regional ministry team

The Central Baptist Association is served by a team of Regional Ministers and by our BMS World Mission Co-ordinator. Click on their names to find out more about each member of the team

association officers

Additionally, the Central Baptist Association Council is served by our:

council members

Geoff Colmer

Revd Geoff Colmer has been a Baptist Minister since 1990. In what seems like a former life, Geoff was a professional musician playing bassoon in the English Northern Philharmonia, the orchestra of Opera North. After ministerial training at Spurgeon’s Theological College, he served at churches in Rye and Melton Mowbray before coming to the post of Regional Minister and Team Leader in the Central Baptist Association in July 2004.

Geoff continues to play the bassoon for pleasure and is now performing again. He is married to Cazz, a primary school teacher, and they have two teenage sons, Jonathan and Andrew. They live in Milton Keynes, which they agree is ‘the world’s best new city’

Top of page

Helen Wordsworth

Helen was born and brought up in Bromley, Kent, and baptised at the Park Road church at the age of 13. Her background is in nursing, midwifery, health visiting and nurse teaching.  She met her husband Rob, an Engineer, while serving with Tear Fund in Ethiopia and they have two grown up children. 

Helen followed a call into church leadership and ministry following their move to Dunchurch, near Rugby, training with Spurgeon's College and serving with Dunchurch Baptist Church and Coventry District Churches. She was then called to pioneer the Baptist Training Partnership/Church Army training course in evangelism and church planting in the North West and Midlands, and followed that with nearly five years as General Mission Consultant for what is now the Heart of England Baptist Association.

Helen was appointed Regional Minister/ Mission Enabler with the Central Baptist Association from 1st January 2002. Helen also plays a key role in the development of Parish Nursing. Parish Nursing

Top of page

Stephen Copson

Born and brought up in Northamptonshire, His first experience of work was in export sales and marketing. Ministerial formation at Bristol Baptist College and Bristol University was followed by postgraduate research in Baptist church history at Regent's Park College, Oxford.  He is Secretary of the Baptist Historical Society).

In 1986 Stephen became minister of Six Ways Baptist church in Erdington, Birmingham—a diverse area with a richness of different cultures and faiths—leaving in 1997 to take up the post of Secretary of the Hertfordshire Baptist Association. From January 1st, 2002 he has been working as General and Company Secretary of the Central Baptist Association.

Top of page

Colin Pye

Colin grew up on the edge of North London in High Barnet, he spent a year as a Voluntary Evangelist  with the London City Mission,  before pursuing a theology degree at London Bible College. Several Years of hard graft in a Rock Band or two followed, which he describes as a ‘colourful time’, which included the experiences of main stage Greenbelt as well as a national tour supporting Phil Lynott  of Thin Lizzy.

Marriage to Annette and poverty brought Colin down to earth and a short stint as a youth worker and van driver were followed by 8 years as Pastor of a small estate church in Northolt, West London.

Continuing with his passion for music, Colin somehow managed to fit playing with a band called REDSUN alongside full time ministry. The band was very involved with the Christmas Cracker Youth project, particularly because of  its focus on world issues. Colin moved to Little Kingshill Baptist church in 1995, where he has ministered ever since. He was soon asked to be Bucks Association secretary, and this in turn has led to his current role within the Central association. He continues to enjoy writing and performing music. His CD entitled WIDE, containing 17 original songs, a number of which are tried and tested children’s anthems, is still available from him, priced £7.

Top of page

John Smith

 
John grew up in south London and worked for twelve years as an HR manager before training at the London School of Theology.  He pastored churches at Minchinhampton in  Gloucestershire and Lowestoft in Suffolk, and then joining BMS World Mission in early 1999.  John is married to Karen, a local authority literacy consultant, and they have two grown up children.

We share John as our BMS Area Co-ordinator with the Eastern Baptist Association, which means his 'patch' stretches from Felixstowe to Daventry and from Sheringham to High Wycombe!  Although employed by BMS, John spends almost all his time serving the churches, helping to encourage them to engage in world mission.

John and Karen lives in Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire. In his spare time he is passionate about the use of new technology and is the webmaster for various sites including this one!