Who We Are

Erica Dunmow is Chair of Urban Theology Union, Sheffield and Director of the Reclaiming Local Lay Ministry for Mission Project. She began work within the third sector, holding national roles for nearly 20 years. Since 2004 she has held national and local roles in developing mission and new congregations, especially in urban contexts.

Dr Steven van den Heuvel is Director of the Institute of Leadership and Social Ethics at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium, researching for a just and sustainable society. Recent books include Relational Anthropology for Contemporary Economics: A Multidisciplinary Approach (2022), Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope (2020) and Leading in a VUCA World (2018).

Joseph Kyusho-Ford is a pseudonym for someone who has worked in the field of HIV pastoral care for 15 years.

The Revd Dr Keith Elford is Coordinator, Centre for Leadership Learning, and Programme Leader, MA in Christian Approaches to Leadership at Sarum College. His doctoral research project focused on the relationship between ecclesiology and organisational theory.

Dr Megan Seneque is an experienced facilitator in transformational change and leadership. She is working with the Methodist Church’s Discipleship and Ministries Learning Network exploring what it means to build communities of practice and to effect systemic change.

Dr Tim Harle lives at the interface of business and faith. He has worked at senior levels in a range of organisations, as well as working in Whitehall. He was Programme Leader for Sarum College’s MA in Christian Approaches to Leadership, and a Visiting Fellow at Bristol Business School.

The Revd Ermal Kirby joined the Susanna Wesley Foundation as a part-time Research Officer in January 2016. Now an Associate of SWF, his main research focus examines Cultural Diversity and Methodist Circuit Ministry.

Dr Kathryn Kissell is a Counselling Psychologist who engages with the intersection of psychology and ministerial practice. We have collaborated with Kathryn to produce the ‘Flourishing Ministers, Flourishing Communities‘ resource.

Dr Nick Mayhew-Smith is a writer and researcher specialising in the impact that religious activity and ideas have on culture and commerce, on heritage, and on the environment. His research and publication topics have included environmental theology, faith-based businesses and enterprises, and the ongoing legacy of religious activity in the British landscape. He is Head of Whitelands College at the University of Roehampton.

Dr Lia Dong Shimada joined the Susanna Wesley Foundation as Research Associate in November 2015. She became Senior Research Officer involved in developing the Foundation’s research portfolio, with an emphasis on diversity in leadership and ministry, a role she continued until 2024.

Her project outputs included editing the book ‘Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration and Community‘ (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020), and the project ‘Death, Dying and the Afterlife‘, in collaboration with Theos Thinktank.

The Revd Mark Wakelin is a Methodist Minister in the Sutton Circuit at Epsom Methodist Church. He has served the Church in various ways: as President of the Methodist Conference, Connexional Secretary for Internal Relationships, Director of the Guy Chester Centre, National Secretary for the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs, and Circuit Minister in Stockport and Lincoln.

The Revd Tim Bradshaw is now a Supernumerary Methodist Minister having worked full-time for 44 years.

The Revd Andrew Dunlop is an Anglican minister who is currently Tutor in Context-Based Training and Pioneering at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Andrew is interested in new forms of church, fresh expressions, and pioneering.

Cristina Gangemi is studying for a DTh which seeks to explore theology, in theory and practice, through the lens and story of disability.

Sally Rush is a Community Worker with Younger Adults at Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission and is also a Methodist Lay Preacher.