Andrew Foster
Trustee with oversight of Outreach and Mission
Andrew has been at Whitley Bay Baptist Church since October 2015 and on CLT for just over 2 years. He plays in the worship band and is one of the WBBC representatives on the local churches together group. He is passionate about seeing the church making a difference in the community, is a member of the Whitley Bay Fiesta organising committee and leads a weekly group at the Big Local called Men’s Pie Club which was established to address issues of men’s mental health and loneliness.
Andrew is married to Andrea and has two grown up children. He loves live music, the cinema, reading and watching cricket & rugby league
Lynne Gradwell
Trustee with oversight of Church Life
Lynne is the Church Life Coordinator and loves to support and enable our church groups.
She is married to Eric and they have two children and four grandchildren. Lynne enjoys playing the flute in the worship band, walking and making patchwork quilts.
Jo Harries
Trustee with oversight of Children and Young People
Jo has attended Whitley Bay Baptist Church since 2011 and joined the leadership team in 2018. She enjoys working with children, teaching them and exploring our faith with them as one of the coordinators in our children’s Sunday morning programme and coordinator of our Open the Book team going into local first and primary schools to present accounts from the Bible in assemblies. She enjoys being part of the team planning all age services and is keen that everyone can get involved in these.
During the week she works as a performance manager within education in a local authority and is quite at home spending hours in front of a spreadsheet! She is married to Iwan. She likes to spend her free time walking, reading and
during lockdown took up running.
Joel Mercer
Team Leader and Trustee with oversight of Worship and Prayer
Joel joined Whitley Bay Baptist Church in September 2021 and is passionate about equipping the church for God’s purposes. He believes in the power of Jesus to transform lives, situations and communities.
Joel is married to Vicki, and they have two children. Joel is a Chelsea fan and usually spends his downtime gaming, reading or enjoying the beach.
Crispian Oates
Trustee with oversight of Discipleship
Crispian is a Londoner but has lived in the North East for over 40 years and has been a member of Whitley Bay Baptist Church since 1996. He is married to Marion and has 4 children and 4 grandchildren.
Crispian longs to see people of all ages coming to know Jesus and experiencing the change he can make in someone’s life. He loves the family atmosphere we have in church. Painting, gardening and playing the cello are just some of the things he enjoys doing in retirement.
Katherine Raine
Trustee with oversight of Fellowship and Family
Katherine has been a member of WBBC since 2006. She has been involved in the children’s work at church for many years, Katherine loves to share her faith with the young people and is keen to encourage people to use their gifts and become part of our church family.
Katherine is married to John and has two teenage boys. She is a primary school teacher and loves to run, knit, play the violin and go out on her paddle board – not usually at the same time!
Helen Sayer
Trustee with oversight of Pastoral Care
Helen is proud to be an adopted Geordie and, even after 20 years, still can’t quite believe how fortunate she is to live by the seaside. She is the proud survivor of a childhood spent in the manse and became a Christian as a teenager. She’s a been a member of WBBC for 20 years, and is passionate about making sure our church is a welcoming place for everyone.
Helen is a news junkie, passionate about 70s disco music, and is never happier than when she has her nose in a book.
