Leadership Team
 Mike Willis is the pastor of New Life and he and his wife Karen lead the church and are part of the leadership team.
Mike and Karen moved to Morpeth from Derby in 1991 when they became members of New Life. Originally Mike trained as an accountant, qualifying in 1986 and becoming the senior site accountant at Boots Pharmaceuticals. In 1996 God called Mike out of full-time accountancy to set up what was later to become the Mustard Tree Trust which is a schools and youth work charity in the local area. In September 2006 Mike and Karen, along with Steve and Heather and John McKale, took on the leadership of New Life. This marked a huge change in Mike’s ministry and in September 2008 Mike left the Mustard Tree Trust to become the pastor of New Life. Karen is a full-time artist. One of the finest painters in Northumberland, Karen was featured on Songs of Praise in January 2009. She regularly has exhibitions around the country, both locally and further afield, in such places as Edinburgh. You can see some of her work on her website. Mike and Karen have two grown-up children, Paul and Chris. Paul has now left home and Chris is going to study art in Newcastle in September 2010.  Mike and Karen are closely supported by Steve and Heather Belleguelle who are the youth leaders and Heather is part of the leadership team.
Steve and Heather Belleguelle moved to Northumberland from Nottingham in 1998 after God clearly called them to come and be part of New Life. Prior to that they were members of The Christian Centre, Nottingham, where they had both completed a part-time leadership course and were co-leaders of the church’s discipleship training program. In 2003 Steve became an elder at New Life, Heather became the church administrator and they began to lead the youth group. They both had to lay down these roles in 2005 though when God took them to Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada for a year. There they had the opportunity to serve in the church in many areas and learn a lot from the senior pastor and his wife about leading a church. In summer 2006 they returned home to Morpeth and in the September took on the leadership of the church alongside Mike and Karen. They still continue to work with Mike and Karen, supporting them in many different ways. Steve’s main public gift is teaching and Heather is again in the role of church administrator. They also continue to lead the youth group. Steve has a degree in electrical and electronic engineering but has spent the majority of his working life as a computer software developer. Following redundancy in May 2009 Steve, along with Heather, launched his own company, Behest Computer Services. He now spends his time visiting people in their homes to fix their computers and help them with all kinds of computer related issues. In his spare time Steve enjoys reading, messing around with computers and watching superhero shows.
Heather has a degree in French and Russian and started her working life as a school library assistant. In 2001, when the Mustard Tree Trust was born, she was one of the initial trustees and the administrator. In her spare time Heather enjoys researching her family history, reading and trivia quizzes.  John McKale, as a father to the church, provides wisdom and pastoral oversight to the leadership team.
TrusteesMike Willis and Heather Belleguelle are also both trustees of the church and with them, working closely alongside the leadership team, are Graham Powell and John Moore who make up the rest of the board of trustees.
John is a farmer living and working near Longhorsley, Morpeth. John and his wife Anne have been active Christians in the Northumberland area for many years. They are both a tremendous blessing to New Life. John and Anne are both very mission-minded and John has been to India on a number of occasions. Anne has a real passion for missions and for prayer. Graham is now retired but is an amazing asset to New Life. He has great practical skills and, with a dedicated group of people, maintains the church building, in fact, undertaking many of the practical jobs to enhance the building for use in the 21st century. Graham is married to Barbara who is also very active in the church, producing the monthly news bulletin, working in the crèche and using her wonderful creative skills in many ways. |
The Church Leaders |