Our people
Meet our international community of people in mission, our trustees, patron and senior leadership.
Meet our people in mission
Mission partners, local partners and mission associates form an international community of people in mission, following Jesus to the edges so that more people can experience their world made new.
Marcio Ciechanovicz and Noemi Celeti, Brazil
Connecting with people beyond the reach of traditional church, sharing the gospel in new ways and ministering to people’s physical needs.
Helen Avadiar-Nimbalker, Thailand
Advocating against human trafficking and counselling victims, walking alongside women as they leave the sex industry and start a new life.
Chris and Suzy Wilson, Ethiopia
Working in reconciliation and peacebuilding with local Christian leaders.
Senior leadership team
Andy Roberts
CEO
Originally from York, Andy has spent almost half his life in Brazil, where as mission partners with SAMS and then CMS, he and his Brazilian wife Rose have galvanised their concern for children at risk into several pioneering mission ventures.
In 2012, following an unforgettable encounter with three girls on the streets of Olinda who were being sold for sex by their mother, Andy and Rose founded ReVive International. ReVive provides for the physical, psychological and spiritual needs of girls who have been traumatised by abuse, exploitation or neglect. Together with their colleagues Andy and Rose have helped restore life and hope for dozens of girls. They have also recently been instrumental in lobbying for increasing foster care and adoption possibilities in Brazil.
In 2021 Andy was awarded an MBE for his work with vulnerable children in Brazil. At just 35, he was one of the younger people to receive this honour. The same year he became mission director for Church Mission Society.
Debbie James
Deputy CEO, people and learning director
As deputy CEO and director of people and learning Debbie is passionate about cultivating an environment that inspires, equips, supports and sustains people for mission at the edges and in which a culture of learning is embedded across CMS.
Debbie joined Church Mission Society in 2001 as Encounter teams coordinator, taking on the development of short-term mission team experiences and leading team visits in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Since then she has taken on various management roles that have used the cross-cultural skills she learned in her earlier career in the context of local and global mission and she was instrumental in CMS taking.
Before CMS, Debbie trained and taught as a TEFL teacher in Moscow and the UK, and as a secondary school English teacher. She has long been involved in pioneering youth work and is an active member of her local parish church.
She studied for her BA and PGCE at Cardiff and Swansea universities and later pursued theological education, holding an MA in theology, politics and faith-based organisations from Kings College London.
Debbie relaxes by spending time with her husband and daughters, and particularly enjoys outdoor activities.
Jonny Baker
Britain Hub mission director
Jonny is passionate about contextual and global mission and the particular edge he brings is the imaginative connection of the gospel to contemporary culture.
He is a creative communicator. He particularly connects with pioneers, leaders who have the gift of not fitting in as they are called by God to new forms of mission and ministry often beyond the edges of the church.
Jonny has worked for Church Mission Society since 2004 believing that cross cultural mission is a goldmine for ministry in our own contexts now.
The main focus of his work in the last few years has been setting up and leading the innovative Pioneer Mission Leadership Training. This has been very exciting with all sorts of creative pioneers engaging with it who are starting new mission projects.
His role as director of mission education saw him broaden the remit to get involved in the strategic leadership of CMS and to enable learning to be integrated across the whole of CMS – community, mission partners, pioneers and so on.
See churchmissionsociety.org/pioneer, about.me/jonnybaker for more info.
Becky Morris
Finance and corporate services director
Becky joined CMS in March 2022 as finance and corporate services director. She has a background in charity finance, having worked for Oxfam, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Church of England in Oxford Diocese.
She has also volunteered as a treasurer and trustee for a number of smaller charities, including her church PCC.
Becky is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified while working for Ernst & Young. After qualifying she continued her accounting studies and was awarded the Diploma in Charity Accounting from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Becky has a great love of history, having studied history at Oxford University before moving into finance. She also enjoys singing with her church music group and hill walking with her husband and two daughters.
Laura Hayes
Fundraising and communications director
Laura has been a fundraising and communications leader in Christian ministry for over 12 years, previously with Mission to Seafarers and Release International. She is passionate about championing supporters, digital engagement and pioneering for Christ.
“Jesus is the hope of the world and I am committed to bringing the good news to those who are living at the edges of societies.”
Laura has undertaken mission and ministry in diverse communities including Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Germany and Egypt.
She is an Anglican and lives on the south Kent coast in Romney Marsh which is part of Canterbury Diocese. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and has a degree from Sheffield University.
In her spare time, she enjoys poetry, walking her dogs and cooking. She is married with a grown-up son.
Trustees
Rev Jeremy Moodey
Chair of trustees
Jeremy, an ordained minister in the Church of England, brings extensive experience as a Christian charity CEO to the role of CMS chair of trustees, a position he took up on 1 April 2025.
