Curate's flying high in his latest posting

A CURATE is leaving his parish - for a high-flying position.

The Rev Eddie Wynn is swapping Emley and Flockton to become an RAF chaplain.

The 38-year-old said: "It will be sad to leave, because the two vicars and the churchgoers have taught me so much.

"But the RAF is ideal, because I am a great believer in taking religion out of the church and into the community.

"It is important in an age where our attendance figures are dropping," added Mr Wynn.

He will lead his last service at St James's Church in Flockton on Sunday, June 27.

Then he, wife Ruth and their daughter, Hannah, 11, will move to the RAF College at Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

There, Mr Wynn will do eight weeks' basic training to become a flight lieutenant. He will then be posted to a new base to start two years as an assistant chaplain.

He said: "It is a strange choice for me, because in my teenage years I was a member of CND, an avid pacifist. But I later realised that sometimes conflict can't be avoided."

Mr Wynn will be counselling new recruits away from home, helping families with relatives in danger and supporting Servicemen. His work will see him in war- torn countries like Iraq and Bosnia.