Reverend with a wealth of experience joins Imperial and Royal College of Art
Life has always proved a challenge for the Reverend Alan Gyle, latest addition to the chaplaincy of Imperial College and the Royal College of Art.
His last project was to arrange the royal wedding of Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys Jones. For the next five years, the 34 year old from Aberdeen will continue to carry out a fellowship at Windsor which will see him debating issues with Government ministers, to civil servants and educationists.
He plans to create similar brain storming sessions within Imperial by setting up a series of lectures which tackle modern day issues such as human identity, artificial intelligence and the environment.
 Reverend Alan Gyle |
"It's important not to think about tomorrow's issues but those the day after by working at the cutting edge of thought and development."
As part of a seven strong staff at St George's chapel in Windsor Castle, he organised the chapel's daily life and assisted the Dean of Windsor.
The chapel is one of two surviving medieval relics of the church known as Royal Peculiars. Neither is answerable to either a bishop or archbishop but are directly responsible to the sovereign.
"It was a great opportunity to have at 29 - not many people get to be on speaking terms with the Queen.
"We looked after one and a half million visitors a year and I lose count of the times I heard the words - Gee, why did they build a castle so close to the airport?
"Arranging the royal wedding meant I was responsible for everything in the chapel, including liasing with the BBC and planning the service. It was a good note to finish on."
He was elected as a fellow of St George's House - a think -tank committee set up in 1965 to advise on such issues as housing policy and consisting mainly of men and women of influence.
His time at Windsor fuelled an interest in the heritage of medieval art, especially iconography. He is also interested in learning Tai-Chi and joining the College gym.
He studied music at Aberdeen University then theology at Oxford. He served his title for two and a half years on a housing estate in South Acton, working with children and setting up play schemes, before being called to Windsor.
At Imperial, he aims to work alongside other welfare professionals such as student councillors. Currently based at 10, Prince's Gardens, he concludes: "I follow the ministry of getting out and about in corridors, not sitting in a room waiting for people to turn up.
"There are lots of groups on campus that are about peddling a particular brand of religion.
"Chaplaincy has a broader remit than that. I want people to know that my task here isn't to 'convert' them but rather to pursuade them that questions of faith are important."
*** © Imperial College 1999. This article originally appeared in IC Reporter, the staff newspaper of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. Please contact the editor (Email: icreporter@imperial.ac.uk, Telephone: +44 20 7594 6697) for permission to re-use any or all parts of this article. ***
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