Revd Dr Paul Beasley-Murray MA

Chairman and Ministry Today General Editor

As Senior Minister of Central Baptist Church, Chelmsford (1993- ) he transformed a traditional declining town-centre church members into a strong, vibrant and growing fellowship with some 365 members. Under his leadership the premises underwent a £2 million redevelopment, with the result that the church is now a seven-day-a-week operation, heavily engaged in the community. For further details see centralbaptistchelmsford.org. He maintains a personal website at paulbeasleymurray.com.

Paul is a prolific author. With over 400 articles to his credit, he is a regular contributor to Ministry Today and also writes for a wide variety of other publications, for the most part reflecting on the practice of ministry.

His books currently in print are:

• Radical Believers: The Baptist Way Of Being The Church (Baptist Union1992, and translated into German & Norwegian; revised edition 2006)
• Radical Disciples: A Course For New Christians (Baptist Union 1996; revised edition 2005)
• Happy Ever After? A Guide To The Marriage Adventure (Baptist Union 1996; revised 2003);
• Radical Leaders: A Guide For Elders & Deacons In Baptist Churches (Baptist Union 1997; revised edition 2005);
• The Message Of The Resurrection: The Bible Speaks For Today (IVP 2000. Also published in the USA and translated into Chinese, Romanian and Korean);
• Building For The Future: A Guide To Those Considering Entering A Building Project (privately printed, Central Baptist Church, Chelmsford 2003; 2nd edition 2004)
• A Loved One Dies: Help In The First Few Days (Baptist Union 2005).
• Joy to the World: Preaching at Christmas (IVP 2005 – also available in a special OM edition in India, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Bahrein & Kuwait)
• Transform Your Church! 50 very practical steps (IVP 2005)
• Baptism, Belonging and Breaking Bread: Preparing for Baptism (Baptist Union 2010).
• See also Leading Teams in Larger Churches (2010): http://www.teal.org.uk

Present Interests

In Who’s Who? and Debrett’s People of Today Paul lists as his interests cooking, travel and parties! His five grand-children, Jemima, Felix, Raphael, Clara and David Aneurin, are also another major interest!

Married to Caroline, HM Coroner for the County of Essex and Thurrock, he has four grown-up children: Jonathan, who teaches Latin American studies at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Timothy, who is a senior lecturer in European philosophy & culture at University College, London University, Susannah, a senior social worker specialising in child protection in East London; and Benjamin, a free lance journalist.

Paul is an active member of Rotary (Rivermead, Chelmsford).

He is a patron of the Society of Mary and Martha, a retreat centre based at Sheldon, near Exeter, which specialises in supporting ministers experiencing stress, crisis, burnt-out or break-down (see http://www.sheldon.uk.com), as also a patron of the J’s Young Adults Hospice (http://www.thejshospice.org.uk).

As a member of the Society of New Testament Studies as also of the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical Research, Paul retains his interest in New Testament studies.

Past Appointments

As Principal of Spurgeon’s College, London (1986-1993) he doubled the student enrolment, increased the faculty by one-third, and developed new patterns of ministerial training.

As Pastor of Altrincham Baptist Church, Cheshire (1973-1986) he enabled a small declining church to develop into a strong virile church, quadrupled in size (from 83 to 300+ members).

As a BMS Missionary in Congo/Zaire (1990-1992) he taught Greek and New Testament in the Protestant Theological Faculty of the National University.

Prior to going up to Cambridge Paul served as a ‘Time for God’ worker with the German Baptists (1962-63), helping with Baptist youth work in Southern Germany.

Past Books

• Turning the Tide: An Assessment of Baptist Church Growth in England (Bible Society, 1980) co-authored with Alan Wilkinson;
• Pastors under Pressure (Kingsway 1989);
• Dynamic Leadership (Monarch 1990; translated into Swedish);
• Faith & Festivity: A Guide For Worship Leaders (Monarch 1991);
• A Call To Excellence: An Essential Guide To Christian Leadership (Hodder & Stoughton 1995);
• Power For God's Sake? Power & Abuse In The Local Church (Paternoster 1998);
• and Fearless for Truth: A Personal Portrait of the Life of George Beasley-Murray (Paternoster 2002).

He edited:

• Mission To the World (Baptist Historical Society, 1991);
• Anyone For Ordination? (Monarch 1993);
• and along with others co-edited Prayers For All Peoples (Oncken 1993).

Past Education

Paul read Modern Languages (German & French: Part 1 of the Tripos) & Theology (Parts 2 & 3 of the Tripos) at Jesus College, Cambridge (1963-1967). He then trained for the Baptist ministry, first at the Northern Baptist College, Manchester (1967-1969) and then at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon-Zurich in Switzerland. In 1970 he was awarded a PhD in New Testament studies (“The Lordship of Christ over the World in the Corpus Paulinum”) from Manchester University, having spent the final year of his doctoral studies at Zurich University.

