Simon became part of the leadership team at Shepherd Drive Baptist Church in September 2007.

He grew up in Ipswich during the glory years of ITFC in the 80s and is a keen supporter of the “Tractor Boys”. He became a Christian at a young age and says that Jesus Christ has been at the centre of his life ever since.

During his teenage years, as well as playing most sports (badly) but especially football, he was also involved in running a church club for young people. The club met in the Chantry Library on a Sunday afternoon and Simon has retained a close interest in South West Ipswich ever since.

He left school at sixteen and joined Barclays bank, working in the Ipswich and Woodbridge branches. However, in 1989, he left Ipswich to take up a post with Barclays in central London. After 17 years with Barclays, Simon left the bank to train as a minister and prior to joining us here, was the Assistant Minister at Caterham Baptist Church in Surrey.

Simon married Christine in 1990 and they have two sons – Harry and Ben. Harry is married to Sarah and works for Suffolk County Council whilst Ben is engaged to Charlotte and lives in the midlands following his graduation from Birmingham University.

Simon: “It’s great to be in Ipswich and we really enjoy being part of the community here. If you’re reading this, we hope to meet you soon and can assure you of a warm welcome at Shepherd Drive Baptist Church.

People often see Christianity as just a stuffy, old religion that you can ignore – a message that’s boring, irrelevant and untrue. However, so many people have never really understood the Christian message or experienced its reality. We want to share the reality of that message.

We all have deep questions about what life is really about. Like millions of others, Christine and I have discovered that Christianity really does offer real answers to life’s biggest questions.  If you want answers, it would be great to hear from you”