Staff and Leadership

Please find below an introduction to our church leaders and members of staff.

Clergy


Reverend Richard Hibbert - Vicar		Reverend Carolyne Powell - Associate Vicar
Richard was born in London, worked in the City as a shipbroker before being called to ordination. He trained at Trinity Theological College Bristol and completed his curacy at St Mary’s Luton. He moved to Christ Church Bedford, where he served for 22 years, covering a rebuilding of the congregation’s faith and then its buildings. He was Rural Dean of Bedford, Honorary Canon of St Albans Cathedral and member of General Synod. He was Licensed at Holy Trinity in March 2022, looking forward to city-centre ministry with the rich mix of worship, visitors and tourists, civic roles with the Lord Mayor and Freemen’s Guild, and the bustle of this vibrant and underrated city. He is a keen dinghy sailor, a life-long but mild supporter of Sunderland AFC and loves reading all aspects of history. He’s married to Sarah, a pharmacist, and they have one grown-up daughter.		Carolyne was ‘adopted by Coventry’ in 2019, a city she felt called to serve her curacy. Born and raised in Paris, Carolyne previously worked in international human resources and lived in different countries before starting her theological studies at Ridley Hall, Cambridge in 2017. Licenced as Associate Vicar at Holy Trinity Coventry in August 2023, Carolyne is excited to serve in the city-centre where students, young adults, tourists and locals cross - and in a rich and diverse church whose medieval, monastic as well as modern history is part of the history of the city. She is passionate about prayer and rediscovering the ‘ancient paths of old’ to live life to the full alongside others. She loves food from around the world (not just, but also French bread!), trying unusual ice-creams and sorbets, humming or even dancing to Irish/folk/bluegrass music, and spending time by the sea.

Wardens


Chris Howard - Buildings Warden		Jenny Williams - Pastoral & Safeguarding Warden
Chris Howard was Director of Music at Holy Trinity from 1981 until 2012 with just a 12-month break in 1991. For most of this time he served ex-officio on the PCC. He is a native of Stourbridge and attended King Edward VI School. While at University in Cardiff he was accompanist for the University Choral Union, had organ lessons from Robert Joyce at Llandaff Cathedral and was organist at Roath Park Methodist Church. Arriving in Coventry in 1968, he became organist at Queens Road Baptist Church, where he met Jean, who was Choir Director. They were married there in 1972. They have three children, Timothy, Jennifer and Rosemary, and five grandchildren. From 1968 until 1976 he taught music at The Woodlands School in Broad Lane and from 1976 until 2005 was Head of Music at Bluecoat School and Music College. He was subsequently a tutor in the Education School at Birmingham City University and for Teach First.		Jenny was born and raised in Coventry where she has lived all her life, apart from a spell at Birmingham University to do her teacher training. Along with her husband Jonathan, she has been worshipping at Holy Trinity since 2021, although she has been a Christian for over 50 years. She attends the 9.30 service three weeks out of four, where she sings in the worship band, is on the Welcome and Breakfast rotas, and supports with leading intercessions. On the first Sunday of each month, Jenny attends the 11.15 service to help with the children’s work. She is also a Sunday afternoon welcomer when the church is open to the public. Jenny has been a teacher for 45 years and although now semi retired, currently works two days a week at Barr’s Hill School where she teaches English to newly arrived students and supports them with their learning. She and Jonathan are blessed to have 5 children and 11 grandchildren.


