Chaplain to the High Sheriff

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Revd Canon Mark Dunstan is Rector of St Dunstan, Hunsdon, with St John the Baptist, Widford, and Holy Trinity, Wareside – the latter being the home parish of the High Sheriff.  Appointed to this post in 2006, he has also served on Diocesan Synod for most of his ministry in Hertfordshire and is currently Rural Dean of Hertford and Ware and the Chair of the Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship.  He was appointed as an Honorary Canon of St Albans Cathedral in 2024.

 

Mark is passionate about seeing people encountering the grace of God in Jesus Christ and then growing in an ever-deepening appreciation of God’s love and character.  Like St Dunstan, he believes clergy should be well-trained, godly believers; like St John the Baptist, he wants to point people to Jesus; and like Revd Henry Coddington (the vicar who built Holy Trinity, Wareside), he has a heart for smaller, rural communities and the full range of people who live within them.

 

Prior to ordination, Mark was based in Teesside, working as the UK Operations Supervisor for an international transport company shipping liquid chemicals around the world.  His involvement at church then included small-group leadership and singing and playing guitar, bass or piano in the music group.  He continues to make music in his spare time, occasionally taking to the stage with other local musicians to raise money for charity and foster community cohesion.

 

Mark is married to Claire who works at the village school.  They have four adult daughters and share their home with two dogs and a cat (all rescued).

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