Leadership
A number of people take on a variety of roles in order for a church to function effectively and in unity. The Vine is no exception. No surprise then that this page is placed where it is, last, as we are just a few of the servants of the King's church here at the Vine.
Psalms 127:1 (HCSB)
Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labour over it in vain;
unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.
Nigel Ovens and his wife Anne have been attending the Vine since July 1990. In 1992 he was appointed elder to join Ian Garner who was then the Pastor. Nigel stood down from this position when he became the housemaster of a boarding house at a local school, though he and Anne continued to help with worship at the Vine during those thirteen years. Having returned to Littleport he soon reprised the role of elder and has been thrilled to work in a united and joyful team. He recently retired from teaching.
Angela Hobday has been a member of the Vine since about 1995. She is a fully qualified Clinical Psychologist who has been deeply involved in the life of many children and adults and given them invaluable help over a good many years. She has a real pastor heart and is a great listener. Angela is also the Chair of the Association of Christian Writers. She wrote the books Losing Face, Learning to Fly and Out of Silence under her pseudonym of Annie Try. As you can imagine, she is a busy lady!
Ken Hobday is Angela's husband. Ken is a retired Primary Head Teacher, ex-Ofsted Inspector and School Improvement Partner. It is no surprise, therefore, that he has had a huge amount of experience in leading and administrating teams to get the very best from them. He has been a Head in three primary schools and was until recently a Governor of a local school.
Anne recently retired from teaching, but not before she had become an official member of the church leadership. As a teacher she was totally committed to the children she taught, spending many hours in preparation to deliver a caring, wholistic and nurturing curriculum to each child. She has always been a thoughtful and diligent person and brings her much valued experience and wisdom to the team.
Children’s Missioner
Julie is our creative and talented Children’s Missioner. She is responsible for heading up Vine Tots and Energise Children’s Club and Energise Youth and is fully trained by the Ely Diocese to take assemblies in schools. She is also is the leader of the Pop Up Church team which runs activities in Littleport primary schools.
Supporting Leaders
Terry Yaroslaw was a Pastor in Fordham for several years before becoming the Pastor of Littleport Evangelical Church. He retired from that ministry over a decade ago and joined the Vine Community Church. Although he is retired, Terry's wisdom, gentleness and pastoral gifting are greatly appreciated by all at the Vine. Until recently Terry also arranged the preaching rota and built up a sound array of preachers to feed us Sunday by Sunday.
Though not a member of the Vine, Rev Ian Silk has extensive experience in leading a church having been a vicar in Lincoln. He has a passion for evangelism and was for several years a trustee of Through Faith Mission. For the past few years he has been able to encourage the work done at the Vine and has contributed much wisdom and insight. He is recently researching Biblical and Historical Models of Mission Teamwork as well as Contemporary Practice in a Variety of Contexts for a thesis with Chester University.