Parish of Greenside
Leadership Team
Hopefully you have seen Tom about and maybe even shared a pint with him at the club. Tom is a dad and a husband. He loves ice skating and 3D printers. And he's the local vicar.
Most importantly, though, Tom is someone who has discovered that life only makes sense when we give everything to Jesus and ask him to take charge. Since doing this at a young age, Tom has followed a wonderful adventure with Jesus which has eventually brought him from South Africa, where he grew up, to the North East to serve as a priest in the Church of England.
Rosemary loves being part of her church family in Greenside Parish and considers herself greatly blessed in coming from a large family, where she has now reached the stage of being a great, great aunt!
Today she is a priest, serving as a Self-Supporting Minister in Greenside Parish, preaching, conducting baptisms, weddings, funerals and Holy Communion, in addition to leading their Pastoral Care Team with Mike.
And occasionally, Rosemary helps out by serving in other nearby parishes too.
After a 14 year career in the Army, then a few years working for Durham Diocese in Mission and Ministry, and then two wonderful years at vicar school (Cranmer Hall), Rachael was ordained as a deacon in Jul 2022. She is now serving Greenside Parish as a curate and is also setting up a new church in Chopwell Parish with a focus on finding and worshipping God by connecting with nature. Think woods, tents and firepits and that'll give you a flavour.
If you want to find Rachael try Ryton rugby club first. She is delighted to be able to combine her passion for the game with serving this important community within the parish. She plays back row. Rachael is looking forward to joining Greenside cricket club when the rugby season is over. Rachael loves the outdoors, bird watching, hiking, weightlifting, being around people and sharing stories about Jesus. She is very blessed indeed to be married to Dickie, and to be Elizabeth's mother.
Mike says, 'I became a Christian in my late 30’s at Peterborough Faith Camp. Since then I have served in the church as a Youth Leader, also within a worship team singing and leading, I also became a Co-Warden, then Warden, I was a Home Group Leader and now I am a Reader/Licensed Lay Minister, I also conducts funerals which has opened doors to the local populace and I have met many people who have attended our church previously. I now co-lead the Pastoral Care Team with Rosemary my wife.
We have also worked in several areas in Kenya and have visited many countries doing outreach work with other churches. These other cities and countries are: Bogota, Colombia, Oradea in Romania and Salima Bay and Lilongwe in Malawi.'
Churchwarden Cath Jones. (Info to follow)
Ben and his wife Kirsty joined the church in 2014 after moving to Clara Vale . Ben is one of our church wardens, and also serves on the preaching, sound desk and prayer teams.
Ben became a Christian in his early twenties and is passionate about God, the church community and reaching out to the local community. He studied economics at university and has worked in human resources for the last 18 years. Outside church and work, Ben enjoys running, wild swimming and walking Max the dog.
Paddy is the parish administrator and Parochial Church Council (PCC) secretary. He became a Christian relatively recently and enjoys getting involved in church activities.
Currently, he is taking the lead on the development of a community garden on redundant land to the rear of Holy Spirit church. It is a partnership with 'Our Villages' a community based organisation covering Clara Vale, Crawcrook and Greenside. He and his wife, Beth, do a lot of travelling and he enjoys running.
