Meet the team at Christ Church
Christ Church in Swindon is a Church of England Parish within the Swindon Deanery of the Diocese of Bristol. We serve just under
15,000 people as well as 6 schools and numerous residential care homes. The church is also a long time
member of the Swindon Old Town Partnership of Churches.
At Christ Church, our team members have a number of specialist areas of responsibility within the Parish and you can see what we each do below:
Simon Stevenette, Vicar & Area Dean of Swindon
Simon has led the parish as Vicar for the last 13 years. He is married to nicola and they have 5 son - Thomas 20, Robert 18, Edward 17,
William 14 and Hugo 8. He had a successful Stem Cell transplant September 2004 and lived with cancer for 2 years. Simon loves meeting people,
working in the community building teams and helping people develop and grow in their spiritual gifting.
He enjoys sport in general especially
running and is a member of Chiseldon tennis club and the Nuffield gym. He is Chaplain of Swindon town football club, governor of King William
Street church of England primary school and an active member of the Swindon Rotary club. You can
contact him here.
Margaret Williams, Lay Minister
She is a retired Head Teacher, originally from Swansea. She is a published author and gifted story teller particularly in all-age
worship where her empathy with both young and old is obvious. She loves travel, Welsh culture and entertaining. She is a member of
the P.C.C, a co-ordinator for Residential Care home visits and a supporter of the healing prayer ministry.
Contact her here.
Trudie Wigley, Curate
Trudie joined in Summer 2011 following her ordination. She was previously an investment fund manager in London and
from this experience cultivated a particular interest in linking faith to commerce, consumer choices and work ethic.
Her leisure interests include playing the piano, cooking for friends and scuba diving. Having studied physics she also
enjoys trying to keep up to date with what goes on in the scientific world. She's married to Andrew, a Methodist
minister, & they have two young children.
Contact her here.
Daphne Hardwick, Curate
She was ordained at at Bristol Cathedral on 30 June after practicing for many years as a midwife and health visitor
in the Swindon area. She is passionately interested in social justice issues and actively provides support and links
to our young families through "Little Angels" and "Bumps and Babes". She also organises our Amnesty international
responses and is responsible for networking within the wider Old Town community. She is married to Reg and has
two grown up daughters and a son-in-law.
Contact her here.
Norma McKemey, Curate
She was ordained in 2010 having spent many years as a Religious Studies secondary schoolteacher. Now fully involved in the life of the
Church she has particular responsibilities for Home groups and gives some time to developing community work in
Wichelstowe. Her interests include country dancing, playing golf and time with her grandchildren.
Contact her here.
Anne MacMillan, Lay Minister
Anne is a Physiotherapist at the Prospect hospice in Wroughton and has 2 adult daughters. She was licensed as a Lay minister in 2007. Anne has a
special link with St Mary's church. She enjoys sharing hospitality, listening to operas and travelling. Last year she completed the Swindon Half
Marathon alongside Simon and a team from Christ church.
Contact her here.
Genny Williams, Lay Minister
She is married to Nick and is a maths teacher at The Commonweal School in Swindon. She likes holidays, watching films, reading and gets
plenty of exercise looking after her enormous dog Kaiser. She co-ordinates Christ Church's youth work with the Sticky Group, which is
aimed at 14-18 yr olds.
Contact her here.
Tim Eyles, Musical director
He is married to Ann and works as a freelance piano and organ teacher and choir trainer. He is responsible for
all the musical worship at Christ Church and manages the church's choir and the music group. He also loves
France, cycling, reading and of course, music of all kinds as well as taking a deep interest in environmental issues.
Contact him here.
Carol Simmons, Lay Minister
She is married to Colin and is mum to Elise, David & Bethany. She has a deep love of music, singing in the robed choir and music group and helping
with our Junior Choir. As our Parish Clerk she is the first point of contact for baptism families and
wedding couples. She is also a volunteer chaplain at Bristol Cathedral and is a member of the prayer support team for
Swindon Street Pastors.
Contact her here.
Ailsa Palmer, Lay Minister and Parish Administrator
She is married to Mike and manages the parish office, co-ordinating all our parish activities. She is especially involved in listening to others;
and prayer/healing work. She is also interested in linking fair trade, care for the environment and social justice to our everyday lives.
Contact her here.
