In a frivolous world, a local priest seeks to find a place for the spiritual, reports MICHAEL LOWE. EXPERIENCE as a truckie, yachtie and spare parts manager means the new Anglican priest at Kings Meadows brings a lot of life with him.

The Rev. Steve Howard is the Anglican priest in charge of Launceston South, based at St Mark's on the Hill at Kings Meadows.

Included in his area is St James church in Franklin Village and Church of the Good Shepherd at Hadspen.

He moved from Devonport to South Launceston in June and said he has things to do.

"We are trying to return the relevance of Christ and our worship of Him, to make it relevant to this day and time," he said.

"In a world of entertainment, it's easy to hide from God in your life.

"We have to remind people about Christ so they can restore their faith."

Mr Howard said he was working with the parish to launch family- friendly initiatives later in the year.

This should mean services with family games and even a "teddy bear picnic" with the simple goal of families having fun.

The church has a "warrior chapel" (an attached chapel with a military theme) and Mr Howard said he would be working with the RSL to maximise that resource.

"We are trying to find new forms of worship suitable for people of all ages but continuing with the Anglican tradition and services that are very meaningful to the people that continue to come to church," he said.

"We are not throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

"But we are looking at new ways of service and reaching out, particularly to families, with the Gospel."

Mr Howard, 53, was born in Adelaide and attended St Michael's Theological College in that city but left in 1975, feeling God was saying "not yet".

He then worked as an interstate truck driver (including being in bad crash) and was a spare parts manager for a large company's vehicle fleet.

He then worked in Portland and bought several yachts and sailed regularly.

Mr Howard moved to Devonport in the mid- 1990s, having regularly attended church since the 1970s but said he felt pressure to do more.

"I felt God was belting me in the back with a broomstick to become a priest, the time had come," he said.

"So I went through a testing period, answered the call and became a priest."

He was ordained in St David's Cathedral in Hobart in 2005.

Mr Howard has six children with his second wife, Diana.