In the New Testament, there were two types of leader in every local church.

There were 'Elders' (also called ‘overseers’ or ‘pastors’), men who took the ultimate responsibility for leading, teaching, caring for and protecting the church.

Then there were ‘Deacons’, men and women who worked alongside the elders to help them, by running and co-ordinating various aspects of church life. Together, these two groups form our leadership team.

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Mark Bullen

Mark Bullen

Elder

Mark moved to Wymondham in 2009 and was made an Elder in 2013, joining the staff on a four day a week basis in 2016. Mark is married to Charis and they have three wonderful children and in his other day a week, Mark works as a engineering and management consultant. Mark is responsible for Life Groups and preaching at Hope and loves to see people grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Grantley Watkins

Grantley Watkins

Elder

Grantley and Floss met as UEA students and when married they received a calling to expand Gods Kingdom in Norfolk. They were privileged to be part of a team that started Norwich Youth for Christ. and for the last 27 years they have been planting churches throughout Norfolk and beyond. Grantley and Floss have 3 grown up children and 6 grandchildren.

Chris Stevenson

Chris Stevenson

Elder

Chris has lived in Norfolk all his life. When he finished school Chris worked in the family haulage company. The business has changed shape over the years but it is still his place of work. Chris married his lovely wife Emma in 1991. They have three great children, Luke born in 1993, Thomas in 1994 and Rachel in 2007.

Chris was baptized in water on 4 Feb.2001 shortly followed by baptism in the Holy Spirit. He knows Our Father in Heaven has a plan. Chris loves Jesus and believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit Himself.

“It is a blessing to be able to serve in Jesus’ Church at Hope along side such spirit filled men, women and children with the level of servant hood and commitment that has been clear to me in the last few years.” Says Chris

Chris sees his role to help discern God’s path for Hope Church and facilitate the work of the Holy Spirit as part of the team at Hope for His glory through the Church family.

Steve Louis

Steve Louis

Elder

Steve is married to Elisabeth. They moved from Stafford and have been in Norfolk since 1991. They have two grown up children and have been married for over 25 years. Steve is a mechancal engineer in the automotive industry and Elisabeth is Children’s Worker for the church. They juggle with work and family responsibilities alongside their commitment and desire to see life at Hope Community Church flourish as opportunities open up for reaching the people in our community. They are keen to see more of the church family get their teeth into the exciting task of being church.

Their significant trip to Zimbabwe in March 2012 could perhaps lead to interesting future involvement in the lives of people there. In the mean time, they spend their time running a taxi service for their children, chilliing when time allows, country walks, live music, bonzai, time with people, djembe drumming and experiencing the magnitude of God’s care and love in their lives.

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith

Elder

Kevin was brought up in a Christian family but made a personal commitment to the Lord when he was nine years old. Since then Kevin has come to know more and more that through life’s ups and downs there is one thing that remains constant, and that is the goodness, love and faithfulness of Christ Jesus.

Kevin, having lived in Norwich whilst at University, moved back to Norfolk in 2011 with his wife Sarah and two amazing daughters. As a graphic designer, Kevin’s main roles at Hope are to oversee and work closely with the pastoral care deacon, life groups and church communications and publicity.

Debbie Rose

Debbie Rose

Deacon

Debbie is the deacon responsible for church administration and finances.  She is married to Andy and they have 2 children. Trained as an accountant and with many years experience in the world of accountancy and taxation, Debbie now uses her skills to serve the Church.

She is a Trustee of Hub Community Project which seeks to develop projects to meet the needs of the community and her role includes overseeing the projects and securing funding. Debbie is also a keen member of the Uber Children’s work team.

When time allows, Debbie is a bookworm and her interests are in food & nutrition, social history and old buildings.

Elisabeth Louis

Elisabeth Louis

Deacon

After 30 years as a Primary School teacher, Elisabeth left her job in 2015 and has served as the Children’s Worker for Hope since then. She is married to Steve, and they have 2 grown up children living at home with them.

