Revd H Hollands (Superintendent)

Greetings to everyone.

I am the Superintendent Minister in the South Kent Circuit and combine that with a third of my time as an Assistant Chair in the South-East Methodist District. I  joined the staff team in September 2018 and I’m very thankful to all those who welcomed us so warmly.

We moved just a short distance from Whitstable which is part of the Canterbury and East Kent circuit. I served as a minister there for 8 years, also working within the district as an Ecumenical Officer. I am committed to ecumenical work and deepening relationships between churches of different traditions so I am especially pleased to be working in collaborative ministry with my colleague, the Revd Paul Dean serving the two congregations of the United Church Ashford (United Reformed and Methodist) and in Hamstreet (Methodist and Church of England). I also serve the Methodist churches in Wye, Headcorn and Shadoxhurst and enjoy working with the other governors, staff and children at the John Wesley School.

I am a cradle Methodist and grew up in Chandler’s Ford in Hampshire attending a large Methodist church and MAYC youth club there. That community had a great impact on my faith and outlook, at a recent reunion many of us celebrated the difference that MAYC, London weekends, (including the green and yellow outfits that some of you will remember) had made to our lives. I later moved to Kent to go to university and my first degree was in Law, after some time travelling and teaching English I then qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and worked in Canterbury, subsequently teaching Business Law at the University of Kent for some years. During this period my first husband and I had a young family and we have four daughters, Hannah, Katherine, Lizzie and Charlotte who are all currently working or studying at university.
I experienced a call to ministry whilst living in Canterbury and after training to become a Local preacher began study for ministry at SEITE (South East Institute for Theological Education) which was then based in Medway and Southwark.

Roy and I met a few years ago and were married in Whitstable in 2017. Roy has two sons, Josh and Clem, who are both in their twenties and, as you will imagine we have a busy home life, especially when everyone is back with us. Thankfully we love a busy household! I also enjoy reading, walking, swimming and gardening when time allows.

I value exploring theology and how we can make theological ideas real and accessible to people today, whatever their background, age or education. I am committed to exploring creative and interactive worship for people of all ages and look forward to being in this circuit and getting to know the churches and congregations of South Kent.