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 serves as one of our deacons and 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 is now a Governor of a local school. Ken serves as a deacon at the Vine and leads the children's work, which involves working out a lively and instructive programme for teachers to follow each year. Ken has continued the good work started by Terry in arranging the weekly preaching rota.
SUPPORTING LEADER
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.