|PIC1|Church Army Captain John Le Page MBE made a piece of history on Sunday 16 September when he became the first Church Army officer to be licensed to work within the Diocese in Europe.

The diocese has over 140 licensed clergy working among the 270 congregations in 45 countries around Europe. Captain Le Page has been formally welcomed to serve as an evangelist in the Chaplaincy of St Andrew, Costa del Sol (East) in Spain.

Le Page was born in Guernsey and after training in London was commissioned into the Church Army in 1967. After working in London he moved to Jersey where for many years he was the warden of an Anglican/Methodist Communicare Centre. He was also a prison chaplain for 15 years.

The Chaplain of St Andrews, the Rev David Sutch, welcomed Le Page's arrival, saying, "He will be a welcome addition to our growing church community. Much of what many of the English-speaking churches in Spain do is front-line mission and evangelistic work This is an exciting step forward in the life of our chaplaincy."

The licensing was conducted by the Rt Rev David Hamid, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe in the tiny Capilla de San José, part of the Iglesia del Virgen del Carmen, in Benalmádena on Spain's Costa del Sol.


Le Page has been married to Carole for 44 years. They have three grown up children, Sarah, Amanda and Tim and have 4 grandchildren