• Ekklesia
• staff

Ekklesia was set up to operate 'virtually', with its staff working from different locations rather than from a central office. This minimises its carbon footprint and reduces the costs and overheads normally involved in running a think-tank. Ekklesia also works as a co-operative. We have a number of freelance staff who undertake Ekklesia's main work, who are listed below. But there is also a range of other associates, consultants and contributors. If you want to contact any of the staff individually by email you can do so by firstname.secondname(at)ekklesia.co.uk To find out about working for Ekklesia visit our jobs section.

Simon Barrow - Co-Director

Simon Barrow is a theological writer, commentator, consultant, educator and NGO trainer. He is the regular politics columnist for Third Way, the magazine of Christian cultural comment. He also contributes to Mennonite Weekly Review, the Scotsman, Baptist Times, the Guardian's Comment-is-Free, openDemocracy's Our Kingdom project, and a wide range of other media outlets. From 2000-2005 Simon was global mission secretary for the official ecumenical body Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), which he also served as assistant general secretary until 2003. He was formerly adviser in adult education and training for Southwark Anglican Diocese (1991-1996) and has worked in current affairs journalism, theological education, international ecumenism, development studies, and as the convenor of a national network of Christian social action groups. Simon has written and co-edited a number of books, including Fear or Freedom? Why a Warring Church Must Change (Shoving Leopard: 2008), Consuming Passion: Why the Killing of Jesus Really Matters (DLT: 2005), Christian Mission in Western Society: Precedents, Perspectives, Prospects (CTBI: 2001) and Expanding Horizons: Learning to be the Church in the World (SBCS: 1995). His articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Political Theology, the International Review of Mission (World Council of Churches), the British Journal of Theological Education, Christian, Crucible, Pro Mundi Vita, the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, Movement and others. Living in Edinburgh, Scotland, Simon is an associate of the Iona Community and a member of both the British and Irish Association for Mission Studies (BIAMS) and the International Association for Mission Studies (IAMS). An Anglican shaped by Catholic spirituality and Mennonite theology, his research and academic interests include religion and peacemaking, political theology, and the conversation between postmodern faith and other viewpoints - including secular / non-religious ones. He is a trustee of the London Mennonite Centre, a consultant to Metanoia Books, a coordinator of the Anabaptist Theology Forum, a member of the Accord Coalition steering committee, and on the board of the Dumbarton FC supporters' trust. Simon's home page is: www.simonbarrow.net/ He Twitters at: www.twitter.com/simonbarrow

Jonathan Bartley - Co-Director

Jonathan Bartley is a regular writer, public speaker and commentator on television and radio. In particular he was a contributor to BBC Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day' and is a columnist for the Church Times and the Guardian's Comment is Free. He is a regular panellist on BBC1's 'The Big Questions'. He does the news review on BBC London's Sunday Morning Programme, and is frequently heard commentating on Radio 5 Live and Radio 2's Jeremy Vine programme. He has lectured and tutored in Theology and Politics at Sarum College in Salisbury. Jonathan founded Ekklesia in 2001-2. Green in outlook, he is vice-chair of the Electoral Reform Society. Having graduated from the London School of Economics in 1994, Jonathan worked in the Westminster Parliament for a number of years on a cross-party basis, including with the then Prime Minister John Major as part of his campaign team in the 1995 leadership election against John Redwood. Between 1997 and 2001 he ran the cross-party Movement for Christian Democracy. He is a trustee of the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education and the author of a number of books on religion and public life including: The Subversive Manifesto: Lifting the Lid on God's Political Agenda (BRF: 2003) and Faith and Politics After Christendom: The Church as a Movement for Anarchy (Paternoster: 2006). Jonathan was co-editor of Consuming Passion: Why The Killing of Jesus Really Matters (DLT: 2005). He has a particular concern for disability issues. You can follow Jonathan's twitterings at: http://www.twitter.com/jon_bartley You can also see him at blues clubs and festivals around the country playing in his band: The Mustangs