Nehemiah Akinyele - Finance Warden		Andrew Selwyn - Outreach Warden
Nehemiah is a Nigerian by birth and relocated to the United Kingdom in 2007. He had his early education at Osogbo and post- secondary education in Lagos (Both located in South West of Nigeria). His secular working experience is diverse in both the Public and Private sectors of Nigeria economy. Nehemiah joined Holy Trinity Church, Coventry as a parishioner in 2008 even-though he had worshipped occasionally at the Church between 2005 and 2007 when on visit to Coventry City. He had the privilege of serving as a member of PCC from 2013 – 2016 and has the honour of being elected a Church Warden in 2022. Prior to moving to the UK, Nehemiah had the opportunity of some key stewardship service at All Saints’ Anglican Church, Yaba in the Diocese of Lagos, Nigeria (Anglican Communion). A Chartered Accountant, Football enthusiast and keen Scout, he was a member of the Nigerian contingent to the 12th World Boy Scouts Jamboree in 1967 at Idaho State, USA. Nehemiah is blessed with Children and Grandchildren.		Andrew was born and raised in India. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, he made the bold decision to move to the UK in 2018 after accepting a job offer with JLR. Prior to his move, he spent over 10 years working with the GE Locomotive business in Bangalore, India. Throughout his journey, whether it was in Coventry or back in India, he has been involved with the church ministry in various capacities, particularly in the choir and youth. Within HTC, Andrew is part of the choir, one of the children's group leaders, and acts as a churchwarden with a strong focus on outreach. In addition, he also leads a growth group that focuses on studying the Bible. Beyond his church involvement, Andrew loves cars and driving. He is married to Vino, who is also a valued member of the church staff. Together, they are blessed with two wonderful sons.

Staff

A big church like Holy Trinity needs lots of work “behind the scenes”! This means that there are a number of office staff and other volunteers who work on administration, finance, scheduling, communications and much more. The office is located in the Vicar’s Vestry of the main church building and can be contacted by telephone 0247 622 0418 or by email htoffice@holytrinitycoventry.org.uk .

Please note our new office hours are:
Monday – Friday 10am-3pm

Saturday and Sunday – Office closed
Outside of these times please do call the office on 0247 622 0418 or email htoffice@holytrinitycoventry.org.uk for further help.


Tayo Akinsemoyin - Parish Administrator and Trinity House Coordinator		Colin Millard - Verger
Tayo hails from Lagos, Nigeria, an ever-evolving megacity. This ignited her interest in the built environment and consequently her expertise in property and facilities management. Born into the Anglican Communion, Tayo has served in the church in various capacities both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. In Nigeria, she served as a member of the Guild of Stewards in the Anglican Church for about 12 years. At Holy Trinity Coventry, she has served as a Welcomer since 2023. She first visited Holy Trinity in 2022 and was very impressed by the warmth shown to her by members of the congregation on that day. She has not looked back since then. Outside of work, she enjoys learning new things about the environment, theology, and people. She also loves music and writing.		Some of us have portraits hanging on the stairwell , some have photos on Facebook or WhatsApp (or tinder!!) or in my case on criminal records. My journey has been one of childhood innocence, loved but lost. Raised to be good, but doomed to be a fool. Turned my back on wisdom and family, sought a life of perceived joy, that was a delusion and pathway to degradation. It was a sunny Thursday a wind from nowhere picked me up, dropped me in a pew during a service, this following a shouted out loud,: if there is a God please help me I can’t help myself; days before. Some of us turn a page, find a love returned, a murder/a mystery, I found a revelation, the first peace of mind in a lifetime, my heart poured out my story, desperately ashamed but singing out songs of mercy/of such love pure as the whitest snow, such love weeps for the shame I know, such love streaming thru history. I cannot tell you how this church came to be here, how it had people who had learned to love for him, but it did. It nurtured me, fed me, gave to me, taught me, led me to places of such aching truth, of personal experience of Jesus. I am reading proverbs, they hurt me they cut me, I am so much less than I should be, have been. I am tired and worn out and so selfish, but I have a fierce love of him, I will shout out that love of him, that man who took me into his arms and told me I am his child and brother, oh father forgive me, I know not what I do any more. Don’t give up, even when you have, he won’t let you go, ever. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the lord. He was servant hearted, be ye the same.


