Bible study & worship

Sophie recently moved with her husband and boys to Britain's Ocean City to take up a post as vicar of a church. Having previously been in Falmouth they continue to love living by the sea, although admittedly the paddleboarding has become a little more challenging with all the ferries in Plymouth! She's been involved in full-time ministry for almost 20 years and ordained for 10. With two young children life is pretty full but when not involved with lego/parkour/swimming/gladiators she enjoys a nice walk, time with friends and trying new new hobbies. Having visited LPO for the last couple of years, she's excited to be on the team as a speaker this week.

Tom is now retired after 40 years in Baptist Ministry including 7 years as a Hospice Chaplain. Ruth, a registered nurse, retired after 18 Years as a school matron at a very large Secondary School. They now live in Eastbourne. Their experience is wide and varied. They have two children and seven grandchildren. When not involved with the family they have a fairly active social life!!

Tom has been a companion in the Northumbria Community for many years.

Barry has worked in various capacities with Youth for Christ since first volunteering as a Year-out student in 2001. He now continues to serve as the chair of trustees for Wyre Forest Youth for Christ, whilst serving elsewhere in a ministry role. He lives in Kidderminster with his wife, Becca, and their children. He has been a passionate leader of youth ministry in local church and national festivals, including at LPO for several years. He loves board games, telling a story and doing big sums in his head.

Ruth is the leader of Woodlands Southside church, part of the Woodlands Church Family.

She is also part of the speaking team for Parenting for Faith, and particularly enjoys seeing parents, churches and church leaders inspired, equipped and encouraged in their discipleship journey together - pursuing a life of faith, connection and relationship with Jesus.

Andrew runs his own successful painting business as well as helping to lead a small local church. Anna has spent years in the field of education teaching across the country. Since having children they decided they'd embrace the life of home education and are happily exhausted to lead their three children through their education years. They're really looking forward to this very special week at LPO and are excited about the blessings that the Lord will have in store for everyone.

Wendy is Head of Giving for the Evangelical Alliance, an ordained Elim Minister, trustee for Regents Theological College, board member for Fundraisers in Christian Organisations, author of Generous with a Capital G, wife to one, mum to three and nan to a crazy cockapoo! With over twenty-five years’ experience of managing and growing finance in the worlds of banking, church leadership, charitable organisations and fundraising, she has witnessed many times and is hugely passionate about the generosity of God.

Nick & Marjorie are the joint leaders of The Well Sheffield, a growing church with many young adults and students, and a track record in reaching the unchurched, raising young leaders and new church plants. They are passionate about worship and mission and discipleship to Jesus in current culture. They love investing in the next generation and drinking good coffee. They have a lively home with three teenagers, a border collie dog and students. In 2020 they published an award-winning book, 'The XYZ of Discipleship : Understanding and Reaching Generations Y & Z'

Andy has been in pastoral ministry and church leadership for over 30 years. A gifted and passionate Bible teacher, preacher and church leader. He has a deep love for Jesus and people and a strong spiritual gifts of encouragement and compassion.

Before entering ministry, Andy served as a police officer in The Thames Valley Police and later as a police inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police. But God had a different calling - to be a policeman of his people: to protect them, encourage them, teach them and love them.

Andy is the pastor of Welcome Baptist Church in Heathfield, East Sussex. He is married to Jo, and together they have three sons.

Brian leads the team at Newton Mearns Baptist church in Glasgow and is involved with Spring Harvest.

A former fisherman, he likes the challenge of teaching the Bible in today’s society. Married to Janet, they have two children who are LPO fans!

Odele is the National leader of Kyria Scotland and works with Christian female leaders across the country. Alongside this Odele is just about to move on from being on the Senior Leadership team at Central in Edinburgh to pastor at Abbeyhill Baptist Church together with her husband Andy. They have two boys Jenson and Tobyn who love LPO because of all the activities on offer. In her spare time Odele loves to go fresh water swimming even when it’s snowy and she has to crack the ice to get in for a dip!

Sim & Lottie Dendy have four adult children and lead Freedom Church in Romsey, Hampshire UK. Yes, it’s true, they met at the Spring Harvest event in Skegness and have served on the Spring Harvest team in a variety of roles since that moment. Sim is a podcaster and regular communicator for Care for the Family and Big Church Festival and leads Tribe, a UK network of churches, part of the 24-7 Prayer Community Networks.

Bio - Matt is the Senior Pastor at Testwood Baptist Church just outside of southampton, he is married to Emma and they have three children, Jonah, Lucy and Ava. Matt likes football and supports Southampton Football Club. Matt has a passion for growing leaders and supporting the church as it steps into that which God has in store. Matt loves to preach and teach God’s word and has served at Testwood for over 10 years.

Lisa is a Baptist Minister with over 25 years experience. She joined the National Team of the Baptist Union of Scotland in 2021 prioritising caring for ministers & encouraging spiritual formation & discipleship. She’s also part of the Spring Harvest Planning Group & a member of the EA Council and has been training to be a Spiritual Director. She is married to Mike with 2 young adult children, loves music, the outdoors and drinking coffee.

Awaiting bio

Gavin is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance and has been involved with Spring Harvest for most of his life. He is passionate about seeing the local Church fulfil its calling to take the gospel of Jesus into every community.

Anne is pioneering Unleashed Church, and has co-authored three books. She is passionate about seeing people meet Jesus and released to grow into all their potential in Him.

Andy has been in pastoral ministry and church leadership for over 30 years. A gifted and passionate Bible teacher, preacher and church leader. He has a deep love for Jesus and people and a strong spiritual gifts of encouragement and compassion.

Before entering ministry, Andy served as a police officer in The Thames Valley Police and later as a police inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police. But God had a different calling - to be a policeman of his people: to protect them, encourage them, teach them and love them.

Andy is the pastor of Welcome Baptist Church in Heathfield, East Sussex. He is married to Jo, and together they have three sons.

Phil Knox is an evangelist and missiologist at the Evangelical Alliance. He is passionate about making Jesus known and the power of friendship. He loves learning and has degrees in law and mission and evangelism. His work in the UK is studying how people come to faith in Jesus and helping the church maximise those pathways. He preaches around 100 times a year in a variety of contexts and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought.

Phil is married to Dani and they have two sons, Caleb and Jos. He is an avid runner, enthusiastic waterskier and once broke the world record for the longest five-a-side football match. He is also an award winning performance poet and author of Story Bearer and The Best of Friends.

Andy serves as principal of Moorlands College, where he has worked for the past 12 years. He comes with plenty of experience of pastoral leadership, youth work, and opening up Scripture. Between Moorlands and three adopted children there is never a dull moment!

Jean is a Guernsey man serving as vicar of St Francis Church, Salisbury. Sue and Jean have 4 children who love making music together. Whenever possible, Jean enjoys riding his motorbike – and praying!

Chris serves as Associate Minister & Programme Director for the School for Discipleship at Lansdowne Church, Bournemouth. He pastored three local churches and taught theology for many years at Moorlands College. Chris has written extensively on archaeology, apologetics and philosophy. His archaeology interests have taken him far and wide, involving excavations across the Holy Land.

Ian and Ruth Coffey have been involved in Christian ministry for five decades and, in that time, have served in a variety of leadership roles from local church to national organisations. They spent the last fifteen years on the staff of Moorlands College until they retired in 2022. They continue to travel, teach, preach and write extensively They live in a small village in East Dorset.

Steve hails from Liverpool and has served various pastorates in the UK and, until March this year, also in Grand Cayman. He was also Principal and President of Moorlands College for over twenty years, and has authored several books. He has two children, four grandchildren and, just recently, one great grandson too!