people
Although certain people have been appointed to serve the church in specific ways, we actually have more than 100 ministers at Magdalen Road. We encourage every person in the church to use their unique gifts and experiences to serve one another and the wider community. In our life together we aim to imitate Christ in speech, love and service, so that we may nurture one another towards Christian maturity.
staff
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Peter Comont - Pastor
Peter and Judy came from Eden Baptist Church in Cambridge to become pastor here in 1996. They have three children, Emily, Tim and Jonny, who are all in secondary school. Apart from spending time with the family, Peter's main pleasure is walking the dog and tending his allotment. He is also involved in teaching at the South Central Ministry Training Course based in Oxford, and the national Living Leadership initiative.
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Richard Brewster - Assistant Pastor
Richard originally came to Magdalen Road in 2003 to develop a youth ministry for the church. He married Lily a few months later and their son Noah was born in January 2008. Richard was appointed to his current position in 2006, with the oversight of ministries to youth and families.
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 Kate Blanche - Church Administrator
Kate and Daniel moved to Oxford from Southampton in 2005. Kate worked for three years at Oxford Brookes University as an admissions administrator before becoming the church’s administrator. She enjoys cooking for friends, reading classic works of fiction and walking in the countryside, especially the Lake District.
elders
The overall leadership and direction of the church is the responsibility of our elders, who meet regularly to discuss and pray for all aspects of the life of the church. The elders are Peter Comont, Richard Brewster and:
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Martin Groth
Martin is married to Rosie and they have two children, Alice and Aidan. Martin has worked in engineering roles both in UK industry and in East Africa, where he was a medical engineer for the mission hospitals in Uganda. Currently he is head of ICT at the Church Mission Society. He has recently, with some reluctance, taken up cycling to work and spends some of his spare time looking for buried treasure.
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Tim Guest
Tim moved to Oxford in August 2001 to work for a Christian charity called Innovista International as the team leader of its travelling theatre company. In 2005 he moved on to his current job at Oxfordshire County Council where he works for the Advisory Service for Ethnic Minority Achievement, part of the Educational Effectiveness Service. He loves football, real coffee and cinema in equal measure.
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Peter Leaver
Peter is a retired administrator working in local government for nearly thirty years before becoming church administrator for eight years until he retired in 2006. Peter & Gwyneth have served together at Magdalen Road since they were married in 1971 (although Peter has attended Magdalen Road since he was five). They love to spend their free time walking, reading and keeping in touch with their two daughters.
deacons
Deacons are appointed by the church to lead specific ministries. They have responsibility for the day-to-day management of their particular ministries under the leadership of the elders.
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Paul Fairchild - Pastoral Advisor
Paul and his wife, Jackie, moved to Oxford from Cambridge in 1995 and have worshipped at Magdalen Road for the past thirteen years. Paul is a biomedical scientist and lecturer at the University of Oxford, and works as a counsellor within the NHS in his spare time. Paul also helps lead a home group and is editor of the church's termly magazine, Compass. Although Paul has never knowingly had a hobby, he has learnt to build airfix models, collect fossils and even play football with his son, Richard.
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Andrew Sadler - Finance
Andrew has been working with Grace Baptist Mission, at its Abingdon headquarters, for 11 years. As part of the support ministries team he has particular responsibility for managing the day-to-day financial affairs of the mission. As a native of the English Lake District, he loves walking (mainly with his wife, Ruth) and spending time outdoors. A keen football fan, his most memorable match was at Wembley in 1986, watching Oxford United win the League Cup!
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Ruth Sadler - World Missions
Ruth works in the Abingdon office of Tearfund, a christian relief and development charity. Travelling to Calcutta, Mumbai and Delhi in India to see the work of Tearfund partners is a particular highlight of her job. Any spare time is preferably spent gardening, especially tending her fruit and veg patch or walking (recently walked the length of River Thames and now walking the Ridgeway).
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| Tuesday 6 January |  | Buttercup Music | | music for toddlers
9:45am @ the church building | | First Tuesday | | prayer meeting
7:45pm @ the church building | | Wednesday 7 January | | Wednesday Night Thing | | for 14-18 year olds
7:15pm @ the church building | | Thursday 8 January | | Prayer Breakfast | | 7:00am @ the church building | | Sunflowers Toddler Group | | 10:00am @ the church building | | Friday 9 January | | Friday Night Thing | | for 11-14 year olds
7:15pm @ the church building | | Sunday 11 January | | Morning Celebration | | God's champion, (1 Samuel 17) Richard Brewster
10:30am @ SS Mary & John School | | Spurgeons Preachers Group | | 4:30pm @ the church building | | Evening Gathering | | What is sin? (Romans 1:18-32), Peter Comont
6:30pm @ the church building | | Tuesday 13 January | | Buttercup Music | | music for toddlers
9:45am @ the church building |
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