A FORMER Pilkington manager has been ordained as a Deacon with special responsibility to work with businesses in south Liverpool.

Richard Gedge, 39, was head of projects for the St Helens-based glass giant and managed multi-national teams on industrial projects from Brazil to China.

He was one of eight Deacons ordained last Sunday and has been appointed the first Liverpool Diocese Pioneering Minister for the Workplace, Industrial and Commercial sectors, splitting his time between traditional church duties at St Peter’s Church, Woolton, and his specialist role.

Mr Gedge said: “The traditional part will be at St Peter’s where I will be learning the ropes from a very experienced team.

“The pioneering part will be to do with the church engaging with workplaces.

“It is a completely new venture and how it develops will depend largely on the contacts I make. I believe that God is extremely interested in our work, the way we as individuals carry out our duties and also the structures that define our particular workplaces.

“Maybe the Church and the workplace have things to learn from each other?”

Rev Phil Potter, director of Pioneer Ministry, said: “Richard comes to this new post with years of valuable business experience, along with a passion to see transformation at every level of working life. He will join a team of pioneers aiming to build a cell-based network church across the region.”