The Rev John P. Thackway is the Minister of Emmanuel Church. He became the minister in June 2022 following a call by the church after the retirement of the Rev Malcolm Watts in 2021.
Previously, Pastor Thackway was the Minister of Holywell Evangelical Church, North Wales, having served there faithfully since 1991.
Growing up in an unchurched background in Ilfracombe, North Devon, the Lord called him by grace through the ministry of a local evangelical church. The call to the ministry soon followed, and after graduating from the Bible Training Institute, Glasgow, he became pastor of Maryport Street Baptist Chapel in Devizes.
Married to Margaret in 1977, they have four children and seven grandchildren.
John Thackway is Vice-Chairman of the General Committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society and a trustee of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary. He also serves as Editor of the Bible League Quarterly, having done so since 1993.