GodFirst

Overview

At GodFirst, we aim to build church the way they did in the Bible. 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.

Elders (Senior Leaders):

Duncan Lee
Duncan has been in full time church leadership roles for many years and in 2008 moved down from Bedford to begin leading this church.  Duncan is passionate about seeing a church built that is full of people who know Jesus, love Jesus and put GodFirst.  Duncan is married to Jo and they have three wonderful children.

John Bament
John has been an elder for many years at the church.  He is also a Trustee, helps to oversee church finance and legal matters and heads up the team providing the Hope House Debt Advice service. John is married to Pat and has three grown up children.

Morné Smit
Morné recently joined the team of Elders, having moved from King’s Church Catford with his wife Leanne and their two children in December 2011.  Morné holds many responsibilities, which include guiding the worship life of the church and helping to shape the evangelism programme.

Deacons (Leaders)
All our deacons are responsible for developing and leading teams so that everyone can be involved in helping achieve the dream that God has given us:

Sam Pink: Youth and Children
Along with a team of able leaders and volunteers Sam oversees the 0-18’s programmes both on Sundays and midweek.  Sam is also on the staff team working as a part time youth worker.

Dave and Kim Oliver: Pastoral Care
Dave and Kim hold responsibility for ensuring that specialist pastoral needs are covered within the church, alongside other important aspects such as organising marriage courses, marriage preparation and implementing courses and sessions to help people move on in their journey with God.

Mark Allery: Worship
Mark holds responsibility for worship across the whole church including aspects such as Sundays, small groups, organising and leading the worship team alongside development of worship leaders and musicians.  Mark is married to Ruth they have two young children.

Dan Parker: Legal and Financial
Dan carries significant responsibility for legal and financial matters within the church.  He is Chair of Trustees as well as the Treasurer for the churches finances.  He is married to Wendy and they have three children.

Martin Wassell: Administration
Martin leads various teams focusing on the more organisational and practical arrangements within the church such as facilities, communication, website, advertising, as well as central church events like Westpoint and the GodFirst launch celebration. He is married to Ali and they have two children.