Roger Sutton
Job: I have the privilege of being Senior Pastor at Altrincham Baptist Church and have served the Church for nearly 20 years.
Family: I have been married to Lesley for 25 years this August and we have four great kids James, Ste, Naomi and Sam.
Hobbies: Reading newspapers and books + Swimming and playing golf + Watching football (too old to play anymore!) and rugby + cooking + visiting art galleries with Lesley (She knows what it all means!)
Ministry goal: To lead the Church to love the world.
Likes : Sunshine - Seaside - Contemporary Art - Manchester - ABC - Sport - Kindness - our garden - our new kitchen - time with family and friends - Jinja - MUFC
Dream for ABC: To become a place that grows dedicated disciples of Christ, who are becoming a loving community who make an impact on this needy world.
Life passions : To serve the developing world in its time of deep crisis and pain + To see the Church take its place in civic society + To see thousands of people know Christ's love.
Stephen Ibbotson
Stephen Ibbotson joined the ministry team at Altrincham Baptist Church in September 2001. He is married to Helena and they have two grown-up children, Rebecca and Anna. Rebecca is working in television; Anna is married and lives in Leeds where she is the lead singer in a rock band, Bodixa. Both now have families of their own.
Before coming to ABC, Stephen was the senior pastor of Sharing Life: a Baptist church network in Leeds which grew out of the mission of Moortown Baptist Church. Prior to that, he had a similar post for fifteen years at Harris Street Baptist Church and the Open Door network of churches in Peterborough. He is currently involved in Mainstream, acting as the editor of its magazine and a network of churches within and beyond the Baptist Union. He chairs Mainstream North, is a member of the apostolic team and has been actively involved in the Baptist Union in the past. He is chair of the charity, Fresh Global.
Stephen has a passion for biblical teaching, personal and spiritual growth and at Altrincham his primary role is to lead our Discipleship ministries.
Andrew Hardcastle
Andrew Hardcastle joined the ministry team at Altrincham Baptist Church in September 2001. He is married to Penny who is currently training to be a counsellor and they have two children: Emma is an occupational therapist married to John, and Tim is a chemistry teacher married to Karen with 2 daughters Emily and Rebecca.
Before coming to ABC, Andrew was senior pastor at Ansdell Baptist Church since 1993, having attended the church since 1980. Prior to ministry he worked in education for 20 years as a German teacher.
Andrew’s primary calling is to be a pastor and friend to those within the community of faith and at Altrincham his primary role is to lead the pastoral care ministries within the Fellowship.
Susan Leiper
Susan Leiper trained and worked as a bi-lingual secretary, becoming a Christian at the age of twenty-four. She subsequently went into missions and spent 7 years working with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) based in Edinburgh in Scotland. Among many and varied responsibilities she led creative arts ministries and gap year programmes; she also pioneered a yearly outreach programme “Shine” into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Her passions are to introduce people to Jesus so they can discover for themselves that His love can make a positive difference in their lives; and to encourage the body of believers to impact society with Kingdom values, through their daily lives. Susan moved south of the border to join the ABC Ministry Team as Mission Leader in October 2004.
Sarah Holmes
Sarah joined the team as Children's Pastor in July 2006. She is originally from the Wirral. Sarah worked as children’s worker in Greasby Methodist Churchl for 5 years. There she was particularly involved in working with unchurched children within schools and church based clubs. Upon leaving Greasby, Sarah married Richard and moved to Leeds where they lived for a year before moving to Altrincham. In Leeds, Sarah enjoyed involvement with a variety of Scripture Union and local church projects.
Sarah is passionate about introducing children to Christ and helping them to deepen their relationship with God. She enjoys schools work, holiday clubs and discipleship groups and is keen to support families pastorally and is especially keen in encouraging parents to nurture their children's faith in the home. Her Children’s Evangelism & Nurture Diploma and MA in Evangelism Studies at Cliff College have developed her interest all aspects of children’s ministry.
Andrew Smyth
Andy is originally from Belfast where he studied Theology at Queens University. He spent eight years working in Dublin as a Youth pastor for Dun Laoghaire and Bray Methodist churches and was involved in setting up Urban Junction Community Outreach centre. He was particularly involved in developing young leaders, a gap year program, prayer and mission.
Andy is passionate about young people and their potential to impact and build God’s Kingdom. He strongly believes in young people being released to reach out to peers and the wider community, as they understand what it means to live lives of creativity, faith and integrity