Sue Miller
Director
Biography
Sue Miller is the Director of the Susanna Wesley Foundation.
Sue’s work for the Foundation involves exploring connections, building relationships, identifying research and learning needs, and capitalising on people’s interests and strengths in order to build a community of scholars and a set of SWF research involvements. Sue came to this role from a post in the Methodist Church, and, before that, from academia where she was a Principal Lecturer in a Business School.
Christopher Stephens
Reader and
Head of Southlands College
Biography
Dr Christopher Stephens is the Head of Southlands College and Reader at the University of Roehampton.
After a number of years leading the research department of the Methodist Church in Britain, he moved to Roehampton, where he teaches Theology and has pursued research interests in ecclesiastical history and the development of contemporary faith communities and religious institutions.
He publications include Canon Law and Episcopal Authority (OUP, 2015), contributions to the Brill Encyclopaedia of Early Christianity (2018), research articles with Lia Shimada which explore human diversity and organisational development (Atlas of World Religions (Springer, 2014), Mediation Theory and Practice (2016), International Perspectives on Equality and Diversity (2021)), and – with Sue Miller – the development of resources to enable chaplains to measure and articulate the impact of their work (first and second article in Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling, 2024).
His current research includes further work in Practical Theology and his book ‘The Light of Day’, a popular historical account of an early homosexual law reform pioneer, is due for publication by Headline in 2025.
Emma Pavey
Creative Communications Manager
Biography
Dr Emma Pavey joined the Susanna Wesley Foundation in October 2017. Her work includes academic research, graphic design, curating the website and social media channels, editing and designing resources, and producing and hosting the SWF podcast.
Erica Dunmow
Research Associate
Biography
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.
Steven van den Heuvel
Research Associate
Biography
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
Research Associate
Biography
Joseph Kyusho-Ford is a pseudonym for someone who has worked in the field of HIV pastoral care for 15 years.
Anthony Thorpe
Research Associate
Biography
Dr Anthony Thorpe is a researcher, author and lecturer in leadership and management who previously worked in the school and further education sectors. His research interests include leadership and management in education and other contexts, organisational theory, human resource management and the links to social justice as well as the interplay of theology and leadership studies. He draws on the insights of critical realism to explore and question aspects of leadership and management in the wider context of society and philosophy.
Keith Elford
Honorary Fellow
Biography
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.
Megan Seneque
Honorary Fellow
Biography
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.
Tim Harle
Associate
Biography
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.
Ermal Kirby
Associate
Biography
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.
Kathryn Kissell
Associate
Biography
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.
Nick Mayhew-Smith
Associate
Biography
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.
Lia Dong Shimada
Associate
Biography
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.
Mark Wakelin
Associate
Biography
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.
Tim Bradshaw
DTh student
Biography
The Revd Tim Bradshaw is now a Supernumerary Methodist Minister having worked full-time for 44 years.
Andrew Dunlop
PhD student
Biography
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.
Ollie Eliott
DTh student
Biography
Cristina Gangemi
DTh student
Biography
Cristina Gangemi is studying for a DTh which seeks to explore theology, in theory and practice, through the lens and story of disability.
Dave Hill
DTh student
Biography
Sally Rush
DTh student
Biography
Sally Rush is a Community Worker with Younger Adults at Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission and is also a Methodist Lay Preacher.