Life for the new team vicar of All Saints Church, Nicky Tottle, has always been about faith and she believes her new job in High Wycombe is the latest task bestowed on her from above.

NIC BRUNETTI reports how she wants to reach out into communties and doesn't mind chatting with parisioners over a pint.

The rev Nicky Tottle bucks the trend when it comes to vicars.

Usually thought of as being male, old, grey-haired and stuffy, Nicky hopes her feminine ways will appeal to a wider audience, when it is coupled with her youth and new ideas.

The 32-year-old calls herself the "black sheep of the family" as her siblings or parents have no connections with the priesthood and she was brought up in a pub.

But Nicky believes her new parishioners can be found supping pints.

She said: "It was within the pubs that I found my faith.

"But I met a lot of people in those pubs. It seems as though they are more likely to share their concerns over a pint rather than in a church."

She adds: "We are going to them rather than waiting for them to come to us. I want to get to know people in shops, markets, anywhere.

"I want to ask people about themselves and what is important to them. I can listen.

"I'm not there to tell them what they are doing wrong."

At 21 years old, Nicky became a Christian after "receiving a calling" in the very early stages of her life, but she took it further while working at a Pizza Hut.

The mum-of-one said it was only when she was working in a regular job that she felt compelled to take it further.

She said: "Ever since I was a young child I just had a sense of God since I was very small. And throughout the years that has become very personal through my relationship with Jesus.

"Hopefully I can follow him by having links in the community and meeting people."

As she takes up her new role in the church, she says she will combine both "ancient and modern" duties around the town centre for the first time in its history.

As a vicar, she will conduct services, but as a community missioner she will be building relationships on foot, walking among the public to listen to people's problems, engage in discussion, and offer advice, while spreading Christian teaching.

It comes as no surprise, then, that her position was no mere "off the cuff" appointment.

The job only came about after years of prayer from ministers at All Saints who were trying to find a new way of engaging with the public.

They have said the new position is indeed a ministry that "God has called All Saints to create".

And after searching through a Church of England applicant database, they found their perfect match.

"When they showed me details of the job it swept me away," said Nicky. "It really fitted in with previous experience but I knew that it was something that God wanted me to do."

She admits she is perhaps not the most usual Anglican minister. Being young, female, and a mother, is not an emerging trend in the church, despite equality having come a long way since the introduction of women clergy in 1994.

Nicky, who has joined All Saints from a parish in Newport, South Wales, says the church is often mistakenly accused of "lecturing" people into believing about Christianity.

But she says she wants to highlight the "good work" God is already doing in peoples' lives, whether they realise it or not.

Nicky, who is married to James, has a rich British heritage, having been born in Inverness, Scotland, brought up in Gloucestershire, and lived in Abergavenny, Wales, before working for four years as a curate in Newport.

She describes her new job as "organic evangelism" which builds relationships naturally in conversation with people, following the example of Jesus.

She will also be working closely with town centre manager for High Wycombe, Shelley Ford, in a bid to establish links in the community, including other faith groups.

To contact Nicky call All Saints Church on 01494 527526