David Henderson

I am welcomed into the new day by the pips of Radio 4, chiming in 6am with unassailable precision. It is with the same dependability that I can be assured of being the first person in my household to wake. My wife, Katrina, can slowly be tempted out of slumber with a cup of tea, but my daughter Florence is not quite so easy to rouse – typical of her near teenage status, I am led to believe.

My day continues as it starts – with a whirl of activity. By nature I am a workaholic, which allows little tolerance for pause so, while dosing myself with an injection of news courtesy of Radio 4 (interchangeable throughout the day with Radio 5 Live), I plunge straight into action – making sandwiches. While we are fortunate enough to have both myself and my wife in employment, budgeting is a serious consideration for us and packed lunches a staple money-saver. Walton is a diverse community, the pressures and temptations of living in a perceived wealthy community can be difficult for lots of us to live with, but my faith allows me to be happy with our position. I have a lovely life: a healthy family, great friends, a fantastic church and a wonderful Christian community which doesn’t judge you on what you do or don’t have.

I make sure I get Florence to Weybridge in time for the 7.30am school bus and then return home for breakfast and to consult my electronic diary which helps pilot my functional life. The incessant bleeping of my diary advising me of yet another task or duty requiring my attention is a constant source of umbrage with Katrina, but while it doesn’t mean that I do jobs any quicker, it does ensure that I am extremely organised and rarely double-book. It is in these small windows of time that I am able to address some of the duties I have taken on as Churchwarden.

While most members of the Parish know me as a suited and booted Churchwarden of St Mary’s, my “day job” rarely requires formal dress and jeans and a jumper are my regular attire. By trade I am an opera singer, working for the English National Opera as a chorister, and also as a freelance tenor soloist. My singing career began when I was young: I was born in Manchester but spent most of my educational years in a market town in North Shropshire where there was a waiting list to sing in the church’s all-male choir. I was fortunate enough to join this choir when I was seven and it was this experience that really nurtured my love and passion for singing.

It was in the North that my spiritual journey began and I feel it is and will remain an ever-evolving journey. Katrina and I moved to Walton in the 1990s and became involved in St Mary’s shortly after. Faith-wise, Katrina and I come from different denominational backgrounds – she was brought up a Baptist and I in the high Anglican tradition. We were very keen to worship together and are lucky that St Mary’s has provided us with a community that suits both our histories.

It is fortunate I’m a 24-hour man as my work with the ENO usually requires rehearsals in London in both the morning and afternoon, followed by an evening performance, sometimes as many as six nights a week. This leaves little time for other hobbies or interests but on the plus side, I do get to travel on the train to London and back sometimes twice a day, which although very tiring, allows me some time for prayer and reflection. Another time that I always pray is before I sing – I am so grateful for the wonderful gift I have been given. It gives enormous pleasure to both listeners and to myself. I pray that through me others might look further and see what God is trying to offer us.

It is rare for me to be home much before midnight most nights and I like to spend some time winding down before finally taking myself to bed. Indeed, it is not uncommon for me to be returning home at midnight on a Saturday night and at the Church preparing for the 10am service just a few hours later. On some rare occasions, I will even be running back into town for a Sunday matinee performance. I’m not much of a reader so to relax will usually watch a bit of TV before bed – the highlight of my week being watching my beloved Manchester City on Match of the Day (recorded, of course). City’s performance can most definitely be the difference between a warm welcome and an ecstatic welcome on a Sunday morning!

If I had to pick a favourite film to watch, I would be hard pushed to choose between The Great Escape and Whistle Down the Wind. I love the adventure and machismo of the former with the contrasting images of the very manly Steve McQueen and the amusing sight of friends making clothing from all sorts of odds and ends in order to blend in with the German people once they escape. Likewise, Whistle Down the Wind highlights for me the fact that even in the pit of despair there is still hope and in every bad person there is redemption to be found.

My life is unquestionably a busy one and my nature to be headstrong and do things independently can mean I get very stressed. I am getting better at handing this stress over to God through prayer, and admitting to him that I am getting stressed or irritable. Despite often only getting 5 or 6 hours sleep a night, I am still susceptible to waking in the night with my brain ticking over worries. It has taken me some time to do it but at times like these I now admit to God that I can’t do everything alone and ask him to help me go at the correct pace which is helping me manage the pressures of daily life. I guess the pace of not just my life but society as a whole is such that the one law I would bring in if I were Prime Minister for the day would be to cease all trade, locally and globally, for one day of the week. The rate of the world today is such that there’s no opportunity for everyone to just stop and think about how wonderful everything we have is.

Once I feel my mind and body have slightly released the pressures of the day, I make my way to bed. Fortunately, there is not much time between my head hitting the pillow and the thought “thank goodness for that” before sleep finds me.