Vino Jayakumar - Finance Assistant and Assistant Verger		Alexander Norman - Director of Music
Vinodhini Jayakumar is the Assistant Verger and Parish Finance Assistant. She has been worshiping at Holy Trinity since 2018. She moved with her family to Coventry from Bangalore, India. She worked in the corporate field prior to moving here. The Easter service in 2018 was the first service they attended at Holy Trinity and were immediately drawn in by the warmth and welcome that they received from the congregation. She also helps with the S11, Sunday Welcome and helps run a Growth Group with her husband. She is a big fan of the HT Choir where her two boys and husband sing. In her free time, she loves to read, dabble in some artwork, and cook delicious South Indian food, especially Biriyani.		Alex has been Director of Music since April 2013. He holds a Master of Music degree from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he studied Choral Conducting with Paul Spicer. Prior to this, Alex was an undergraduate and organ scholar at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Alex was born in Coventry and first studied the organ and piano with his grandad, Frank Berry, who was organist at the Methodist Central Hall, before going on to study with Alistair Reid (Coventry Cathedral) and Rupert Gough (Royal Holloway). He was Artistic Director of Convivium Singers and, between 2012 and 2022, Musical Director of Wythall Community Choir. Alex is currently studying for a PhD in musicology at Royal Holloway. He has given papers at the 19th and 20th Biennial International Conferences in Baroque Music, hosted by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (2021) and the Haute école de musique, Geneva (2023). Although probably most at home at CofE Choral Evensong, Alex was baptised and confirmed in the Methodist church, and his ecumenical background as a musician in many different denominations has given him an understanding of a wide range of Christian music and worship styles. Beyond music, Alex enjoys history, literature (especially the work of J. R. R. Tolkien) and holidays at the coast.


Youth and Children Coordinator - Vacant		Sophie Griffiths - Social media missioner
		Sophie has been part of Holy Trinity Church since she was born and is still part of the family now! At the age of 6 Sophie joined HTC Choir and the Worship Band, she loves to sing! While Sophie was at University she was a Choral Scholar at the Church, where she developed her singing skills even further. Sophie graduated from Coventry University after studying Early Childhood Development and Learning BA (Hons), and now uses this in her work life as she also teaches swimming! Throughout her life her passion has been creative arts, with singing at church, dancing, and art. Throughout Lockdown in 2020 she started creating graphic designs for social media pages and running online platforms for multiple business’. This helped Sophie realise Social Media Marketing was something she thoroughly enjoyed. In her spare time Sophie is a massive bookworm, her aim this year is to read 100 books!

If you need to contact the Church then please visit the Contact Us page.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are exploring historical Coventry or moved to Coventry and looking for a Church, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

Planning your visit

A Warm Welcome.

Church front view-Night You are very welcome to visit our 900-year old Church, whether to take in the history, to pray, to light a candle, to write a prayer request, or just to sit and have some space.

For visiting during the week

We are usually open for visitors and private prayer: Wednesday to Saturday, 11.00am to 3.00pm and Sunday, 12.30pm (after the morning services) until 4.30pm. Our welcome team should be around to greet you and take any questions at these times.

To see the clergy (Revd Richard Hibbert or Revd Carolyne Powell) , please contact the church office to make an appointment.

There is a Holy Communion service most Wednesdays at noon, lasting approximately 40 minutes and followed by refreshments. It takes place in the Marler Chapel, which is within the main church building.

Click Here to know more about Our Heritage, the 600 year old Doom painting and how Holy Trinity survived the Blitz.

For visiting on Sundays

We have three services:

Though varying in style and types of worship, each helps us to explore and understand the love of God and what that means to our lives.

Over summer holiday periods and at special times, like Easter, Harvest and Christmas, we often change our Sunday services to bring the two main morning congregations (9.30am and 11.15am) together at 10.30am.

Please check our Church calendar to know our service timings.

Children

If you have children, pre-schoolers have their own carpeted area with toys where you can sit comfortably as a family and still be part of the service. Primary and Secondary children may join an age-appropriate activity group for part of the service when announced.

Parking

There are council car parks in Salt Lane and West Orchard, a short walk to the church. Disabled parking is available on Cuckoo Lane (CV1 5RN), very close to the church, but from Monday to Saturday only (10am-6pm) requires an ANPR permit – available from the office. There is no general parking available at the church.

Please refer to our Church calendar or our Latest News letter to know What’s On.

We’d love to welcome you to any of the services listed here. For more information on each of the church services and Who we are, follow the links below.

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