Jeremy also spent 10 years in the UK Diplomatic Service, serving in Pakistan and Italy, and 15 years as a City investment banker, working for most of that time with Rothschild.
Jeremy says: “I first came across CMS back in the 1980s, while working in Pakistan, meeting amazing people like Dr Ruth Coggan (daughter of Archbishop Donald Coggan), who ministered at the Pennell Memorial Hospital in Bannu, in what was then the North-West Frontier Province. The pastor in the church in Islamabad where I worshipped was also a CMS mission partner. The witness even then was very much ‘at the edges’, so I am delighted to be re-engaging with CMS so many years later as a trustee, and in due course as chair of trustees.”
Jeremy moved from the City into the Christian charity sector in 2009, serving first as CEO of BibleLands, a Christian development charity focused on the Middle East and established in 1854. He led its successful rebranding as Embrace the Middle East in 2012 and had the opportunity of working with some of CMS’s partners in the region. In 2017 Jeremy moved to become CEO of Sons & Friends of the Clergy, an Anglican clergy benevolent charity founded in 1655. This too he led through a successful and award-winning rebranding, as the charity became Clergy Support Trust in 2019. In both cases the re-brands were accompanied by major constitutional and strategic changes.
In 2021, after retiring from full-time work, Jeremy was ordained into the Church of England. He currently serves as a self-supporting and part-time assistant minister at St Mary’s Church in Chesham in the Diocese of Oxford. He also sits on the General Synod of the Church of England, and as trustee-treasurer of Trinity College Bristol, an Anglican theological training college.
Dr Anne Keene
Dr Anne Keene is retired from being Director of Development and Fellow at Linacre College, University of Oxford.
Having worked with alumni from over 130 countries, and having seen substantial fund-giving income while in post, she’s now Emeritus Fellow of this graduate college, and still involved with its community. Anne’s professional background is in modern language teaching, historical research, and higher education management and philanthropy. One of her great pleasures is speaking foreign languages; she has a degree in French and German, and is currently reviving her schoolgirl Spanish. Anne is also trustee of the Oxford Evangelical Pastorate, and delights in seeing God work through CMS and OEP, transforming individual lives.
Anne and her husband David, who have a son and a daughter and a grandson and a granddaughter, attend St Andrew’s Church in North Oxford, where she has served on the church’s PCC and also chaired its stewardship committee.
Anne says: “My interest in being a CMS trustee comes from a combination of my long-held deep desire to see changed lives for Jesus, and my professional work which involved liaison and meetings with a wide range of nationalities.”
Catherine Morgan Hickey
Catherine brings 30 years’ experience in mission and development. She has served as a mission partner in Asia and worked with faith-based organisations and churches, internationally and in the UK.
After starting off in NHS management, Catherine worked with the aid agency CAFOD before becoming an Interserve mission partner. She served for 10 years in Nepal, followed by a year in India and then Cyprus, with her husband Martin and their two children. Her integral mission experience in Nepal led to a role with Tearfund developing church and community mobilisation across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Since returning to the UK Catherine has gained an MA in Development with Mission, worked with the Methodist Church, the ecumenical network HeartEdge and freelance. The common thread, overseas and in the UK, has been supporting churches in their missional and community engagement.
Catherine lives in Finsbury Park, London, where she has belonged to multicultural Anglican churches for over 30 years. Having encountered CMS internationally and in Britain she is delighted to serve as a trustee, supporting the CMS call to be with Jesus and with people at the edges.
Chloe Louter
Chloe works as a diplomat for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and has served overseas in Sudan, Jordan and Belgium, as well as in London.
An active member of a church community wherever she goes, Chloe has worshipped alongside Christians in a range of cultural settings, and some in very difficult circumstances.
Through her work she has grown in understanding of the global context, including politics, development and human rights, and has experience in policy, programming, leadership and management.
Chloe was brought up in the Anglican Church, and made a commitment to faith as a teenager. She first encountered CMS when studying mission as a theology student, and has been a supporter ever since.
Chloe lives in Brussels with her husband Koen and baby daughter. She enjoys running, swimming and practicing her Arabic language skills.
She is delighted to serve as a co-opted trustee for CMS, with its legacy of pioneering new and creative approaches to mission and what that looks like in today’s world.
Dupe Adefala
Dupe Adefala is a believer in Jesus Christ by God’s grace. She is a Chevening Scholar with focus on women in leadership. She trained and worked as a professional accountant in Nigeria for two decades before relocating to the UK with her family in 1998 as a Highly Skilled Migrant Worker with a global manufacturing company as project accountant. She worked in various world class organisations in senior accounting roles in the UK while serving as pioneering minister of the gospel.
