OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
September 2023 UPDATE
Ministry Moving Forward
In September 2022 our minister Rev Jonathan Boyers after 14 years of faithful service heard God’s call to move on to a new adventure. Under his leadership, we have seen the church grow significantly and are now in the process of seeking a new Minister.
Further details of our search process can be found here.
PAUL WILLS
Deacon supporting Small groups
Paul serves the church as a deacon, and alongside James Meredith, they both have oversight of the pastoral team and the church’s small groups. He is married to Rachael, and they have two children. Paul was brought up in the church and became a Christian over 40 years ago, and he has since worshipped in a number of evangelical churches. In 2021, he completed a degree in Contextual Theology, and two years later he completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Theology, Ministry and Mission. Paul currently works for the Hope Centre in Partington, and prior to undertaking his studies, he worked and volunteered in a variety of roles within the charity sector. Paul and Rachael first attended People’s Church in 2019, and currently lead one of our small groups, whilst also undertaking various other duties in the church. Paul supports Burnley F.C., and he and his family enjoy walking in the hills or along the coast, and playing various board games.
JAMES MEREDITH
Deacon, overseeing Pastoral support and Safeguarding
James is one of our newest deacons. More info will be coming soon.
MIKE BAKER
Deacon, overseeing Discipleship
Mike serves the church as our deacon overseeing Discipleship, which covers our prayer life, supporting the worship team, people development and emerging leaders. Mike is married to Dawn and they have one grown up daughter. They have served in the life of the church for a number of years now. Mike is a gifted musician and worship leader who teaches mechanics at college level. Dawn helps as our Administration support in the life of the church.
GRAHAM BLOWER
Deacon and Secretary
Graham is one of our deacons. More info is coming soon.
STEVE SHARP
Deacon, overseeing Building and Grounds
Steve has been part of the church since 2015 and serves as our deacon with oversight of the church building, which includes maintenance and safety of the church facilities. He works in healthcare as a Research Analyst with NICE. He is married to Raquel and their young son Philip keeps Steve fit as a fellow football fanatic. Steve is also a keen cyclist and long distance runner, and has completed a number of fundraising marathons. Raquel is a nurse, and her passion for caring extends to hospitality and kids teaching at the church.
KAREN GREENHALGH
Deacon for community and mission, Sundays and Eden Team Leader
Karen has been a member of our Eden team since 2014 and took on the team leader role in September 2017. Karen has a long background of supporting and teaching teenagers who are struggling with mental health and face challenges engaging with school. Much of Karen's time is currently spent working in the local High School with struggling young people from our community.
Before joining the team, Karen completed a Masters in Youth and Community Work and Applied Theology whilst leading the youth work at Deane Parish Church in Bolton and working as a Speech and Language Therapist. Karen is also a foster carer. She is the deacon responsible for community outreach and mission and Sundays.
If you would like to know more about the work of the Eden team, or think you might want to get involved, contact Karen at karen.greenhalgh@eden-network.org
WIDER LEADERS
As a growing church, we have an extended leadership of 'Wider Leaders', made up of people with oversight responsibility for different areas of church life. This includes Kids' Church, Safeguarding, Youth Church, Men's Ministry, Ladies' Ministry, Small Groups, CAP, Community Outreach and others. Our wider leaders are a more fluid group specifically around whether a person is overseeing part of church life, rather than deacons, who are nominated, called and affirmed through the church meeting as those recognised and called by the church to lead and serve the church.
SAFEGUARDING
As part of our commitment to love God and love the community, we take the wellbeing and safeguarding of children, young people and adults very seriously. Sally Walker-Smith leads our Safeguarding Team, and James Meredith is our trustee for Safeguarding. Every person who serves in our children's work and with young people are fully DBS checked, also going through Safeguarding Training and an application process for their roles. A full copy of our safeguarding policy is available upon request.