And although Rev David Eastwood (pictured) is just getting his feet under the table at the famous town centre church, the 55-year-old reckons his unusual change of career will help him in his new job.

He said: "I was a divorce lawyer at Tollers in Northampton for 28 years before I felt God informing me to change direction. It's not something I decided to do myself – it's a new direction He wanted me to take.

"I hope my previous job will help me in my new role in terms of relating to people and connecting with the local business community. For my last five years at Tollers I was a managing partner.

"As a Christian, I've been at the heart of churches for most of my life so in one sense there's no change now. I'm looking forward to getting to know the congregation and to plan, with them, the future direction of the church.

"I also hope to get to know lots of people in St Helens whether they go to church or not – I'd even like to get to know the lawyers!"

Rev Eastwood was licensed priest-in-charge at St Helens Parish Church by the Bishop of Liverpool, Rev James Jones, earlier this month.

He previously served as a curate at a church in Warrington for 18 months after being made a deacon in Liverpool in 2008.

Rev Eastwood added: "It's a wonderful privilege to be the new vicar at St Helens Parish Church.

"It's a very special church with an amazing history – there's been a church on this site for hundreds of years and the location and sheer size of the building is tremendous.

"Obviously I've only been here a couple of weeks but people in St Helens seem very friendly and straight forward and always speak their mind!"

Describing the appointment as 'unusual', a spokesman for the Diocese of Liverpool said: "This appointment is a clear example of how the Diocese of Liverpool is prepared to consider carefully the needs of individual parishes and the gifts and experience of particular ministers when making appointments.

"It also reflects the changing nature of candidates presenting themselves for ministry.

"The Diocese values the traditional and well established routes for training ministers but recognizes that in specific instances other options are available for the deployment of ministers. We do not take these decisions lightly and work to provide the appropriate level of support to make sure these appointments work to the best for all concerned."