Symon Hill - Associate Director

Symon Hill is a Christian activist, writer and trainer. He is a part-time news reporter for The Friend and an associate tutor at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Until 2009, Symon oversaw media relations at the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). He shared responsibility for developing CAAT's response to the controversies around BAE's arms deals with Saudi Arabia. He represented CAAT in the media when they took the government to court in 2007-08 over the cancellation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into BAE. As a result, Symon was nominated as a Hero of 2007 by campaigning comedian Mark Thomas in the Independent on Sunday. Symon has written on issues including disarmament, public activism, sexuality, social class and the role of religion in society. His comment pieces have appeared in newspapers as diverse as the Sunday Herald and the Daily Mail. He contributes regularly to Guardian Comment-is-Free, the Morning Star and the Baptist Times and writes a regular column for Movement magazine. His book The No-Nonsense Guide to Religion (New Internationalist) was published in 2010. In summer 2011, Symon is planning to walk from Birmingham to London as a pilgrimage of repentance for his former homophobic attitudes (see http://www.repenting.wordpress.com). He Twitters here: twitter.com/SymonHill

Jill Segger - Associate Director

Jill Segger is a freelance writer who contributes to the Church Times, The Catholic Herald, Tribune, and The Friend, among other publications. She is an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a local councillor and activist on political and labour movement issues, and has a particular interest in how spirituality influences our social choices. Jill joined Ekklesia in March 2009 as a copy editor and general editorial adviser. She became an associate director in 2010 and contributes regularly to our news briefing service. Jill is also a musician and composer. For more on her writing and editing services, see: http://www.journalistdirectory.com/journalist/TQig/Jill-Segger. You can follow Jill on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/quakerpen

Jordan Tchilingirian - Associate Director

Jordan Tchilingirian is a research sociologist with a particular interest in politics and religion, as well as a range of social issues. He first came to work with Ekklesia in September 2006, after obtaining a first class honours degree in Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He authored the report 'United We Stand?' on conflicts over religion in Britain's universities, which has been welcomed by the government, chaplains and the National Union of Students, and then became a research consultant and latterly associate director. From an Armenian Orthodox background, Jordan has been involved with the Icthus christian fellowship in South London and with Bloomsbury Baptist Church in central London. His interests include radical Christianity as a critical social theory and the question about how religious identities and groups are created, sustained and contested.

Lizzie Clifford - Researcher

Lizzie Clifford has worked with Ekklesia, alongside tutoring in English and RE and working freelance for an academic publishing company. She has a first class undergraduate degree in English and a postgraduate degree in Theology from the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include theolinguistics and the relationship between theology and the arts. Over the past two years she has been taking forward Ekklesia's work in the area of religious broadcasting.

Kate Guthrie - Researcher

Kate Guthrie is a recent graduate with a first class honours degree from Cambridge University, and a long-standing interest in social justice issues. She was the lead researcher for Ekklesia's headline 'Re-imagining Remembrance' report (2009) and has been helping with the future events planning service. She also works for Hope’s Place, a Bristol-based charity, as a Mental Health Work Developer, finding ways to equip the church to respond to and engage with the growing challenge of mental illness. She is co-authoring ‘Sex and Relationships Matter’, an innovative resource for schools with a holistic approach to the pedagogy of relationships. Kate is part of a non-denominational church.

Ben Harvey - Web Director

Ben Harvey has worked creating web sites for eight years as well as online video, DVDs, web strategies and online marketing. He is a partner in wateringcanmedia, an award-winning company that creates websites, programmes, films, DVDs and CDRoms. He is also a photographer.

Nick Turner - Marketing Director

Nick Turner is a partner with Ben Harvey in wateringcanmedia, which brings together programme makers, film directors, web designers and other creatives. He specialises in promotion and publicity.

Ekklesia also has a network of Associates and Consultants with which it works.