Revd Alun Brookfield

Church in Wales Priest - Ministry Today Editor

Current Situation: Alun is currently Priest in Charge of the Parish of Cwmtawe Uchaf, a benefice of three congregations 20 miles north of Swansea, on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales. He was previously Parish Development Adviser and Director of Stewardship for the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon. He now serves on the Worship and Liturgy committee for the Diocese and has a special interest in the development of alternative forms of worship.

In his spare time, Alun also runs a rock’n roll singing group, Sing In Company, a group which is open to anyone to join, with no auditions.

Particular interests: Shared ministry (based on the models developed in Scotland and Northern Michigan), Mission and Church Growth, Stewardship and Christian giving, Fund-raising, Music in worship, Marketing and communications (inc. copy writing and brochure layout), 'Celtic' Christianity, Church planting, alternative ways of being church, Post-Christendom issues.

History: Welsh by birth and passion, but brought up in south London, Alun's first degree was in music, leading to several years working as a music teacher in secondary schools. During this time, he developed a busy ministry of preaching and leading worship in local Baptist churches in, successively, London, Kent and Northamptonshire. Before leaving teaching to attend theological college, Alun was Lay Pastor of a rural Baptist church. While at Spurgeon's College, London, Alun served as student pastor of an inner-city church in London, then moved to Chadwell Heath in Essex to serve High Road Baptist Church. Five years there were followed by nearly ten years working for Bible Society as a Church Growth and evangelism trainer, then as a market development executive. Made redundant by Bible Society in 1997, Alun went to work for the Diocese of Bristol as a Parish Development Adviser and Diocesan Stewardship Adviser. During this time, he left Baptist ministry and was ordained Deacon in the Church of England in July 2000 and Priest a year later. Alongside his diocesan work, he served as a curate with the ministry team in the Stratton St Margaret benefice on the edge of Swindon, Wiltshire, before returning to his beloved Wales to take up his present post in January 2003. 

Family: Alun and his wife, Mary, have two adult children - Gareth (better known as Gaz, a professional singer/songwriter) and Lynsey – and one beautiful granddaughter, Abigail, with whom Alun admits to being utterly besotted!

Alun and Mary also have a 5 acre smallholding in rural Carmarthenshire, where they spend their days off and their holidays.

Revd David Faulkner

Minister of Knaphill and Addlestone Methodist Churches

CURRENT SITUATION: David is the minister of Knaphill (http://www.knaphill-methodist-church.com) and Addlestone Methodist churches in the Woking and Walton-on-Thames Circuit of the Methodist Church. He has been in circuit ministry since 1992, and has previously served in Hertford, the Medway Towns and Chelmsford.

PARTICULAR INTERESTS: David is interested, following the spirit of Lesslie Newbigin, in what a missionary encounter with contemporary, postmodern culture involves. This leads him to an interest in ventures such as Fresh Expressions, cell church and all things missional. He has a particular concern for how the church engages in an Internet-everywhere, social media culture. Personal experience in ministry has led to a particular fascination for how varying personality types work in the church - not least, introverted ministers. In addition to his book reviews for Ministry Today, he also reviews Christian music CDs for Cross Rhythms (http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk).

HISTORY: David grew up in north London, which explains his irrational attachment to Tottenham Hotspur. Having attended Edmonton Methodist Church from the womb, he found personal faith at the age of 16. Expecting to go to Imperial College and study Computer Science, a severe neck condition that came on a month before A-Levels halted his plans. Later, after spending seven years in the Civil Service working in Social Security, he felt called to study Theology. He was drawn to an Anglican college, Trinity College, Bristol, where he jokes that he ran the Free Church Liberation Front. A call to ministry developed there, and the Methodist Church sent him on to Hartley Victoria College, Manchester. During his time there, he researched an MPhil in Christian Doctrine at Manchester University under Richard Bauckham.

From there, David began ministry in Hertford, where he was part of an ecumenical team that ran youth worship in the local night club. He moved to Medway, where he had some adventures in cell church and in large-scale united evangelical-charismatic celebration events. In Chelmsford, he developed his concern to transition churches from 'attractional' to 'missional'.

FAMILY: David was a late entrant to marriage - 'the man to whom this miracle happened was over forty' when he married Debbie, who is an Internal Auditor in Local Government by profession. They have two children, Rebekah and Mark.

OTHER INTERESTS: David enjoys computing - find his blog at http://bigcircumstance.com/ and follow him on Twitter (@davefaulkner). He loves listening to music, digital photography and following football, cricket and rugby union. He is also an avid reader of Theology, both in paper form and on his Kindle.

