Who's Who

 

Reverend Don Smith
Rector

Rev’d Don Smith took up the reins as rector of St Mary’s in June 2008 following twenty years’ ministry in various areas of London. Passionate about building a church for the 21st century, Don is keen to see new families coming to church, joining with those who are long-standing church members. Humour and enjoyment of life are high on Don’s agenda which means the congregation often has to suffer his stories and jokes. Don is a keen sports fan and confesses to watching most sports from the safety of his armchair. Don and his wife Karen enjoy walking their two dogs on Frinton beach.

 

Malcolm Bryden
Churchwarden

Malcolm, a former deputy head-teacher, is our senior Churchwarden. Malcolm oversees the maintenance of our church buildings, and is an active member of the Deanery Synod. When not engaged in church duties, Malcolm assists the local education authority in overcoming the problems of truancy. No wonder Malcolm likes to escape to France whenever he can!

 

Peter Wood
Churchwarden

Peter is a recently retired Essex Police Officer. One Sunday in 1983, as a trial, he visited St. Mary’s with his wife Paula and two young sons. They felt at home immediately and have remained here ever since. He has a passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus and as a result is involved with our Training, Outreach and Evangelism programme. This involves taking a lead with the courses we offer such as Alpha, Start, Christianity Explored and Discipleship Explored. He is an Ipswich Town supporter (someone needs to be!) and also enjoys Fish and Chips.

 

Frances Allen
Pastoral Care Co-ordinator

Frances has been the Pastoral Care Co-ordinator following her retirement as a Social Worker with Essex County Council. Frances provides Pastoral Care services such as visiting, providing meals and other practical help, hospital visiting and transport, befriending, advising and importantly praying for those in need in our Church. Frances currently leads a team of 17 Pastoral Visitors and is involved in encouraging all Church members to think pastorally about each other. Frances is a keen gardener and has lived and worked in the area with her husband Brian for 35 years. They have been members of St Mary's since 1995.

 

Heather Ursell
Church Council Secretary

Heather has lived, with her husband and their four children, in his home town of Frinton for over twenty years. Coming from a primary and pre-school teaching background, she enjoys interacting with people of all ages and loves reading and admin! Her Christian faith is very important to her, knowing that life would have been much more difficult without the understanding that God can work things out for good in all sorts of circumstances. She is involved in the local community, as well as trying to help our church run smoothly and efficiently.

 

Stephen Edgell
Home Group Co-ordinator

Stephen has been a teacher at the nearby Tendring Technology College since moving to Frinton with his wife Linda in 1985. He is keen to encourage people to take bold steps on the journey of faith and explore what it means to live for Christ in the contemporary world - so you can often find him discussing the way culture and faith interact. His favourite phrase is "Jesus came to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed". Stephen and Linda have 3 children, the oldest two in their twenties and Nathan who is studying music in Colchester.

 

Linda Edgell
Children and Families Co-ordinator

Making church relevant for children of all ages, and their carers is top of her priority list. Linda is married to Stephen and they have three young adult children. She works professionally with children who have special educational needs. More recently this has led to twice yearly trips to Romania with a local charity, supporting folk at a day care centre for children with disabilities. Linda loves working with 'Transformers' (3-11's) on a Sunday morning and helping with our monthly 'Messy Church'. She leads the planning group for all those working with families, children and teenagers.

 

Kevin Saitta
Youth Work Co-ordinator

Kevin trained as a youth worker with the ‘Oasis Trust’ and has eighteen years experience working with young people. As an advocate for ‘Compassion UK’ he is enthusiastic to highlight the issues of child poverty in the world. A keen writer he has published three novels- Sword of the Spirit, The Armour of God and Hatless and Unafraid. Married to Sarah, they have two children, Mikey and Kathryn, and enjoy travelling and attending Christian events in the country.

 

Duncan Archard
Choirmaster

Duncan comes from a traditional background in church music, having been a boy chorister in Oxford. His taste in music has expanded to include a wide-range of styles since he began teaching music in schools in the 1980’s. Duncan believes that church music should be all-encompassing and reflect as far as possible the wide ranging backgrounds of established congregations as well as those who come new into the church. Even though Duncan lives in Colchester and has been travelling to Frinton since the year 2000, the excitement of coming to a famous seaside town has not worn off!

 

David Hepworth
Worship Leader

David has been the Worship Leader at St. Mary's for 14 years. He is passionate about worship music and longs to see people come into God's presence through it. He leads a group of talented musicians and singers who provide the worship music for the Contemporary Services at the church. David is married to Karen, keeps fit by playing 5-a-side football and still enjoys cycling and walking.

 

David Draper
Church Administrator

David came to St Mary’s as administrator in 2005 having taken early retirement from BT after 30 years in various management roles and driving a delivery van for Boots [in Frinton]! He was born in North Wales, baptised & confirmed into the Welsh Presbyterian Church and became an Anglican in 1983 via the English Methodist Church!