Leadership and Staff

At OBC, we follow a leadership structure inspired by Acts 6, and have appointed Elders and Deacons to key areas of responsibility.

Elders
Led by the Minister, the elders have responsibility for the spiritual and pastoral leadership of OBC. In addition, each Elder has oversight for a key area of church life.


 

Rev. Steve Barnwell - Minister Steve and his wife Julie (currently our Children’s Worker) joined us in April 2013 after many years at Shrewsbury Baptist Church where Steve served as Associate Minister for 5 years. They have 3 grown-up sons, and a rising tally of grandchildren.   Since becoming a Christian aged 19, Steve has served as a lay leader in several churches whilst pursuing a career within the banking industry. At the tender age of 45, however, God made it clear that it was time to follow a ‘call’ to study theology.   Spare time is spent enjoying grandchildren, walking (especially the hills and coast of Wales) and all things related to old aircraft (anorak warning!).

Julie Leefe - Elder Julie Leefe holds responsibility for prayer ministry and spiritual growth.  She is also the trustee covering Safeguarding and Children and Young people’s ministry.  She has a special interest in leadership training and ‘word and spirit’ ministry and worship.    Julie came to faith as a result of attending the Toddler group at Oakham Baptist with her eldest daughter, nearly 30 years’ago!  Julie and husband John have three adult children and are financial advisers living in the local village of Stretton.

Deacons
Supporting the Elders by taking much of the responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Church, we have an Operations Team made up of Deacons and Team Leaders..
 

Jacob Wells - Chair of Deacons		Val George - Church Secretary
Jacob leads the Operations Team of Deacons and Team Leaders and chairs the meetings. This role includes helping to look after our amazing volunteer team, with a particular focus on the day-to-day operation of the Church. He is passionate about Communication and developing young leaders. He also leads worship regularly and heads up the Worship & AV team.   Outside of Church life, Jacob runs a small business and lives in Oakham with his wife, Helen and two young kids, Caleb, 6 and Norah, 3. Sleep has increasingly become optional.		The Church Secretary keeps track of all of the administrative and legal aspects of church life, especially as OBC is a registered charity. Val has been attending OBC since childhood and has served the church in many capacities over the years. She is also currently a committed member of the Discover & Explore team, enjoying spending time with the younger members of OBC. For her day job, Val works as a lawyer in local government.
Neil Kirk - Treasurer
Neil is our Treasurer and a key part of our Operations Team. In his day job he's the Finance Manager for a Hospital in Leicester. Together with his wife, Jo, they have three kids and live in the lovely village of Langham, just outside of Oakham. Whilst he is technically an Accountant, Neil isn’t in the least bit boring! and enjoys puzzles, lego and running. Actually, on second thoughts...

 

Staff
 

Ebenezer Kang'ombe - Systems Administrator		Julie Barnwell - Children’s Work Support
Ebe looks after the administrative activities of the church. He is the go to person for booking enquiries, ChurchSuite support and website updates.		Julie is married to our minister, Steve, and has 3 grown up sons and 6 grandchildren (at the last count!).   She was a primary school teacher for 20 years before moving to Oakham in 2013. She has also been a secondary school teacher, a Scripture Union Schools Worker, a Christian Bookshop assistant and has stacked shelves in Asda.   Julie oversees all our children’s and youth ministries, including our growing outreach to schools. She is passionate about helping children and young people grow in their knowledge and understanding of God’s Word.

  If you need to contact the Church please visit the Contact Us page.