Fireworks Inducement Ends in Promoting Church Army Evangelism

The owner of a local firework factory living in Welling provided an unusual inducement to the young David Hartwell. As a choirboy at St Mary's Church, he was promised a box of fireworks for regular attendance, and that provided enough of an encouragement to keep him chanting psalms and singing hymns.

Now rather more mature in the Christian faith, David needs no inducement to promote and support the evangelism ideals of Church Army as he has just joined their Fund Raising and Promotion Team. He will be responsible for the Dioceses of Canterbury, London, Rochester and Southwark, and leaves behind him a main career in insurance. About his new role, David says: "I want to help people be aware of the value of Church Army work and I relish the challenge ahead."

David grew up in a Christian family and now is deputy warden in the parish of St Martin and St Paul, Canterbury. He is also involved with the Sunday School, the Pastoral and Outreach Groups, and is a driver of the Age Concern bus which enables older people to go to church.

Keen on walking, all sports, and the arts, Arsenal supporter David also enjoys travelling abroad. He commented on an incident during a trip to a desert area of California: "Faith grew on me, influenced by priests and Christian friends. But I often wonder whether sleeping under a tree and the stars in Bairstow - and the tree falling down in the middle of the night and clipping nearby power lines - had any effect." David is married to Gwyneth, a part-time teacher's assistant, and they have two children in Rebecca (21) and Paul (14).