Dupe studied for an Advanced Diploma in Biblical and Theological Studies (ADBTS) at Regents College (Oxford University) in 2007 and MA in Pioneering Mission at Church Mission Society (CMS) accredited by University of Durham in 2019. She was the Head of Religious Affairs and Diversity Champion in an immigration detention centre for about 10 years followed by Managing Chaplain in a Category B male prison in the UK for over five years.
She serves as the Pioneering Pastor at Word Fountain Christian Ministries (UK), a church and registered charity that was planted in Oxford with her family and two other families in 2002. She also serves on the Global Executive Committee of International Ministers Fellowship (IMF) overseeing the Directorate of Youth and Next Generation with her husband.
She has a great passion for leadership, family, next generation and community action. Her favourite scripture is: “Not slothful in business, fervent in the Spirit; serving the Lord!” (Romans 12:11).
By God’s grace, she has authored a book, The Mystery of Marriage. She is married to Elder Bode Adefala and blessed with adult children, all of whom love and serve the Lord.
Fiona Lambert
Fiona is the Strategic and Partnerships Lead at Restore Hope, a UK Christian charity based in the Chilterns which gets alongside local families when they need a bit of extra support.
Prior to this, she has spent almost 15 years in the Christian International Development sector, primarily with a focus on fundraising. Her experience includes her time working at Tearfund, being part of the Ministry Fundraising Network and being part of the leadership team of The Justice Conference.
Having had the opportunity to travel from a young age and witnessing the impact of mission in various forms, Fiona says: “when people gain an understanding of their identity in Christ, when they start to start to grasp how much God loves them, not only does it give glory to God, but it also provides fresh hope and perspective on whatever life circumstance they may be facing.”
Fiona is married to Nathan and they have 3 children with another one on the way. They are active members of The King’s Church Chesham.
John Stansfeld
John is a chartered engineer with HR, business and regional experience from an international technical and business services organisation. He has been involved in church leadership throughout his career.
John served at director level for 20 years in the areas of strategy, human resources, business leadership, as well as regional responsibilities for the Americas and Asia.
“I have been a Christian since my teenage years and have always been involved in our home church, whether on the PCC, as churchwarden, leading a house group, as a church elder, helping start a Besom initiative or being a part of a world mission group. Throughout I have taken a keen interest in supporting mission.”
John lived and worked overseas for 14 years in Canada, USA and Hong Kong. He is married, has four grown-up children and seven grandchildren.
Jonathan Smith
Jonathan is a qualified accountant with over 25 years’ experience working in public sector finance and currently works in Westminster, as the Head of Finance at the House of Lords.
Brought up in Birmingham he has relocated to Stratford upon Avon as he loves the area and can be nearer to friends and family. He has been involved with several charities in grant making, the arts, development, faith and justice areas for over 20 years as a trustee, treasurer or chair.
As well as being a finance professional he has an MBA and is a member of the Chartered Management Institute. Over the years he has been active in the local church, including being on the leadership team, leading services and preaching. He is also a Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute.
To relax he enjoys the arts as well as watching local non-league football, rugby (both codes!) and can often be found out and about walking and cycling.
Rt Rev Nick Drayson
Since retiring as a CMS mission partner in 2023 I have been serving part-time as priest-in-charge of Castel parish church in Guernsey.
I was co-opted to serve as a trustee at the end of 2024, following an invitation to continue my involvement with CMS after several years overseas.
As a teenager my childhood faith came into sharper focus and I sensed a call to serve God in Latin America.
In 1975 I was sent to Northern Argentina by SAMS (the South American Mission Society), initially as a Bible translator, working with the Chorote people, in whose language the New Testament was finally published in 1997.
After 25 eventful years with SAMS (which included the South Atlantic Conflict, ordination, marriage and starting a family with Catherine, and nine years doing church-planting in Sevilla), I returned to UK as associate vicar of Beverley Minster, where I was responsible for starting a local Fresh Expression of church alongside other pastoral duties.
In 2009, following the merger of SAMS with CMS, I was appointed Bishop of Northern Argentina, a role from which I retired in 2023. It has been a privilege to work more widely in Latin America, and worldwide, (especially most recently as Primate), championing several causes including intentional discipleship, indigenous rights and creation care.
I greatly value the creativity and boldness of CMS in seeking to reach to the edges of world mission, and also their ability to respond adequately to the administrative challenges necessary at this time. May we be like the “men of Issachar” who “knew the right time to do what needed to be done” (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Oluwaseyi Kehinde-Peters
Oluwaseyi is a business strategist, social entrepreneur and leadership educator, passionate about equipping others to unlock their potential and create lasting change. With a background that bridges faith, innovation, and enterprise, she approaches mission through the lens of economic dignity and opportunity – particularly for women and young people.
