Tim Morfin OBE: “Parenting was overwhelming and beautiful all at the same time”

Founder and CEO of Transforming Lives for Good (TLG), Tim Morfin OBE, places trust in God at the centre of good Christian parenting

Tim, why don’t you tell us a bit about your upbringing?

I was born in Beverley in East Yorkshire and grew up on the edge of Hull with my mum, dad and two younger sisters. Dad worked in property for the local authority, Mum was at home until we were in primary school, then worked part time as an administrator.

My parents planted and helped lead a church on a housing estate called Bransholme in the late 1960s, so much of my childhood was shaped by church life – kids’ work, youth groups, outreach. Saturdays often meant helping at church, fixing things, or preparing for holiday Bible clubs. I remember knocking on doors with mum and dad, inviting families along.

That background gave me a love for the local church, an appreciation for hospitality and a sense of leadership, which I see now as something God has gifted me with. I saw dad planting and leading, and Mum opening our home with her gift of hospitality. One Christmas Day, they even invited our notoriously grumpy neighbour – the one who used to threaten to call the police if we rode bikes on the pavement – to join us for lunch. At the time I couldn’t understand it but looking back it showed me that what they preached on Sunday, they lived out during the week.

After studying in Bradford, I stayed on – never expecting to – and worked at GlaxoSmithKline for nine years. But out of my involvement in a small church with a heart for the community, TLG began. We opened a youth club, met kids facing tough issues, and slowly the ministry ……