New Life is led by Nico & Rashelle Roestorff. They were officially commissioned in December 2021 and took over from George and Chiemene Hauptfleisch who had been looking after the church as interim lead pastors following the retirement of Philip and Kathy Young in September 2020.
They are supported in leadership by the Pastoral Team and the Leadership Team, a group of people who each are passionate about the life of the church and making sure that everyone feels at home and finds their place.
New Life is governed by a Board of Trustees who prayerfully and considerately look after the church on a practical level.
Nico & Rashelle came from their homeland of South Africa in 2021 to join and lead New Life. It was a long-awaited arrival and Pastoral appointment following a memorable journey of a year for us all due to COVID.
They were part of Living Word Bible College in Pretoria, South Africa from 2009-2019 and both have hearts to see God’s Word preached and understood by all. They completed their respective Theological degrees at the South African Theological Seminary in 2019 and have embraced the unknown in order to pursue and grab hold of God’s call on their lives.
Together they lead the church, run a connect group and extend themselves to many other responsibilities that their role requires.
They have a passion for God’s mission to reach all nations with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have done short-term outreaches to Malawi, Uganda, Russia, and Namibia. Their desire is to be involved in God’s ongoing mission all across the globe.
Philip and Kathy Young have been part of the New Life family together for over 45 years (Philip all his life) carrying various roles. They have been on the Pastoral team and had the privilege of leading the church from 2006 to their retirement in 2020.
Philip continues to run his own window cleaning business alongside his church commitments and Kathy is happily retired following her career in the NHS. Both run a Connect Group, Kathy the toddler group plus many other responsibilities involved in church life.
They have 3 grown-up children, 2 delightful grandsons, and 2 delightful granddaughters. Their strong sense of family is something that they value highly and that is very much at the core of who they are as leaders.
Gavin and Hannah Young have been part of the Pastoral Team at New Life since 2018 and part of New Life together for nearly 20 years.
Gavin is Philip and Kathy’s son and a lifelong member of New Life having grown up in the church. Hannah grew up in a small Elim church in Malton, North Yorkshire. They were married in 2002 and have two amazing children who are 4th generation ‘New Lifers’.
Together they lead the worship and media and support lots of other projects and teams in the church in the background (their default favorite position). Their passion is supporting and enabling people and teams to “do what they do best”.
Gavin works in IT locally full time and Hannah works part-time for the church.
Ken & Liz have been active in various roles including children’s work, youth work, hospitality, and music. To date, they lead two Connect groups. Ken is part of worship and media teams, and Liz runs a weekly coffee morning for the retired. Ken and Liz have been members of New Life for over 40 years.
Ken works as a medical rep/clinical support in the East Kent and London Hospitals and Liz provides help and support to church members over 65.
They met at a Christian camp in 1981 and were married in 1987. They have a daughter and a son and four beautiful granddaughters.
They have a passion to see people set free from addiction.
Josh and Jess love to see lives changed by Jesus. Josh is a lifelong member of New Life Family Church.
Josh met Jess at church after she moved to the UK from Malaysia. They are involved with children and youth ministry and are supporting James & Jan with Breakout & Breakout + on a weekly basis (the church’s youth outreach).
Outside of their leadership roles in New Life, Josh and Jess both have full-time jobs. Josh works as an accountant and Jess works as a hospital pharmacist at the local hospital. They see their work as places where they can make a positive impact for God’s kingdom as well as see God move in places and people’s lives outside the church.
They have a passion to see Jesus meet people wherever they find themselves in life.
James & Jan serve in the children & youth groups, overseeing the team for Breakout Sunday, and are team leads for the church’s & youth outreach groups Breakout & Breakout+.
They each started serving in children’s roles in their late teens, gaining invaluable experience through their children’s work. They have been a part of New Life for over 25 years.
They launched their first children’s group at New Life back in 2001 in the Old Plaza, with a fast-paced magazine format, continuing to run this group over the years while taking on additional voluntary roles.
They are passionate about seeing children encounter Jesus and his love for them.
