Vicar
Barney has been the Vicar here at SMB since 2010. He trained at Wycliffe Hall Oxford, served his curacy at St Alkmund’s in Derby and was Associate Vicar at Holy Trinity Cambridge before joining us here in Canterbury. Barney is married to Ruth who is a Doctor and they have three very energetic boys keeping them busy! In his spare time Barney enjoys cycling and watching most sports.
Associate Vicar
Stephen joined SMB as Curate in July 2016 and was licensed as Associate Vicar in January 2020. He became a Christian at 13, finding Jesus in the midst of his disillusionment with life and faith. Getting a sense of God’s love for the church and the world, he felt a call towards ordination as a teenager but knew that call was on hold. Before joining SMB he toured with a Youth For Christ rock band, studied theology at London School of Theology, and trained as a teacher in Cambridge, before spending four years teaching Secondary RE in Dunstable. He’s married to the wonderful Tiffany who returned from living in Uganda in order to marry him. Lucky guy. Stephen enjoys playing rugby, has recently joined a local side, but invariably complains about his aches and pains.
Growing Faith Pastor
Mim joined the staff team in 2011 as an intern before becoming the full time Children’s Worker in 2012, and our Growing Faith Pastor in 2020. She had moved to Canterbury to study Primary Education at university and decided to stay and make this wonderful city her home. Mim can’t sit still for long, and in her spare time can be found dressmaking, jiving the night away, baking and hanging out with friends. She is the only veggie on a staff team of keen carnivores, but wins them round with the occasional homemade cake or two. Mim loves a challenge and can often be found exploring other cities, and her claim to fame is that she once visited all the Church of England’s cathedrals in two years!
Youth Pastor
Megan joined staff team July 2021. Megan has been a youth worker for 7 years. She studied at Ridley Hall back in 2015, right after doing the New Wine DY gap year. She became a Christian at the age of 16, and being the only Christian in her family she hopes this being one of the only things she has “stuck at” (to quote parents…) is witness to them.
As of this August she is now Mrs Megan Johnson, having married a wonderful man named James who like her loves working with youth and they spend most of there free time watching anime, Marvel and most things on Disney+. They also love a board game and when James is watching rubgy or NFL you can find Megan doing some painting or using her graphic art pad, while pretending to know what is going on.
Church Manager
Katie joined the SMB staff team as Church Manager in April 2021. Previously her and her husband had been running their business, a food based public house that they owned for 16 years in Canterbury. In that time Katie had regularly attended SMB and served in many different roles from; starting Bumblebees playgroup to being on children’s team, hosting team and becoming a PCC member. Katie has been married to Peter for 28 years and they have 3 grown up daughters.
Comms & Admin
Tana joined Katie in the office in April 2022 and is enjoying all the variety and life SMB HQ brings to her working days! Her days off are spent being as creative as possible and watching Noah (17), Jake (15) and Fleur (12) grow up too fast. Tana and Alex have been married for 20 years and have been attending SMB since Autumn 2019.
Church Accountant
Caretaker
Since moving to the UK in 1998 to study for his Masters, Manny has spent 10 years lecturing in wildlife conservation and regularly leading groups back to Africa. He joined the SMB team in January 2019. Since joining the church in 2014 he and his wife Cheryl have helped to run the Alpha ministry and also co-founded Stop The Traffik Kent. In his spare time Manny enjoys volunteering in the social justice sector, drama performance, travelling and walking in the countryside.
CAP Debt Centre Manager
Cleaner
Child safeguarding lead
Sarah has been at SMB since 2015 having previously been involved in parish ministry in the Sandwich area where her husband Nigel was a Vicar. Sarah took very early retirement from being a hospital matron in 2020 so is now able to serve in a variety of ways at SMB including Make Lunch, Bumblebees and Explorers and she is also the Parish Safeguarding Officer for children and younger people.
Sarah and Nigel have a grown up family with 2 married daughters and a son and a grandson. In her spare time Sarah can normally be found gardening, walking or having fun with her family.
Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Lead
Andy has lived in Canterbury for nearly 30 years and came to Christ more than decade before that.
He was an academic at the university, teaching and playing with programming languages, but in recent years he has worked purely in a research role.
He is married to Hazel, who teaches prospective teachers how to teach maths.
Andy loves looking for archaeological artefacts with his son and listening to electronic music with his daughter.
He keeps bees and likes making things.
Churchwarden
Churchwarden
Peter has been married to Rachel for 30 years having met as teenagers at a Christian summer camp, they have two grown up children, Immi studying Photography in Bristol and Fin about to go to UKC to study Sports Science.
