Julian is the longest serving minister in the history of the chapel, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Companion of the Guild of St George, and a member of the Bar Human Rights Committee and Avocats Sans Frontières. 

Amongst the non-Unitarian venues in which Julian has conducted special services are these lovely places: the Inner Temple; Emmanuel College, Cambridge; King’s College London; and Dalhousie Castle (in the company of Charlotte Church), near Edinburgh. 

Julian has also conducted Sunday worship and special services in many Unitarian places of worship in addition to Brixton (sometimes several times over), including: Unitarian Headquarters, Essex Hall, London;  Manchester College, Oxford; Great Hucklow, Derbyshire; Bethnal Green (where he lived on-site for a year on first coming up to London), Hampstead, Newington Green, Stratford and Watford (London & SE District); Fulwood, Norfolk Street (where Julian had been a young Unitarian during the long and successful ministry of Rev Peter Godfrey) and Stannington (Sheffield District); Doncaster; and Swindon. 

Julian was very honoured to be appointed to our ministry. This was the first such lay appointment in the chapel’s history and was in succession to our distinguished minister with oversight, Rev Tony Cross. Tony had been principal (including chaplain and ministry tutor) at the Unitarian’s historic Manchester College, Oxford when Julian had completed a ministry foundation and further education top-up year there before coming up to London.

Julian held a major award from the Sheffield Grammar School Exhibition Fund at MCO, and graduated from the LSE with the LLB (Hons) and from the Inns of Court School of Law with the  PGDLP (Bar). He was pupil to Alan Johnson at 1 Gray’s Inn Square Chambers. 

Much later Julian read theology and ministry part-time at Oxford (Regent’s Park College: Diploma & Advanced Diploma, Biblical & Theological Studies) and Edinburgh Theological Seminary (Certificate in Independent Church Ministry) (by long tradition, Brixton being an essentially Free Christian and independent church). He was also honoured to attend the International Council of Unitarian Universalists’ (ICUUs’) / Protestant Theological Institute’s international church leadership course at the Unitarian Academy, Kolosvar / Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania.

Julian has also studied: folklore with Mark Norman (Folklore Society); the history of witchcraft, magic and the occult with Thomas Waters (Imperial); and antiquarianism and archaeology with Fay Stevens (Oxford).