Coming full circle

In September, Rev Mark Nam returned to the place where his family’s journey in this country began to receive the National Diversity Award for Positive Role Model Award for Race, Religion & Faith.

Mark is chaplain to the Asian Christianity MA students at CMS and is a British born Chinese priest in the Diocese of Oxford.

Although Mark preaches in church each Sunday, as he spoke to the crowd gathered in Liverpool Cathedral for the award ceremony, he admitted to being somewhat nervous – and unsure as to whether to accept the award at all: “But then I discovered that this awards ceremony is happening right here in Liverpool Cathedral… if you didn’t know, it backs onto the oldest Chinatown in all of Europe. But not only that, it was this part of the country, Liverpool, that my grandparents stepped off a boat over a hundred years ago and made Britain their home,” said Mark.

Mark has made it his mission to raise the visibility of Chinese heritage people and particularly clergy in the Church of England. Growing up in Wales Mark experienced racism and struggled to find a place in church despite his deep faith. When he came to ordination, he wanted to meet other clergy with a Chinese heritage but looking in the Church of England’s directory of vicars, Crockford’s, he couldn’t find a single one. That spurred him on to start The Tea House, a support network for priests in the Church of England with Chinese heritage. The creation of The Tea House captured the media’s attention and he’s since appeared on the BBC, Premier and UCB.

He is annually invited to lay a wreath to recognise the Chinese Labour Corps of World War I. Having campaigned for the installation of a permanent memorial to the Chinese Labour Corps within the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, which has now been approved, Mark is fundraising to make the memorial a reality. Mark is also campaigning for the Church of England to recognise Florence Li Tim-Oi 李添嬡, the first woman priest to be ordained in the Anglican Communion with a feast day.

Being a link is certainly how Mark views himself. At his ordination he wore an incredibly symbolic – and beautiful – stole which linked East and West. Mark’s campaigning has also linked the past to the future. He enthused: “I want to be a link to the next generation. One of the most special things about my nomination was reading things that school kids wrote as they voted for me. Kids who share the same heritage saying how much they valued seeing someone with Chinese heritage as a leader in their school. It was great to read those.”

Winning the award hasn’t gone to Mark’s head and he knows his calling is as a parish priest. “Much of what I say and share is first formed in the pulpit at church on a Sunday.” Mark continues: “If winning this award inspires others then wonderful, thank you God. But I would be doing this where ever I am.”

The story of Mark winning this award is a story of God’s restoration. Something Mark has seen through his life, as he explains: “I have been on a journey of realising that God cares about our culture. There shouldn’t be a narrow definition of being a Christian. God did a miracle in me during my studies.” That journey and miracle involved Mark being ordained using his Chinese name, a name that had been lost through migration but was restored in a holy place. And most recently through him returning to the place his grandparents arrived in the UK, more than 100 years ago, to accept an award which shows their family has done more than simply assimilate into British culture – as they wanted – but has begun to shape it for the better.

If you would like to see Florence Li Tim-Oi 李添嬡 recognised for her ministry please sign Mark’s petition here. You can also give to the fund for the Memorial for Forgotten Army at St Paul’s Cathedral here. Find out more about The Tea House here.

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