Our Ministers

Pastor John Thackway

The Rev John P. Thackway is the Minister of Emmanuel Church. He became the minister in June 2022 following a call by the church after the retirement of the Rev Malcom Watts in 2021.

Previously, Pastor Thackway was the Minister at Holywell Evangelical Church, North Wales, having served there faithfully since 1991.

Growing up in an unchurched background in Ilfracombe, North Devon, the Lord called him by grace through the ministry of a local evangelical church. The call to the ministry soon followed, and after graduating from the Bible Training Institute, Glasgow, he became pastor of Maryport Street Baptist Chapel in Devizes.

Married to Margaret in 1977, they have four children and seven grandchildren.

John Thackway is Vice-Chairman of the General Committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society and a trustee of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary. He also serves as Editor of the Bible League Quarterly, having done so since 1993.

Pastor Daniel Tribe

Rev Daniel Tribe is our Assistant Pastor, taking up the office in March 2025.

He is a graduate of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary and has previously served here as Ministerial Assistant to Pastor Thackway.

Pastor Tribe grew up in Salisbury has been a member of Emmanuel Church since his conversion and baptism in 2011. He is married to Jenni and they have four children.

Daniel Tribe also serves as a Trustee of the Bible League Trust.

Pastor Malcolm Watts

The Rev Malcolm Watts served as Minister of Emmanuel Church, Salisbury from 1971 until his retirement from pastoral ministry in 2021, after 50 years of faithful service.

He was brought up in a Christian home in Barnstaple, North Devon and was called by grace in his teenage years, and subsequently called into the ministry. He trained at London Bible College between 1967-70.

He married Gillian in 1976, and together they have two daughters and a number of grandchildren.

Malcolm Watts is Chairman of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary and a Vice-President of the Trinitarian Bible Society. He is also a member of the UK board of Hudson Taylor Ministries and was instrumental in the production of Affirmation 2010.

He has authored a number of publications including The Lord Gave the Word: A study in the History of the Biblical Text (1998), The Worship of God (1998, co-author), The Government of the Church (2000, co-author), God's Hymnbook for the Christian Church (2003), The New King James Version: A Critique (2008), and What is a Reformed Church? (2011).

Malcolm Watts has also written a number of articles, many of which have been published in the church's magazine, The Messenger, of which he continues to serve as Editor.