In 2006, Church moved to Chichester and was praised for saving the Chichester Festival Theatre from closure by almost doubling audience numbers and overseeing a £22m redevelopment to the theatre.[8] A number of Chichester productions during his tenure, including Sweeney Todd and South Downs, have subsequently gone on to the West End.[8] Church's production of Singin' in the Rain opened at the Palace Theatre in 2012.[9]
Church and the executive director of CFT, Alan Finch, both announced in March 2015 that they would stand down from their positions at the end of September 2016, in order to make way for "new ideas and new energies".[10] In June 2015, they were received into the Order of the British Empire as Commander, for their services to the Festival Theatre.[11]
Church is the son of Tony Church, former broadcaster with BBC Radio Nottingham and previously chief technician at Nottingham Playhouse, and the actress Marielaine Douglas.[13]