Surrey Chapel Staff
Our current pastoral team at Surrey Chapel presently consists of Pastor Tom Chapman
but it is hoped that a new Assistant Pastor will be appointed shortly.
The Pastors together with the other Elders have corporate spiritual oversight of the affairs of the church. Deacons are appointed to take day-to-day responsibility for various key areas of the church's life. A Church Management Team looks after financial and legal aspects of the church's business. Our employed staff also includes a part-time Youth Work Assistant and a part-time cleaner.
Tom Chapman
Tom is the full-time church pastor. This is what he says about himself:
"I have been Pastor at Surrey Chapel since September 2002. A native of Norfolk, I met Suzanne at school in King's Lynn, and my sleepy life changed forever - not just because she (much later) became my wife, but also because she first introduced me to the Christian faith. Suzanne, Murray, Wesley and I arrived in Norwich from Cambridge, having spent seven years at Eden Baptist Church in ministry training, then as an Assistant Pastor and also undertaking some study at Oak Hill Theological College in London. In 2003, we were blessed by the birth of our third son, Jonathan.
I experienced some health problems in subsequent years and in summer 2007 I was diagnosed as suffering from a brain tumour. Following radiotherapy, and a great deal of prayer, I am currently enjoying good health and am fully active in ministry again, and the Lord has proved himself faithful. The future remains unclear - as it is for us all - but for now I rejoice that I am still able to serve a living saviour, and do my best to 'give the reason for the hope that I have' (1 Peter 3:15).
(Updated Spring 2009)
Christina Haylock
Christina is the Church Administrator, working as a volunteer in the Church Office three mornings a week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays), with additional administrative work at home. Christina is the wife of Derek, one of our elders, mother of two grown-up daughters, and Granny to three grandsons. She is an Open University Graduate. She has a particular interest in cooking and helps with much of the catering for church activities. Her diverse role as Administrator includes coordinating all the information about church activities and producing the weekly notice sheet; being the first point of contact for callers at the Chapel, telephone calls and email enquiries; and generally providing administrative support to the Pastors and other church workers.
Naomi HowsonNaomi is the part-time Youth Work Assistant at Surrey Chapel. Her role is to support all the different aspects of our ministry to children and young people. Her special responsibility is to organize the monthly How Cool is That! The post includes a training element, to equip her for future Christian Service, in which she will be attending TEAM in Cambridge every week. She has just finished a very enjoyable and challenging year working as a Relay Worker with UCCF. She studied floristry at Writtle College, Chelmsford and is working part time in a florist in the City. In her spare time she likes to do such things as painting, walking around the countryside and the occasional bursts of getting stuck in to a book. Her one year appointment ends in Summer 2010. (September 2009)
Ivan is a full-time church apprentice at Surrey Chapel. His role is to support different aspects of the youth and student ministry. He is also involved in supporting the administration and coaching of the four youth football teams that the church runs. As part of the post, Ivan attends a weekly training day in Cambridge intended to equip him for future Christian service. He is a politics and economics graduate from the University of East Anglia, where he was fully involved with both the Christian Union and also the Christian Union's football teams. He is passionate about sport and hopes to use it to work with disadvantaged kids in the future, potentially in Africa. He is hoping to explore this further by going on a 2 or 3 week placement with a mission agency to Africa in the new year. He is contracted to work for one year with the church ending summer 2010. (September 2009)