Clergy from Salesian Community, Chertsey
Fr John Dickson
I’m Fr John Dickson, a Salesian of Don Bosco and currently working as Parish Priest at Holy Family Church. As you will have guessed from my accent I’m from Scotland though you might not know that I was born in Iran where my Dad worked in the Oil Fields, though we were expelled when I was six weeks old, and ended up in Bray, Co.Dublin, till I was 5 when as a family we returned to Scotland where my parents came from. Having Iran as my birthplace makes me very sensitive about immigrants as I am one myself.
I had two uncles who were both Salesian priests and both served as Chaplains in the Second World War. My Mum and her sisters were Primary School teachers and as a Salesian I have taught in schools and universities and been involved in education most of my adult life.
As well as being the Parish priest at Holy Family Church, I am Chair of Governors at Salesian School and Rector of the Salesian Community in Chertsey.
Working with young people gives me great joy and energy and I’m delighted to have the chance to bring that experience to my work in the parish where some of the skills I’ve learned might help build a wider community of young families and friends, young and old…a real ‘holy’ family, with people from every background and culture feeling welcomed and accepted and encouraged to take up their own journey of faith.
I love history and am fascinated by art and architecture and love foreign travel. I’m a keen if slow cyclist and swimmer and really enjoy cooking and baking, which living in a Salesian community gives me plenty of opportunities to exercise.
Praying that in this coming year we can build our Holy Family Parish community together.
Fr John Dickson SDB