Elisabeth came to faith in Jesus at the age of 5 and traces her passion for sharing Jesus with children back to that. At an early age she grasped the importance of the building your life on the promises of God and she has an overwhelming desire to see children enter into all that God has for them at an early age.

When she is not working, she loves cooking, walking in the wonderful Norfolk countryside, and giving hospitality to family, friends and whoever else would like it! She is a trustee of a charity that seeks to support children in Zimbabwe with their education and has been able to travel there in recent years – something which she has counted as an enormous privilege.

Andy Latham

Andy Latham

Deacon

Part of the technical team that supports the church, Andy’s role encompasses sound, video, and lighting; he records and uploads Sunday services to our website and podcasts, and as Sunday Manager is responsible for setting up the venue every week.

Andy is married to Sue and have two grown up children. His interests include all things automotive, technology, Southampton Football Club and cycling.

On a Sunday you will normally find Andy operating technology and making sure that the tech team have a steady supply of coffee!

Fliss Jones

Fliss Jones

Deacon

Fliss is deacon for worship at Hope.

Fliss is married to Andy Jones and mum to Caitlin and Benjamin. She loves watching her family grow up, spending time with friends especially when it includes good food and laughter, and having a clean house! Fliss is passionate about worship and encouraging others to engage in worship to our God.

Linda Bradbeer

Linda Bradbeer

Deacon

Linda is deacon for pastoral care.

Married with 2 children and 2 grandchildren, Linda has been a Christian for over 50 years, involved in almost every area of church life during that time.

She has been part of Hope since its inception and has a passion is for building strong relationships within the church and empowering people to strengthen each other in their faith. She has a heart for people’s pastoral needs and releasing people to use their gifting in church life.

In her spare time she enjoys cooking and singing in a local choir as well as trying to keep fit at the gym.

Amy Meadler

Church Administrator

Amy grew up just outside of Norwich before coming to Wymondham in 2013 as a gap year student working with the children and young people at Hope. She ended up staying for 2 years before starting a degree in International Development at the University of East Anglia. Amy has a real passion for seeing children grasp what it means to be a child of God, so is still very involved with the children’s work at Hope, alongside working part time as church administrator, which she has done since April 2017. She loves baking cakes (and eating them!), spending time with family and friends, walking on Norfolk’s best beaches and all things Disney! 

Sue Latham

Sue Latham

Deacon

Sue, Deacon for Under 5’s work at Hope. Married to Andy, and they have 2 grown-up children, living away from home. Sue’s working life was within nursing, specialising in paediatrics, most recently in neonatal units, caring for sick and premature babies. Sue’s passion for under 5’s continues, both on Sundays and during the week heading up the Hoppers parent/toddler group teams. Her interests revolve mostly around crafting, both for children and crochet and sewing. Sue also love quiz shows, her claim to fame having been on Pointless!

Matt Hawker

Matt Hawker

Deacon

Matt trained as a physician then eye doctor in Birmingham, Nottingham, East Anglia and Sudan. Moving around can be difficult but has brought lots of opportunities to meet different people! He is married to the beautiful and very musical Selina and is dad to Ella, Lydia and Luke. He always enjoys chatting, particularly about things of faith.

In recent years he has been learning more about Christian ministry at the church whilst studying ministry with Relational Mission. This has led on to a masters in theology and medicine which is fascinating. He loves running Alpha and planning evangelism with Chris Stevenson and the Alpha team. Each Alpha group is unique and the discussions are fun and very rewarding. See you there!

Ben Watkins

Youth Worker

Ben has spent all but one year of his life in Norfolk. He gave his life to Jesus aged 15 during a youth event and he’s been involved in youth work for nearly 15 years. He’s served on a wide variety of youth work teams both in the local church and within our Relational Mission church Family. Ben’s passion is to see young people encountering and understanding Jesus and enabling them to live their lives to advance His kingdom. He joined the team in June 2019.

Ben is Married to Amy and has three young children. He loves good films (especially Star Wars), photography, real Ale, quality crisps, wrestling with his boys and walking in the woods.

To contact Ben, please email him on ben@hopecommunitychurch.co.uk