Who We Are
Vicar: Devin McLachlan
The Reverend Devin McLachlan began his ministry as our Vicar in September 2024. Ordained twenty years ago in the Episcopal Church USA, Devin immigrated to the UK a decade ago and has served in a variety of parishes and colleges in Cambridge as well as Boston, Chicago and Seattle. He holds degrees from Harvard University (BA, Folklore and Mythology) and Episcopal Divinity School (MDiv). Devin is an avid traveller and rambler, and outside of his Parish work is Bye-Fellow for Multifaith Support at Lucy Cavendish College, and Bishop’s Advisor for Multifaith in the Diocese of Ely. He and his wife, an Associate Professor at Cambridge, live with their teenage twins and a pair of enormous but friendly housecats,
Churchwarden: Geoff Maitland
Geoff has worshipped at St Bene’t’s for over 30 years and became a churchwarden in 2017. By profession he is a chemical engineer, starting as an academic at Imperial College London, then spending 20 years in the oil and gas industry before returning to Imperial as Professor of Energy Engineering in 2005, where he still continues on a part-time basis. His work aims to help the world avoid the ill-effects of climate change and to enable us to be good stewards of the earth’s resources.
Churchwarden: Joy Parke
Joy was born and brought up in Islington in London. Mother and grandmother, she was a headteacher in a London primary school before taking up her present post as an advisor for an educational trust with schools across both Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. She finds God in kindness and in beauty and is delighted to be part of the St. Bene't's community.
Deputy Churchwarden: Andrea Harrison
Andrea works as a freelance Godly Play trainer after many years teaching in secondary schools. She was licensed as LLM to St Bene’t’s in 2021 after a transfer from the Diocese of Chelmsford.
Married with three grown sons, she feels privileged to serve at St Bene’t’s as a deputy churchwarden, co-ordinator of youth work, team leader of the social committee and the Warm Space initiative.
Parish Safeguarding Officer: Andrew Kennedy
We want St Bene't's to be a safe space for everyone, so the care and protection of people in our parish is a responsibility we all share.
Andrew's role is to support the clergy, wardens and PCC with ensuring that everyone in a position of parish responsibility at St. Bene't's has been properly vetted and trained, and to maintain a culture here where people speak up if they have concerns about anyone's welfare, or want to question things which happen at church which don't feel quite right.
Caroline Brownlie
My roots are Northern and my schooling was mainly Roman Catholic. Theatre stage management led to social work, leading to study of theology, psychotherapy training and ordination as women’s ministry was increasing, in 1987.
Chaplaincies to psychiatric patients and prisoners with parishes in the North preceded retirement to Cambridge in 2007. I have lived in two different monastic communities and am fortunate to be at home and serving at St. Bene’ts with it’s Franciscan and Benedictine history, and a home ministry of spiritual direction.
Richard Ames-Lewis
I was in parish ministry for thirty years. Before that I practised for seven years as an architect. On retirement in 2009, Katharine and I returned to Cambridge where we had lived from 1967 to 1978, and to our old home. We also returned to St Bene’t’s,which had been our church all those years ago. It is a church and congregation with huge significance for us, as it was here we began worshipping together at the beginning of our marriage, here our three children were baptised and here I heard my call to ordination, thanks to the ministry of the brothers of the Society of St Francis. Now we greatly enjoy being members of St Bene’t’s again and I am happy to serve this community as a priest in whatever way required.
Parish Administrator: Philippa Pearson
After training as a horticulturist, Philippa became a garden designer specialising in planting design and went on to win prestigious RHS awards for her show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show and Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. She is also a gardening journalist and author. Philippa was involved with her local parish of Gamlingay and Hatley in South Cambridgeshire for many years and helped to look after the tiny rural church at Hatley St George. She has trained in Authorised Lay Ministry as a Worship Leader. Philippa works in the church office at St Bene’t’s on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and from home at other times.