Our Members
Each and every brother and sister is integral to Union Church honouring Jesus and being a witness to him. We try to take seriously that “there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Even as some people get specifically mentioned below, we’re convinced each member is indispensable.
Our Elders
We recognise Jesus as the head and Lord of our church. The Bible also describes two realities: the authority of the whole congregation to appoint elders and deacons, ensure church discipline and keep watch of what is taught; and the appointment of men as elders to teach, equip and oversee the church. Our current elders are:
CHRIS
Chris trusted Jesus in his mid 20s after he realised ‘having fun’ wasn’t as fun as he’d thought. Jesus proved more than sufficient and drew Chris to himself, through various means: Billy Graham at Anfield, a small group Bible study, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and a praying mother. Chris is constantly amazed Jesus chose to break into a life as flawed and selfish as his, and use him to bring God glory among the nations.
He is married to Catherine, a part-time hospital consultant, and they have 3 children: Dan, Rosanna and Joshua. Chris was a Finance Manager for 9 years before spending the last 30 years witnessing to and discipling students; most of whom were from overseas. Chris enjoys opening the Bible with someone who’s never read it before. He loves to sing, dance (now only at weddings), cycle and run with the family. A proud Yorkshireman, Chris is known for his brick-like subtlety.
Chris also serves the church as the church treasurer.
Samuel
It’s been said Samuel loves Jesus much because he’s been forgiven much (Luke 7:47); that might be a comment on the mess Jesus saved him from, but certainly it’s his testimony that Jesus - and the forgiveness he offers - has won his heart. Samuel finds Jesus convincing, not just intellectually but because his life and character is beautiful; as the 18th Century preacher Jonathan Edwards wrote “God is God, and distinguished from all other beings, and exalted above ’em, chiefly by his divine beauty.”
Samuel is married to Fiona with two young daughters: Betsy and Dorrie. Before planting Union Church in 2018, Samuel enjoyed a teaching career in secondary, further and higher education; teaching Science and English language. Samuel and Fiona have fond memories of living in Kurdistan (Northern Iraq); and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of Middle Eastern culture. Known for his love of cheese, Samuel tries to keep trim by running.
Samuel works full-time for the church as a pastor.
Our Trustees
We are a registered charity - Union Church Sheffield - and along with our elders, we have member trustees and an external trustee on the board. The trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the administration of the church. In addition to our elders, our current trustees are:
Sarah - CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
BRIAN - MEMBER TRUSTEE
ALLY - External Trustee
Our Staff
We have a staff team that seek to equip, organise and support the church, as well as facilitating the operations of the charity. The team comprises of:
Samuel - pastor
WEndy - administrator
Our Small Group Deacons
We are one local church and enjoy relationships across the church, but we organise ourselves into small groups. In our small groups, we try to support one another in our discipleship, and in our individual and corporate witness. Our small groups are facilitated by deacons who currently are:
NORTh - RUTH
CENTRAL - Fraser
SOUTh - isobel & Matthew
We particularly want to serve the following communities: Abbeydale Road, Broomhall, Firth Park, Heeley, Students and Upperthorpe. If you live in these communities and want to meet someone from the church, please get in touch: contact@unionchurchsheffield.org
Our Safeguarding Officers
We want everyone who comes into contact with Union Church to feel safe, valued and cared for. As a church we take safeguarding seriously and we work with local and national organisations to help us to do all we can to keep everyone safe. We aim to go above and beyond our legal duties, and want to discharge our safeguarding duties in a way that is biblically faithful and pleasing to our loving Heavenly Father, who calls us to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly before him.
Our Safeguarding Policy can be accessed here.
If you have any safeguarding concerns please contact one of our Safeguarding Officers below:
Our Mission Partners
We recognise God is at work through the global church, and we’re glad to be involved by supporting those serving overseas. We are glad to be a sending church, and are ready to sacrificially send our members formally and informally into all the world with the good news of Jesus. Our current partners are:
NIGERIA - TIM & NIM
Tim and Nim, with their children Leah and Adam, work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Jos, Nigeria. Tim works as the Linguistic Coordinator, helping to ensure the linguistic foundations are in place for Bible translation projects. Nim cares for their children and supports the Scripture Engagement team through teaching and training in minority language communities.
We are Tim and Nim’s ‘sending church’.
MIDDLE EAST - ROSS & JOANNA
Ross and Joanna support church planting in the Middle East. Both with roots in the United States, they lived in Sheffield for several years (until 2024) serving on the church staff team before they headed east; partnering with UFM. They’re passionate about seeing the local church encouraged and equipped to love Jesus and share the good news about him with others. Currently their priorities are learning the local language, and making friends. Longer term, Ross and Joanna will be involved in discipling local believers as part of a local church.
We are Ross and Joanna’s ‘sending church’.
FRANCE - DEL & LAURA
Previously living in Sheffield (2004-09), Del and Laura, with their children Elsa, Jethro, Zac and Owen, ended up in France in 2015 via a church plant in North Yorkshire. Involved in a new church in Val d’Europe (near Disneyland Paris) until 2021 they’re now living in Montreuil, a diverse and needy area in inner-city Paris; partnering with UFM. They’re currently studying biblical counselling, and serving their local church and neighbours, sharing the good news of Jesus with those around them.
TANZANIA - HAZEL
Hazel serves with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Mbeya, Tanzania, where she works as a linguist. Her work involves analysing local languages, helping translators represent their languages (Bungu, Kisi, Manda, Lwila & Konongo) in written form, and checking translations for grammatical consistency. Hazel loves that God uses her enjoyment of rules and patterns to help Tanzanians read scripture in the language that speaks straight to their hearts.