Jamie Allen

Who is Jamie Allen?

Jamie Allen is a Church of England priest whose work in a rural Wiltshire parish was covered by the British television documentary and reality television programme A Country Parish.

He was born with the name Timothy James Allen, but prefers to be called Jamie. Allen was raised in Woodbridge, Suffolk in what has been described as a "middle class background." He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1999, at the age of 28, after first working as a DJ and as a Religious Education and English teacher. He was a curate for 3 years at St Mary's Abbey in the parish of Nuneaton until 2002, when he was appointed Rector of Seend, Bulkington and Poulshot. After the series aired, there was huge media attention and interest. In 2003 Jamie moved from Wiltshire and resumed ministry in a less-publicized location. He served as a priest in Buckinghamshire before becoming the vicar of St Andrew's Parish in Great Cornard in late 2005.

In 2009, Allen moved with his wife, Suzy, and his four children - Danii, Carrie, Katy and Roxanne, to be vicar, and then dean, of the newly-consecrated Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary, New Zealand.