vicar’s welcome.
Hello and welcome to our website!
I am the Vicar of Christ Church Toxteth Park & St Michael-in-the-Hamlet Church in Liverpool, UK.
Originally from Cornwall, I moved to London in the mid-eighties where I studied Environmental Science before working in the wholefood industry.
In 1990 I entered full-time ministry as a church-based youth minister. I studied theology at Trinity College in Bristol before being ordained in 1995.
I’ve spent more than three decades as an ordained priest in the Church of England, serving in a wide range of places — from busy city-centre churches to small rural congregations, suburban parishes, and urban priority communities. Each context has shaped my faith in different ways, teaching me that theology is never just abstract thinking; it is something lived, tested, and discovered in real people and real places.
I currently serve as Vicar of two churches in South Liverpool, near the city centre: Toxteth Park Christ Church and St Michael in the Hamlet with St Andrew. Parish ministry remains the heart of my vocation — a daily encounter with hope and doubt, beauty and struggle, tradition and change.
My personal theology is deeply rooted in the tensions and paradoxes of Christian faith: strength revealed in weakness, certainty held alongside mystery, and the quiet conviction that grace often appears where we least expect it. I’m drawn to questions more than easy answers, and to conversations that make space for complexity rather than closing it down.
I’m married to Maggie Hilditch, a fine artist and mental health advocate (www.maggiehilditch.net), whose creativity and insight continually expand my own perspective.
Alongside parish ministry, I also serve as an Accredited Representative for Church of England Employees & Clergy Advocates (CEECA), part of the UNITE Union’s Faithworkers sector, supporting clergy and church employees in professional and pastoral matters.
I am married to Maggie, an artist, art trainer, and mental health campaigner. We have two sons, Ben and Finlay. In my spare time, I like listening to music, walking our dog Bella, and supporting West Ham United!
Its great to have you with us at Christ Church. Don’t forget to introduce yourself to me in church or if you see me in the street!
Keith Hitchman, Vicar
I’ve recently launched a Substack where I write honestly about faith, life, vocation, and the questions that sit beneath them.
As a partner, father, priest, pastor — and sometimes provocateur — I’m using this space to explore ideas that don’t always fit into sermons or social media posts: reflections on ministry, culture, meaning, doubt, and the everyday realities of living thoughtfully and faithfully.
If you’re interested in thoughtful writing that challenges as much as it encourages, I’d love you to join the early readers.
Subscribe here: https://substack.com/@keithhitchman
Early subscribers genuinely help shape the direction of what I write next — so your presence and feedback would mean a lot.
Keith
