Chris Stonock

Leadership Development, Identification and use of Gifts

Chris was born in Sunderland and now lives in Durham. He has been married to Carol for 32 years and they have 2 children. Chris joined Bethany over 20 years ago principally because it was a great place for kids to go and they wanted a church where their children looked forward to going. Having helped with Alpha and communications Chris is now part of the team helping people to get involved in the work of the church and supporting the local community. Chris likes to watch Cricket , Rugby, Football and is also a very bad Golfer.

David Gordon

Mission and Evangelism

David Keith

Discipleship, Spiritual Growth and Prayer

David joined Bethany in 2001 , with his wife, Julia , and two children, after moving to area from Edinburgh. . He was born in Aberdeen, and became a member of a local church in 1981. He has been involved in many areas of christian service since then. He is committed to helping christian's grow in spiritual maturity.

David Vardy

Leadership Team Chairman

David has been associated with Bethany from his youngest days. Brought along by his parents as a child he has been involved in many church activities throughout his life. He was part of the leadership which brought Dr Billy Graham to Sunderland in 1984 and Canon J John to Gateshead and Stockton in 2009. He joined the pioneer team to plant Bethany City Church in Sunderland in October 2004. He has returned to Bethany Christian Centre to support the Leadership Team during the search for a new Pastor. He has been married to Rosemary for 43 years – they have three married children and 5 grandchildren.

David Wallace

Member, Care and Welcome

Born in Hartlepool 1956 and married Pauline in 1981. 2 children Rachel born 1992 now at Newcastle University studying Zoology and Peter born 1995 about to start 6th Form College.He began worshiping at Bethany in 2001 and has been part of the leadership team since 2009 although he led the prayer ministry team for 5 years prior to that. David is passionate about Bethany being a place where people truly meet God and allow their lives to be transformed. 

George Barber

Leadership Development, Identification and use of Gifts

"George is one of Bethany’s more recent converts and has joined the leadership team bringing with him 36 years of experience from the Fire Service where he has been closely involved in developing people for promotion. Now active in Leadership Development and helping people identify their spiritual gifts, George is passionate about everyone in the church recognising some gift or ability that can be used in serving the Lord."

George Munro

Discipleship, Spiritual Growth and Prayer

George has been a member of Bethany since 1977. He has retired after working as a General Practitioner in Durham for over 34 years. He has served as part of the leadership team for many years and also works with the Spiritual Growth and Prayer team. He is passionate about encouraging and helping people mature spiritually by small groups and other means. He serves locally as a member of Gideons International helping distribute Bibles and New Testaments. He has been married to Irene for 42 years,having 3 sons and 3 grandchildren.

Ian Blair

Centre Manager

Born and brought up in Houghton all his life, Ian has been around Bethany for the last 29 years. Taking up the demanding role of Centre Manager in 1999, his job is to ensure 'stuff gets done'. He's married to Ruth who helps to keep him sane!

Mary Vardy

Member, Care and Welcome

Mary has been associated with Bethany since being brought here as a child. She worked as a nurse and midwife in Newcastle, Durham and Scotland and subsequently had other business interests. She has been involved with pastoral care for many years, particularly care for the elderly. She is passionate that Bethany should be a church where we care for one another.

Oliver Hills

Mission and Evangelism

Oliver became a Christian at university and has been a member of Bethany Christian Centre for nearly 20 years. He is married to Joanne and they have 2 children. Oliver works with the MISSION & EVANGELISM TEAM. He is keen to encourage participation in, and support for, mission work both locally and abroad.

Stephen Anderson

Finance and Administration

Stephen has been married to Gwynneth for 33 years and they have two grown up children and four grand children. Stephen has been a member of Bethany for over 25 years, but has had an association going back 40 years, when he was part of the Hendon & Houghton Youth Group. Having worked for most of his working life in the banking industry, Stephen had to take early retirement for health reasons, but spends quite a bit of time working on the church’s finances and staff administration. He has been part of the leadership team at Bethany since 1996 and has seen God’s tremendous blessing on the church’s work during that time. Sport is unfortunately a no go area, but he enjoys watching anything that involves a ball or moves, especially if it has an engine attached to it.