Hi! My name is Ian Murdoch-Smith and this page is designed to give you a little insight into my personal history and some of the things that I’m interested in.

I am 47 years old, married to Ruth and with 4 children. I work as a teacher and live in North Baddesley near Southampton in Hampshire on the south coast of England.

I was born on Friday 13th May 1960 in Oldswinford, which is in the West Midlands of England and lived there with my Mum, Dad and older sister Elaine until we moved to Cardiff in Wales just before I was 3 years old. There I attended Pen-yr-heol Primary School, where games and sports are at the forefront of memory. I loved football, playing on the ‘left wing’ as it was still known then, in a classic 60’s 2-3-5 formation.

Moving on to Llanrumney High School I got into Athletics, particularly long-distance running which has stayed with me for many years. I also developed a love of acting and music. Together these things detracted me reasonably successfully from studying and I achieved a measly 8 ‘O’ levels and 3 very poor ‘A’ levels.

Moving to University in London changed my life dramatically in my late teens – I met Ruth, proposing when still only 18 and marrying her the day after receiving my degree result (a 2.2 in Ancient and Medieval History from University College London) on 18th July 1981. I went straight on to gain a PGCE from the Institute of Education London in 1982 then taught at several West London Primary schools from 83 – 86 West Twyford, Fielding and South Hanwell. During this time our eldest two children Benjamin and Naomi were born.

In 1986 we moved back to Cardiff while I studied for a further degree in Theology (2.1 BD University of Wales, Cardiff) and a Diploma in Pastoral Studies prior to my ordination as a minister of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Union of Wales. During these years we lived as part of the South Wales Baptist College, our third child Jonathan was born and I worked during two summers as a pastor at a small church in Newport South Wales called Alexandra Road Baptist.

In 1990 I was called to the pastorate of Bethany Baptist Church, Risca where a year later our youngest child Sarah was born. For about 4 years I combined this pastorate with working as the Secretary of the Gwent Baptist Association. This led to involvement in the Baptist Union of Wales and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

In 1997 I moved with the family to Romsey, Hampshire to become minister of the Baptist Church there. This led to increased involvement with the Baptist Union and working within an Ecumenical arena mostly in the UK but also memorably with attending the World Council of Churches Assembly in Zimbabwe in 1998 and a WCC meeting in Geneva in 1999.

After a personal upheaval in 2001 I left Romsey Baptist Church and after a very brief but interesting few months as a Trade Plate Driver returned to teaching. St Anne’s Convent School in Southampton gave me a break as an RE teacher after 16 years out of teaching, then I moved to my present job at Test Valley School in Stockbridge where I variously work as Head of RE, Citizenship, and Year 10/11.

My departure from Church ministry in 2001 led to me exploring alternate spiritualities leading to an ongoing interest in contemporary paganism, Hinduism, Buddhism and their interface with Christianity, particularly as they relate to healing in all its aspects. I hope to continue the exploration of these subjects within the framework of this website soon.