Tom Morgan
Curate in Charge
Tom is part-time Curate in Charge are St John’s during the vacancy, while also remaining on the team at Pattern Church where he has been since 2018.
Tom was a Secondary School teacher for 12 years in West Wiltshire. Since moving to Swindon he has been part of the teams that launched Growbaby Swindon and the Table Ukrainian Hub. Tom is really looking forward to serving at St John’s during the vacancy.
Sharon Mortimer
Church Warden, Electoral Roll Officer, Pastoral Care Team
Sharon and her husband Rod have been worshipping at St. John’s Church since 1984.
She has three grown-up Sons, all married, and five delightful Granddaughters. She retired in 2017 but finds life busier than ever with her involvement in various areas of the church.
She has been a churchwarden since 2014. She is also involved in Pastoral Care and is currently job sharing the Administrator role. She feels it’s a great privilege to serve God in these various aspects of church life.
When she’s not busy with church, Sharon enjoys listening to classical music, one of her great loves, especially the opera.
Rod Mortimer
Finance, Fabric & Governance Sub-team Chair
Rod married Sharon in 1978.
He has been worshiping at St John’s since 1984. He is a Retired Civil Servant. He has previously served as a Church Warden. Rod is currently Vice Chair of the PCC and Chair of the Finance, Fabric and Governance Sub-committee.
He finds it a privilege to serve the Church and St John’s in its mission. Like Sharon, he also enjoys going to the Opera and listening to Classical music.
James Bennett
Church Treasurer
“James has been Treasurer at St John’s since November 2018. The Treasurer works with the PCC to ensure that the Church manages its financial resources well.
James reports regularly to the PCC, Finance, Fabric and Governance sub-team and, at key points of the year, to the congregation about the financial affairs of St John’s.
James is originally from South Wales but has been a Swindonian for the last 16 years and lives locally with his young family”.
Simon Robertson
Simon is a worship leader and preacher at St John’s. He has been a member of the church for 10 years and has a passion for helping people encounter God and grow in their faith in Jesus and discipleship. He is also a member of the Bristol Diocesan Synod.
Simon works part time for Open Doors, a charity which supports persecuted Christians throughout the world, where he works with Data Quality, statistics and spreadsheets.
For fun, he likes cycling and board-games. Simon is married to Sally and has three grown-up daughters.
Alison Wiltshire
Church Warden, Pastoral Care Team, Homegroup Leader
Having looked for a Church for a while Ali came into Worship at St. John’s Church and instantly knew it was the place for her, she has been a regular Worshipper since April 2019 during a time of bereavement. She was invited to attend an Alpha Course later that year, this instantly transformed her faith from believing in God to wanting a relationship with Him. She went on to help lead a couple of Alpha courses. She became part of a homegroup 2019 that has strengthened her faith.
Ali had her Confirmation in 2021 and became actively involved in the Church Community and became a Homegroup leader late 2022. Being part of the Homegroup, Church Community has given Ali a sense of belonging and purpose.
She has actively supported members of the M S Society (Oxford Branch) and cared for her Mum in the last few years of her life. This has led Ali in being called to serve in the Pastoral Care team in the St John’s Community, including the prayer circle.
Ali has been on the PCC since 2021 and became Church Warden in 2022. Through her strong faith and relationship with God she is part of a team leading both services. She feels it is a great privilege to serve God in these areas.
Heather Vandamme
Head of Sunday School
Heather has been teaching in Sunday School at St John’s since 2013 and in September 2022 took on the voluntary role of Head of Sunday School.
She is passionate about making sure there is provision for children to learn about Jesus having become a Christian at the age of 9 at Spring Harvest.
Heather, along with her dedicated and caring team of Sunday School teachers, is continually looking to make Sunday School fun and relevant for our young people so that they can grow and develop a personal and real faith.
In a country where being a Christian and going to church is less and less common, the Sunday School team and other parents are also looking at ways the church can provide for our Youth (age 11-18 years) so that they can socialise and meet other Christians in the Swindon area. Watch this space…
Brent Maartens
Parish Safeguarding Officer
Brent and his family have been worshipping at St John’s for just under 5 years. He is married and has two boys. He works as a commercial manager for an international construction company which is Swindon based having moved here from London in 2015 due to his work.
Brent was born and raised in South Africa along with his wife who have both been in the UK for over 20 years.
In 2017 he was diagnosed with cancer and after much prayer and faith, he remains clear since 2019. (All praise and glory to our healer, our Lord Jesus Christ). He continues to receive preventative treatment, but is forever grateful for Gods ongoing healing, grace and never-failing love and mercy.
Brent has recently been appointed as the Church Parish Safeguarding Officer for St John’s and feels blessed to be given this opportunity to be able to serve God and His people at St John’s.
Charmain Tan
Hong Kong welcome group leader
Charmain is an “international lady”, she grew up in Hong Kong, went to Canada for high school and finished her Nutrition and Dietetics degree in the States. Reunited with her uni chemistry classmate in Hong Kong and got married there. They have one lovely daughter who got baptized in 2021. The whole family settled in Swindon for ten years now.
Charmain enjoys public speaking, conducting nutrition workshops and volunteering in the local community.
She also likes taking pictures, so don’t be surprised if you see her capturing all beautiful moments of life 💕