Trustees

Andy Potter

Andy first came in touch with Anabaptists when a student in the early 1980s. For many years he was a member of the congregation that began at the London Mennonite Centre and eventually became Wood Green Mennonite Church. He was baptised and was married to Sarah within this congregation. It was a formative time, spiritually, theologically and personally.

Today, Andy is a husband, father to three adult children and a teenager, a Baptist minister, a lifelong Aldershot Town fan (which has been a source of much pain and occasional joy). He loves music of all kinds and going to concerts and blogs here.

Dumisani Ncube

Dumi was born into a Brethren In Christ Church (BICC) family and has remained with the church ever since. The BICC is anabaptist by nature and origin, so Dumi was exposed to anabaptism from a very young age. While the term ‘anabaptism’ was and is still rarely mentioned in the BICC, the values of anabaptism continue to be taught up to this day. As part of this living experience Dumi has embraced core anabaptist convictions such as discipleship, sharing generously, promoting justice and following of Jesus as our example, teacher and redeemer. He is an active member of the BICC in the UK, a trustee for the local church he goes to, and a member of the National Executive Board in the UK. Being an AMN trustee is exposing Dumi to a more diverse group of Anabaptists, beyond those of African origin in the BICC, from which he is hoping to learn more about anabaptism and contribute towards the expansion of anabaptism to the wider UK community.

Helen Roe

Moving to London during her architectural studies, Helen spent a foundational part of her life in Mennonite circles based around the London Mennonite Centre, later joining the Anabaptist Network. An architect and founding partner of London based practice Atkinson Roe Architects, her varied career has embraced the fluctuations of a volatile industry including working many years with a Japanese company before leaving to set up Atkinson Roe Architects in 2008, later to be joined by her husband Martin Atkinson. She is currently part of the leadership team at her local United Reformed Church, drawing resource from the rich Anabaptist heritage as well as other denominations. Coming from a large family, Helen is passionate about family in all its forms, cycling and recycling and can be found helping at Greenbelt most years.

Joshua Searle

A Northumbrian by birth and temperament, Joshua is a graduate of Oxford (BA), Prague (MTh) and Dublin (PhD), and works on the faculty at Spurgeon’s College as Director of Postgraduate Studies. Joshua is the author of three books and dozens of articles on the public significance of Christian faith. He has an active ministry in Ukraine through his chairmanship of the UK-based charity, Dnipro Hope Mission. Anabaptism has made a lasting impression on Joshua’s spiritual and intellectual formation. Joshua takes inspiration from the early Anabaptists, such as Felix Manz and Balthasar Hubmaier, who emphasised obedience to Christ above all other commitments, even to the point of martyrdom. The witness of the Anabaptists has nurtured Joshua’s conviction that following Christ is a matter of costly faith, rather than mere professed belief. He is glad to be part of the Anabaptist movement in the UK and of the opportunity to represent AMN at the meetings of the European Mennonite Leaders’ Conference.

Linda Wilson

Having arrived in Bristol from Manchester to study in the 1970s, Linda has lived in or around the city ever since. She is a church historian, specialising in Nineteenth-century Nonconformist women, and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Bristol Baptist College. Linda is also a Spiritual Director, as well as a grandmother and a lover of nature, books and cats. Linda discovered Anabaptism many years ago, initially through Lloyd Pietersen and Stuart Murray Williams, and then through friendship with various other like-minded people. She has been involved in the Anabaptist Network (now merged with the Mennonite Trust to create AMN), including Bristol Anabaptist study groups and the Anabaptist Theology Forum, for about 25 years, and has been a trustee, first for the MT, and then for AMN, since 2017. She believes the Anabaptists provide an important ‘conversation partner’ for those seeking to be disciples in our post-Christendom world. Linda has a web site here.

Paul Rothwell

Paul is a recently retired Civil Servant who is married to Kara and they have 2 adult children. His career was in Human Resource Management and Learning & Development. He has been involved in Church leadership since the 1980s, (when he first encountered Anabaptism), and currently serves as a Senior Leader in Trinity Church, Dublin. Paul is also a trustee of Jobcare (Dublin) and has ongoing leadership involvement in initiatives among indigenous people in the Western High Atlas Mountains, North Africa. He has recently taken up woodturning as a hobby. Rock-climbing is his preferred sport. He also enjoys cycling and swimming. 

Phil Warburton

Phil is a Baptist Minister and Community Organiser who has lived and worked in Tower Hamlets in the East End of London for 25 years. He is married to Sarah who together have 3 adult children. Phil and a small team planted a church later called E1 Community Church in partnership with Urban Expression, but currently works for Citizens UK as a Community Organiser and Chairs the Trustees of Urban Expression. He has had an interest in how faith and being part of a faith community impact wellbeing and mental health and helped to lead a small church led mental health group for several years. He regularly visits the local mental health unit as part of a multi-faith Spiritual and Cultural Care team.

His favourite theologian is Stanley Hauerwas, his favourite footballer Paul Scholes and his favourite food is Curry. He believes Joy is a verb: Dancing, singing, eating good food with friends, competitive sport, winning justice together and learning with others what joy looks like.

Sian Murray Williams

Sian has a Welsh Baptist heritage and began to ask questions of how her teenage evangelical faith might be outworked in the cause of peace and justice. An avid attender of the Greenbelt Festival of the 1970’s and 1980’s, she found others asking the same questions, broadly gathering around the phrase ‘radical discipleship.’ She found a sense of ‘coming home’ to the Anabaptist tradition through the friendship of Alan and Eleanor Kreider, among others. In short, she has worked for the Baptist World Alliance, the Baptist Missionary Society, been a local church minister, a college tutor and a carer. A nine year journey with an intentional table fellowship in Oxford modelled the importance of relationship, open conversation, prayer, hospitality and food in building community and faith. She is married, involved in spiritual direction, pastoral supervision and mentoring, and is looking forward to a new adventure in faith in London.

Tim Foley

Tim Foley works as a special needs teacher and foster carer with children who have severe learning difficulties. Ordained to Mennonite ministry in 2001, Tim first worked with the Wood Green Mennonite church in London before moving to Portadown, Northern Ireland, to work with the Greenfield Community, an Anabaptist peace church (both churches are now closed).

Tim enjoys walking, running, DIY, fixing things and is part of an informal Anabaptist theology reading and friendship group.  Tim is active in his local church and the local foodbank and has Master’s degrees in Anabaptist theology and in Reconciliation studies.