Joel Edwards

An ordained minister in one of the UK’s major Caribbean denominations and an honorary Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Joel blends black and white together without making grey. Crossing cultural divides and coping with ‘daily culture shock’ since he arrived in the UK from Kingston, Jamaica at the age of 8, Joel has become one of the foremost protagonists within the Christian church scene. As such, he serves on a number of faith, government and public agency advisory groups. A respecter of diversity, he is also passionate about unity within the church. But unity with a purpose; to see real change for real lives and real communities.

Joel was a Probation Officer for 14 years and the senior pastor of a local church for 10 years before becoming the first black general director of the Evangelical Alliance in 1997. In September 2008 he is to retire from the Evangelical Alliance and brings his passion for justice for the poor to two new roles as he joins Tony Blair's Faith Foundation and becomes the first International Director of Micah Challenge.