A Church of England vicar has been honoured at the 2025 National Diversity Awards for championing inclusion and raising the profile of British Chinese Christians. 

The Rev Mark Nam, vicar of St John the Evangelist Church in Woodley near Reading, received the Positive Role Model Award for Race, Religion and Faith at a ceremony held in Liverpool Cathedral. 

He was recognised for founding the Teahouse network, which supports clergy and ordinands of Chinese heritage. 

In his acceptance speech, Rev Nam reflected on the significance of Liverpool, home to Europe’s oldest Chinatown and the place where his grandparents first arrived in the UK.  

“If I ever made it to this platform, I would not just carry my own story, but theirs,” he said, dedicating the award to migrants and unseen communities working for inclusion and justice. 

Chinese-heritage clergy represent just 0.02 per cent of stipendiary priests in the Church of England.  

Rev Nam has served as minority ethnic vocations champion in the Diocese of Bristol and mentors UKME clergy nationally. 

He is also a trustee for SPCK Publishing and the Li Tim-Oi Foundation and regularly lays a wreath at the Cenotaph to honour the Chinese Labour Corps who served in the First World War. 

Closing his speech, he said: “May this recognition give us all renewed courage to keep building a world where everyone belongs.”