The Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, Bishop of Taunton, studied English Literature, Theological Studies and Biblical Studies at the University of Manchester. After this, whilst training as a nurse at Tameside General Hospital in the 1980s and considering specialising in acute psychiatry, Ruth felt a calling to pastoral lay ministry and took on a voluntary role in pastoral care at her local church. In 1990, she began her MA in Mission and Ministry, later serving as Chaplain to spouses and families of students in training at St John’s Theological College. In 1995 she embarked on her own ordination training at St John’s. After ordination in 1996, Ruth served for fourteen years as a parish priest in Nottingham during which time she became Area Dean for one of the poorest areas in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.  Ruth joined the Bishop’s Staff in 2007 when she was made Dean of Women’s Ministry. Ruth became an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen in 2009. In 2010 she took on the role of Parish Development Adviser in the Diocese of Southwark, based in Bermondsey.  In 2013 Bishop Ruth swapped inner-city life for Wiltshire when appointed Archdeacon of Wilts. in the Diocese of Salisbury. She was consecrated a bishop at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 19 years to the day after being ordained a deacon on 29^th September 2015. She was formally installed as the Bishop of Taunton at Wells Cathedral in October 2015.  In August 2020 Ruth became Acting Diocesan Bishop of Bath and Wells. Bishop Ruth is married and has three adult sons and 5 grandchildren. Ruth has just completed a sabbatical walk with her husband from Rome to Assisi along the Via de Francesco.

David has worked for over 35 years in the transport and logistics industry and has held senior leadership roles, Managing Director and CEO, within PLC, private equity backed and not for profit organisations. He has led several business turnarounds, managed large scale M&A integrations and has successfully developed businesses year on year. David is now focused on applying his experience in a more support and advisory capacity and brings with him extensive experience in strategic planning, commercial and change management. David has a Combined Honours degree from the University of Aston in Transport Planning & Operation and Political Studies and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).

April is Deputy Director of Education for Coventry CofE Diocese. Her role includes liaison with local authority, MAT and DFE stakeholders for 75 Church schools. April leads the team responsible for the Diocesan Service Agreement which is a traded support service for CofE schools. This includes governance, admissions and Christian distinctiveness. April is resident on the Houlton Development in Rugby and married to the CofE vicar. Together they are leading a Church plant in St Gabriel’s school and are involved in the intentional formation of community in Houlton working with developers, the school and the local resident’s association. April retrained to teach after a successful early career in financial services specialising in the leadership of change and the human resources implications. After gaining QTS April had extensive experience in middle and senior leadership within a large bi-lateral secondary school. April was awarded advanced skills teacher status for Psychology and line managed a number of subject areas including Math’s and English. As an Assistant Head April was responsible for CPD and quality assurance of Teaching and Learning, alongside the whole school skills and enrichment programme. April led the successful bid for Teaching School and set up the teaching school alliance and a successful school direct teacher training programme. As a Deputy Head April led on partnerships. She led the transition from single academy trust to multi-academy trust and the recruitment of a new board of directors based upon skill set. April led a successful Free School bid for an 11-16 Secondary School.

Paul was a governor and then Chair of Walsgrave CE Primary school governing body for 13 years, to 2010, a period that saw school numbers increase from 315 to over 400, the addition of the Nursery, and the integration of out-of-school care provider, KidCo. Paul is a marketing project-manager who spent 20 years marketing and promoting artists for Universal Music and then went on to work with a range of companies including Vodafone, Nokia, Yankee Candle, Miller & Carter, All Bar One, Ember Inns, Toby Carvery, Stonehouse and more. Projects that he now manages include video production, retail communications, events, launches and social media marketing. He has put this experience and knowledge to use as the Event Director of TEDx Leamington Spa, an event that requires detailed planning, budgeting, organisation, and communication with a wide group of agencies, speakers, technicians, musicians and volunteers.

Tulo has been the vicar at St Barbara’s since May 2014. Before that, he was a curate (vicar-in-training) in a church in south London. Before becoming a vicar, Tulo worked for international development charities for 20 years, travelling all over the world, and working with local Christians in enabling them to tackle poverty and transform their communities. Tulo is married and has three school-aged children.