.net.