He served with the British Army and saw action in Bosnia, but after a tragic accident, Teesside’s newest vicar swapped the frontline for the pulpit.
Andy Grant, 46, is the new vicar for Middlesbrough’s Marton parish at St Cuthbert’s Church. Originally from Bristol, Andy’s journey to the clergy has been filled with drama having served a full career in the British Army.
Before being ordained in 2011, Andy served in HM Forces in 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.
In 1994, he was posted to Bosnia as part of the British Army’s combat operations against Slobodan Miloševic’s Serbian forces.
It was while serving in Bosnia that Andy was involved in an accident that changed his life forever.
He said, “While it may seem a bit of a leap from being a soldier to becoming a vicar, there are lots of strong links between the church and the Forces.
“I joined as an infanteer - a regular soldier. While I was serving in Bosnia, I was involved in an accident in a troop carrier.
“We were only three weeks into our tour and we were traversing these very steep valleys and mountains in a Saxon truck, which is basically an armoured taxi for troops.
“There was a barrier all the way along the road, There was one small gap in it, but sure enough we found it.
“We clipped over something and the Saxon left the road and fell 1,000ft down a steep valley.
“I don’t know how I survived, we rolled for about 600ft. Somehow all my body armour and my helmet were stripped from me and I felt a force shove me inside the Saxon.”
When the Saxon finally came to a stop at the bottom of the valley, the scene was devastating.
“The crash killed three and left the rest of us injured. The vehicle itself was flattened. I had face, leg and arm injuries as well as ligament damage to my knees,” said Andy.
“After that I felt a shift in my thinking. From my experience there was what I can only describe as a divine intervention at the point the vehicle dropped - the margin for error was so minimal.
“It made God very real and kind of got me going back to church on a regular basis.
“I didn’t become a pacifist, because you can’t be a pacifist in the army, but I found myself wanting to do a different job there.
“I trained to be a clerk in administration, and in a few years I re-trained again to become an occupational welfare worker. I was still a soldier, but doing a very different role, involved in welfare work with the serving community.
“Within three years I was very much back into the church and I began to start thinking about ministry.”
Andy left the Army in 2009 and began his training as a priest with The Church of England.
He was ordained in 2011, serving four parish churches within the Benefice of Bramham, Boston Spa. It was during this period that Andy found out about a plan by Colonel Ian Harris - who Andy had served under when in the Army - to return to Bosnia with a team to re-dedicate a memorial stone in honour of colleagues who died there back in 1994.
“It was a great honour to be invited along to lead the service of rededication as a minister, and the service was a great success,” said Andy.
“Half the people in the congregation for the rededication were Bosnian Muslims - it was a challenge to get the content of the service right, but it was well received by everyone there.”
Andy is married to Allison, 47, and has three children - Adam, Holly, and Heather. At Marton, he’ll be helped by pioneer minister the Revd Ben Norton, who is also a chaplain with The 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment.
St. Cuthbert’s Church has a firm place in the history of Teesside - Captain James Cook was baptised there and Middlesbrough’s founding fathers, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan, are in the churchyard.
“I’m looking forward to starting my new role as vicar in Marton, working with Ben and everyone else at St Cuthbert’s, and getting to know everyone in my new parish,” said Andy.
“It’s an amazing parish, a church is made up from its congregation but it is a beautiful building and the Captain Cook link is very special.”
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