They have been worshipping at SMB for over 20 years having moved to Canterbury to take advantage of the grammar schools and the high speed rail link. With his commuter days behind him Peter runs a Wealth Management Business and having recently moved to the country again, they spend most of their time in the garden trying to grow things and fight off the weeds.
Treasurer
Simon has been at SMB for over 25 years. He’s been on PCC for the last 15 or so and treasurer for the last 5! He has been a financial adviser for more than 40 years and currently has no plans to retire – his business employs 35 people. He is married to Pam, the PCC secretary. They live in Postling. They have three ‘grown up’ children and 6 grandchildren – with another ‘on the way’. In his spare time Simon is finance trustee at Kenward Trust in Maidstone, he also plays guitar, shoots clays, and rides his motorbike.
PCC Secretary
Welcome Pastor, PCC & Deanery Synod Rep
I’ve been part of this lovely church for over 30 years now with my husband Iain. Our four children were part of the children’s and youth work and two are still here with four of our six grandchildren, along with my 93 year old mother!
My passion is for welcoming and as Welcome Pastor, you will usually find me looking out for those attending for the first time, guiding them through what for some can be quite a daunting first visit, and hopefully helping them to settle in and to know and feel the joy of being part of our church family.
I am also a Deanery Synod Rep and part of our PCC.
PCC and Parish Disclosure Officer
I joined SMB late 2003 having moved from London with my two children then aged 11 and 6. I currently work as a management consultant. My children are now adults and so I find myself with a little more time to become involved in wider aspects of SMB church family life. In addition to being a member of the PCC and safeguarding group, I am the Parish Disclosure Officer and therefore process the DBS applications for the church.
I am a member of a superfab Fellowship Group, and my interests include gardening, and intensive exercise classes at the gym!
PCC
Hello, I am Laura, originally from Belfast and moved to Canterbury from London in 2019. We found SMB fairly quickly after moving and particularly love the children’s and youth work within the church, and the whole ‘church family’ vibe with such a beautifully diverse range of fellow church members! I’m married to Raymond and together we are parenting 4 lovely kids aged 4-14, so life is never dull! I’m a social worker and have worked in different areas, most recently in Adoption. However, currently I am running a coffee and book shop, which only opened this year (2024) and that is keeping me very busy at the mo!
PCC
PCC
Emily has been coming to SMB since 2017, when she moved to Canterbury from Belfast, for a new job. Emily co-leads a fellowship group at SMB and serves on the children’s church team.
Emily works as a NHS Dietitian and spends most of her spare time reading, running, cooking and trying out new local eateries!
PCC
PCC
PCC
Rowan has been attending SMB since moving to Canterbury in 2017 to study Theology. His interests include history, wildlife, and hot chocolate. He met his wife Amy at church here, and they married here in August 2024.
PCC
Simon has attended SMB since getting married to the wonderful Kez (not the church warden) in 2012, which is also the last time he made two good decisions in a calendar year!
His main interests are sleeping and eating fried food. He also enjoys geek stuff such as table top war gaming, playing PS5 and the works of Terry Pratchett.
In his day job he works for a charity supporting young people in South East Kent where he has somehow managed to turn his refusal to grow up into a benefit to the local community. He also has two children of his own and hopes that one day his parents will forgive him for turning Anglican…
PCC
Harry was born and brought up in St Andrews in Scotland. He is an electrical engineer and travelled the world (Algeria, Indonesia and Abu Dhabi) before ‘landing’ in Canterbury 35 years ago. He is married to Alison and they have three children and three grandchildren. Harry has been elected to Diocesan Synod which means that he also serves on Deanery Synod and PCC.
PCC
Uche found his home in SMB having moved to Canterbury on his return to the United Kingdom while taking a break from clinical practice, immersing himself fully into academia with the medical school. He is married to Laura with an inestimable blessing in a lovely daughter. He finds enjoyment in countryside walks and listening to oldies classics.
PCC
Lara has been part of SMB life since she married Toby and moved to Canterbury in 2020. Since then, they have welcomed their little girl, Aletheia, who very much enjoys “participating” in our services at SMB!
Lara and Toby enjoy hosting a fellowship group and serving on the worship team. Lara also represents the church on Deanery Synod. Lara works for a law firm in London within HR, enjoys eating brunch, singing, playing the flute, knitting and catching up with good friends over a cuppa!
PCC
Tutu has been a member of the SMB family since 2014 after moving from London to Canterbury with her lovely husband, Tosin and three delightful children. She enjoys working as a GP and an academic at the University. Tutu joined the PCC last year and has been serving in the Women’s Ministry team. She enjoys singing, reading and taking Zumba classes.
