PEDAL power will be fuelling four parish ministries around the Vale after cycling enthusiast Rev Debbie Forman was announced as the new minister.

Rev Forman, who was ordained three years ago, has become the new priest in charge of Pebworth, Dorsington, Honeybourne and Marston Sicca following the granting of her licence last Thursday at St Peter’s Church, in Pebworth.

Never someone who minds being told to ‘get on her bike’, Rev Forman listed cycling as one of her favourite hobbies – which she said had the added bonus of allowing her to be visible in the community and to respond to parishioners quickly.

“I am well known for being a cyclist,” she said, “and have therefore arranged to have a bicycle in every parish. It’s a wonderful way of getting around, of being visible and able to respond to people instantly – it’s much easier to screech to a halt on a bicycle than in a car.”

Rev Forman arrives in the Vale after working as a pioneer minister in the parish of St John the Evangelist, Churchdown and Innsworth, near Gloucester.

She is also involved in the Diocese of Gloucester’s link with the Diocese of Western Tanganyika, in Africa, where she has spent time learning about the African Church.

Having trained as a linguist in French and German and after a career as a teacher, Rev Forman went on to become the deputy director of the Centre for Youth Ministry, overseeing training programmes for youth workers.

She is married to husband Edward, a senior lecturer in French at Bristol University and they have four grown-up children.