Her early career began in HR and strategy roles across a range of sectors – from aviation and energy to consulting and financial services. Over two decades, she has worked at the intersection of business and social impact, leading initiatives that champion inclusion, economic empowerment and transformation.
In 2020, Oluwaseyi founded the Pan African Women Empowerment Network (PAWEN), a social enterprise supporting women to lead and succeed in business and work. Since then, PAWEN has directly empowered over 4,500 women across 39 countries. She also founded TechUp Africa, a non-profit that equips young Africans with the skills and confidence to thrive in technology. Together, these platforms have empowered over 10,000 women and young people to maximize their potential.
Oluwaseyi says: “I believe economic empowerment is a powerful tool for restoring dignity and unlocking God-given potential—especially among women and young people. That belief has shaped my journey and continues to guide the work I do.”
Oluwaseyi serves on the board of The Emmanuel’s Table, a charity inspired by the Gospel’s call to care for those in need. The organisation provides business grants and tuition scholarships, supporting students and women to pursue education and sustainable livelihoods. She has served as a mentor with the UK Government’s Help-to-Grow initiative, Lloyds Bank School of Social Entrepreneurs, and Nottingham Trent University’s Black Leadership Programme. Oluwaseyi holds a BSc in Accounting from the University of Lagos, an MBA from the University of Bradford, and an MSc in Fintech and Financial Markets from Nottingham Trent University, graduating with distinction. She is also certified in areas spanning social impact strategy, entrepreneurship, leadership, sustainability, and HR.
Married with children, Oluwaseyi worships with the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nottingham, and also serves as a Community Group leader with The Covenant Nation, a global church with expressions in Nigeria, Canada, and the UK.
Rev Dr Richard Moy
Richard is National Director of SOMA UK, a small Anglican mission agency training leaders around the Anglican World.
Ruth Whitaker
Ruth Whitaker brings experience from the Christian charity sector having served with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) as CEO for 16 years. In this role she led the UK team mobilising resource for the international operations, serving isolated and remote communities.
Ruth moved to the Christian charity sector having gained organisational, commercial and business experience from nearly 20 years in the aerospace engineering sector, working for BAESYSTEMS and Airbus.
Ruth is passionate to see people engaged in mission, encouraged to give with joy, and people enabled to follow their calling into service.
She says, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the CMS board at this time as the new strategy is being implemented and am greatly motivated by the vision to ‘follow Jesus to the edges’.
Rev Sarah Jayne Hewitt
Sarah Jayne Hewitt (SJ) is an Ordained Pioneer Minister in Worcestershire, sharing in the ministry of a group of Churches in Redditch.
Between 2001 and 2013 SJ ran GiveUsTheFish, a fundraising consultancy working with charitable organisations and social enterprises, to fund their work. SJ has been a student at CMS since 2015 completing the Certificate and Diploma courses and is currently studying the DTh in Christian-led social enterprise with CMS and Roehampton University. SJ is married to Neil and between them they have five children and five grand-children. SJ is passionate about the work CMS does both in training and equipping pioneers and their mission work in other countries and feels using her knowledge and experience as a trustee for CMS is a part of her ministry.
Tunji Iyiola
Tunji first connected with the work of CMS through historical lessons about the missionary work of Bishop Ajayi Crowther via the platform of Church Mission Society, and was inspired by their commitment to bringing the hope of Christ to the edges. He says, “What excites me about CMS is the focus on making disciples at the edges, which is not where most people want to go. I count it a privilege to serve as trustee.”
A Fellow Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years’ experience, Tunji has held senior leadership roles in finance, governance and operations. He now works with a team to drive the church planting and mission efforts of The Elevation Church UK, ensuring strong governance and sustainable growth. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer of The Elevation Church, directing budgets across three continents and establishing shared services that strengthened mission impact. His earlier career includes senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank and KPMG and professional training at Arthur Andersen.
Alongside his executive responsibilities, Tunji is an ordained pastor at The Elevation Church and serves as resident pastor of the Church in London. He also serves on the boards of Mission Enablers Africa, Pistis Empowerment Foundation and Ebbsfleet Community Board, and is part of the faculty at Pistis Life and Leadership Institute. He is motivated by the opportunity to align financial wisdom with kingdom purpose, building sustainable structures that help the church and mission partners to flourish.
Tunji is married to Oluwakemi, and they are proud parents of two amazing young adults.
Keep exploring…
Our story
A community 220+ years in the making
Our work
What do we mean by “the edges”?
Our impact
Stories of change, focus areas, annual reports – all made possible by generous givers
