About our Church
A warm welcome to our church, we hope you feel at home among us!
Emmanuel Church, in the heart of the City of Salisbury, Wiltshire, is a community of Christian believers from across many walks of life united by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who has saved us from our sins. In this wonderful news, we joyfully live each day to give glory to God by living out His Word, and gather together to worship and praise Him every Sunday.
We’re a Reformed church — this means we hold to the Reformation principle that the Bible is God’s inspired Word and the source of authority for how we live our lives and how we worship Him. Our Worship Services are therefore solemn and reverent, consisting of the public reading and preaching of God’s Word, prayer and the singing of Psalms. Find out more about our faith.
We would love to welcome you to visit our church anytime; our services are open to everyone. We also have activities for young people and children, you can find more information about our ministries here. Our services are also live-streamed for those who cannot be with us in-person.
God says: “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Psalm 34:8
Our Ministers
Rev John Thackway
(Pastor)
John Thackway joined us as our Pastor in June 2022, following the retirement of Pastor Malcolm Watts. Pastor Thackway previously served as the Minister of Holywell Evangelical Church in North Wales for 30 years.
He grew up in Ilfracombe, Devon where the Lord called him by grace through the ministry of a local evangelical church. A call to the ministry soon followed, and after graduating from the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow, he became the pastor of Maryport Street Baptist Chapel in Devizes, Wiltshire. John Thackway is married to Margaret, and they have four children and seven grandchildren.
Rev John Thackway is the Vice-Chairman of the General Committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society and a trustee of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary. He also serves as Editor of the Bible League Quarterly.
Rev Daniel Tribe
(Assistant Pastor)
Daniel Tribe became our Assistant Pastor in March 2025, having previously served here as Ministerial Assistant to Pastor Thackway.
He grew up in Salisbury and has been a member of Emmanuel Church since his conversion and baptism in 2011. Following a call to the ministry, he graduated from the Salisbury Reformed Seminary in 2022. He is married to Jenni and they have four children.
Rev Daniel Tribe also serves as a trustee of the Bible League Trust
Rev Malcolm Watts
(Pastor, Retired)
The Rev Malcolm Watts served as Minister of Emmanuel Church, Salisbury from 1971 until his retirement from pastoral ministry in 2021, after 50 years of faithful service.
He was brought up in a Christian home in Barnstaple, North Devon and was called by grace in his teenage years, and subsequently called into the ministry. He trained at London Bible College between 1967-70. He married Gillian in 1976, and together they have two daughters and a number of grandchildren.
Malcolm Watts is Chairman of the Salisbury Reformed Seminary and a Vice-President of the Trinitarian Bible Society. He is also a member of the UK board of Hudson Taylor Ministries and was instrumental in the production of Affirmation 2010.
He has authored a number of publications including The Lord Gave the Word: A study in the History of the Biblical Text (1998), The Worship of God (1998, co-author), The Government of the Church (2000, co-author), God's Hymnbook for the Christian Church (2003), The New King James Version: A Critique (2008), and What is a Reformed Church? (2011).
Malcolm Watts has also written a number of articles, many of which have been published in the church's magazine, The Messenger, of which he continues to serve as Editor.