Ministry Team

The Ministry Team is made up of the Vicar and the licensed Readers of the parish. We meet regularly as parish staff to study together and to discuss strategy, worship and pastoral care. Aspects of the Mission Action Plan may also be delegated to us by the PCC to deliver.

Pastoral care is shared with a team of Lay Pastoral Assistants, who have their own regular meeting with the clergy for mutual support and for training.

Vicar – The Rev'd Preb Robin Lodge

Readers – Dr Jeremy Harvey
                  Mrs Ruth Cook

 

Rev'd Preb Robin Lodge, Vicar
Most of my early life was spent in the South West. I graduated in Theology at Bristol University in 1982 and after a teacher training year in Canterbury, I spent two years teaching in North Devon, followed by two and a half years in public transport coordination with Wiltshire County Council. Ordained in 1990, I served my curacy in the Salisbury Diocese, but since then I have been in Bath & Wells, moving up and down the M5, serving parishes in the Wellington Team, Highbridge and now St Andrew’s Taunton. I was Diocesan Liturgical Adviser for ten years and a former Archdeaconry Warden of Readers. I am currently Chair of Transforming Worship Southwest. I am married to Sue with three daughters, and my interests are public transport and political biography. Contact Robin on: 01823 352471 or robin.lodge1@btinternet.com
Dr Jeremy Harvey, Reader		Mrs Ruth Cook, Reader
Hello, I am Jeremy, Reader colleague to Ruth and Robin. I have spent half my life in Taunton, first as head of Bishop Fox’s and then as a volunteer for things that I care about, such as STAR and The Fellowship of Meditation. I am married to Sheila and we have three children and seven grandchildren. I was licensed as a Reader in 1982, a job which I have relished, and have also had various opportunities to help with church matters in the diocese. My interests include art, writing, people and their stories, and contemplative prayer. Publications include Marian Dunlop Teacher and Healer and Valuing and Educating Young People. It is a privilege to be part of St. Andrew’s life for which I give thanks.		Ruth Cook has been a Reader at St Andrew's for 15 years and also takes services at other churches across the Deanery. She is a member of Mothers Union and from January 2025 is a member of the MU Diocesan Committee. Her other roles include being Secretary for Taunton Deanery Synod and a volunteer at Priorswood library. She enjoys reading, playing her recorder and going out for day trips on the coach.