Tocher Guests

The Diocese of Kansas is pleased to welcome the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells for the 2024 Tocher Lecture on May 15-16 at St. Michael and All Angels, Mission. The Lecture will truly be an event with the St. Martin’s Voices choral ensemble joining from Vicar Sam’s parish, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Earis. Registration and agenda information available at the main event page.

Sam Wells

Sam Wells has been Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, since 2012. He is a widely known preacher, pastor, writer, broadcaster, theologian and institutional leader. He was ordained in 1991, and served curacies in Newcastle and Cambridge. He was a vicar in Norwich from 1997 to 2003, and Cambridge from 2003 to 2005. From 2005 to 2012 Sam served in North Carolina as Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and Research Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke Divinity School.

Sam studied at Merton College, Oxford, at the University of Edinburgh, and at the University of Durham. His Ph.D. is in Christian Ethics. He is Visiting Professor of Christian Ethics at King’s College, London. Since 2014 he has been a regular presenter of ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He has published 46 books, including studies in ethics, textbooks, an apologetics, collections of sermons, devotional works, and books to build up lay faith and ministry. He has also jointly written a collection of Eucharistic Prayers for every Sunday of the three-year Revised Common Lectionary cycle, published as Joining the Angels’ Song, and jointly created an enquirers’ course, Being With. His most recent book is How to Preach (Canterbury 2023).

Sam has long understood being with the poor as a significant dimension of his vocation. He has spent 11 years living and working in urban priority areas. In Norwich he helped to found and lead the first development trust in the East of England. He jointly founded HeartEdge, an influential movement for church renewal, in 2017.

Sam is married to Rt Revd Dr Jo Wells, who is Deputy Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. They have two adult children.

Andrew Earis

Andrew Earis is Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields, where he has overseen the growth of the music programme to now encompass a broad programme of concerts, worship services and special events. This includes several voluntary choirs, choral training programmes for young professionals, and orchestral ensembles. Andrew is also director of the professional ensemble, St Martin’s Voices, which has presented concerts internationally, and has performed for major broadcasts on the BBC and Classic FM. Andrew regularly works with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and has also directed performances by the London Mozart Players and Southbank Sinfonia. As an organist, he has performed at King’s College Cambridge, Westminster Abbey and Washington National Cathedral.

Alongside his work at St Martin’s, Andrew acts as music consultant to the Church of England. He was responsible for producing online music resources which were used by thousands of churches during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Andrew is also a frequent contributor to the BBC’s religious programmes as conductor and music consultant. He is a producer of output including Radio 4 Sunday Worship and Radio 3 Choral Evensong.

Andrew is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and Imperial College, London, and holds a PhD from the University of Manchester. In 2022 Andrew was made an Associate of the Royal School of Church Music and was also awarded the Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

St. Martin’s Voices

St Martin’s Voices is one of the UK’s finest and most versatile vocal ensembles. As the flagship professional choral ensemble of London’s iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields, they sing for concerts, broadcasts and special services at St Martin’s and beyond. 

St Martin’s Voices is passionate about offering development opportunities for young artists across the UK, aiming to nurture the next generation of talented ensemble singers and choral conductors. The St Martin’s Voices Emerging Artists programme provides an opportunity for six singers to enjoy an intensive, focused period of training with others of a similar standard and interests and is an integral part of the exciting choral music programme at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The scheme is aimed at choral singers who are in the first few years of a professional career in singing and wish to develop their skills as choral and consort singers to a high level. Recent highlights have included tours to the USA, the Netherlands and Belgium, alongside recordings and performances at Lambeth Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Greenbelt Festival.