David Faulkner
Methodist Minister, Woking and Walton-on-Thames Circuit
http://bigcircumstance.com/
http://twitter.com/davefaulkner
Knaphill: http://www.knaphill-methodist-church.com

Revd Terry Hinks

Minister of Abbey United Reformed Church, Romsey

Terry Hinks was ordained as a minister in the United Reformed Church in 1986 and has served in local churches in Hereford, Reading and now Romsey and Braishfield.   Alongside a strong ecumenical commitment and community involvement, he has developed a deep interest in writing prayers and reflections.   He served as Secretary to the URC Doctrine Prayer and Worship Committee between 1996 and 2000 and contributed the Order of Daily Worship to the Service Book Worship from the United Reformed Church published in 2003.   Since 2004 he has convened the URC Wessex Synod Silence and Retreats Group, encouraging ministers and church members to discover the value of stillness.   His first book in a series on praying with the four Gospels was published in summer 2011: God's Passion: praying with Mark (Darton Longman and Todd.)  

Married to Elizabeth, with two children now both at university, Terry enjoys books, gardens, walking and growing a few vegetables (where space and time permit).   Stewardship of the earth remains an important part of Terry's theology and he chairs a joint church environmental group.

Revd David Parsons

Membership Secretary, Ministry Today UK and retired

Following a career in electrical instrumentation and electronics in which David became head of electronics at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, He entered Bristol Baptist Baptist College in 1983. He subsequently had pastorates in Norwich, Swindon and Dartford. Now retired he is living at Seaford, East Sussex and is an active member of Seaford Baptist Church, Ministry Today UK, Waves Seaford and is often called upon to preach and teach.

Married to Linda they have three sons, Justin, Keith and Timothy and several grandchildren. David was once noted for being the only pastor of any Christian denomination in the UK who was active as a hang glider pilot.

Having reached a stage in life where health and age advise interests which don't involve carrying about 100lbs of equipment up hills David is able to follow other interests which include walking, exploring at greater depth the relationship between science and faith and computing with particular reference to Linux and open source software.

David's deep desire is to see people knowing the scriptures better at the level which different people can appreciate them. To this end he is doing behind the scenes research to find ways to encourage people to love the scriptures more.

The Venerable Chris Skilton

Archdeacon of Lambeth, Southwark Diocese

Chris grew up in West London and read English at Cambridge and whilst squeezing a teaching certificate in between went on to Wycliffe Hall in Oxford to train for the Anglican ministry. An important early and formative influence were Scripture Union Beach Missions – one in Essex where he came to faith as a child and one in North Wales with which he was involved for thirteen years as team member and then as leader. It was also here that he met his wife Barbara!

 
Ordained in 1980, Chris has served as a curate first in Ealing and then in Wimborne (Dorset) before becoming a Vicar in a Team Ministry in Chelmsford and then Team Rector of the Sanderstead Team in South Croydon. He was appointed as Archdeacon of Lambeth in the Diocese of Southwark in 2004. This role is best described as ‘supporting the ministry and mission of the church in the boroughs of Lambeth and Merton’ and more colloquially as ‘Area Manager for the Church of England in  Central South London’. This involves clergy appointments and the conduct of annual reviews as well as helping parishes with whatever issues arise for them in the development of their work. He also chairs the Diocesan Schools Committee and Stewardship Committee.

 
He has particular interest and expertise in Adult Education and learning in the church, teaching clergy on a wide number of courses for their professional development and for the past ten years a seven week introduction to the Old Testament for a lay training course. For the past twenty five years he has been associated with the Extension Studies programme run by St John’s Nottingham most recently working with Church of Ireland ministerial students on a ‘Mission and Ministry in the Local Church’ module.

 
Chris and Barbara have three children – one who is a charity administrator, one a primary school teacher (currently on maternity leave!) and  one a teacher of English in Hong Kong. They are besotted with their first grandchild born in September 2011.  Chris enjoys a wide range of fiction from the eighteenth century to the present day, watches cricket, enjoys the English countryside, gardens enthusiastically if haphazardly, tries not to miss ‘the Archers’ and listens to a wide range of music from Bruckner to Kate Rusby and Mahler to Fleet Foxes.

Revd Susan Stevenson

Baptist Minister

Susan Stevenson has been a Baptist Minister for 23 years, the majority of them spent serving diverse, multi-cultural churches in south London. She’s also a Street Pastor and a trustee of Ascension Trust.

Her MTh dissertation, exploring the work of Street Pastors in Lambeth, went in search of a theology of partnership in mission to undergird the working relationships developing between churches and secular organisations in so many contexts. She thinks she’s found one!

As a first generation Christian from a working class background, she has particular interest in issues of mission and gospel and culture, allied with a deep desire to help people beyond the church identify and name the God who’s at work in their lives.

She’s married to Peter and they have two grown-up sons. She relaxes by walking, swimming, reading, going to the cinema and keeping up with friends. Now living in Cardiff, Susan’s exploring what God’s got in mind for the next phase of ministry in a new culture and context.