Tim Kingston-Hepner – Church Centre Manager

Hi Tim, your role in the Ministry Support Team is as Church Centre Manager. What does the role of Church Centre Manager entail?

Oooh! What a question! How long is a piece of string? In short form, I tell people that I manage the office and the building but that doesn’t quite cover it. I deal with IT (except for Sundays), building security, building maintenance (together with Paul Crispin), bookings (together with Catherine Church) and a bunch of operational things that pop up on a daily basis – systems, funerals etc etc etc. It’s a wide remit. I was chatting to the operations manager of a local charity recently, and we joked about how in a single day you can move from sorting out GDPR to replacing a broken toilet seat! But it’s true.

How long have you been in the role of Church Centre Manager and what have you been doing since you took on the role?

At the end of 2024 I will have been in post a whole decade!! It has been a crazy time. We had flooding in 2015, Bicentenary in 2019, Covid in 2020 to 2021, getting the Bridge up and running in 2022/23. We’ve had GLS conferences, over 20 funerals, countless Messy Churches, one database migration, a new website… none of it was me alone, of course, often I wasn’t even a key figure, but I’ve been involved in it all.

What do you find most fulfilling about your role?

I think variety - I’m never bored. I’ve learnt about so much – managing file servers, plumbing, interment. I’ve also seen God at work in wonderful ways and I’ve seen how He’s twisting the Church into shape for each new chapter.

Tell us about the Ministry Support Team, who is in the team and how does the team support the ministry of BSBC?

So, this is all the staff and volunteers involved in supporting BSBC’s ministry work. The MST. Ministry is our purpose, Support is what we do, Team is how we’re organised. In a narrow sense there’s about 13 of us – receptionists, people helping in the office, helping with social media, myself, Liz, Irene, Ira, Uelton and our two Ministers John and Gustavo. We don’t support specific ministries – like the Sunday Club leaders or AV Team or Worship Team; they’re right at the coalface – we’re more about general support, keeping the infrastructure going which helps everyone do what they need to do. We sort of beaver away in the background.

When and how did you become a Christian?

I grew up in a Christian family so my journey to faith was a gradual one, not a Road to Damascus. A helpful way is to think of coming to faith in Jesus like getting into a swimming pool. Some people jump (or get pushed) in right at the deep end. They have this definite moment: one minute they’re not in the pool, the next they are. Some of us, however, start in the shallow end. We paddle, then tread water, then swim. We’ve always been immersed. One way isn’t better than another. But my path is the second one. I will say there was a moment when I realised the power of Forgiveness, my sin being finally dealt with. I was euphoric! But I believed before then and have done since.

How long have you been at BSBC and what was your church background prior to coming to BSBC?

My wife, Miranda, and I first started coming to BSBC…let me check the database…it says November 2010 but I think it was earlier than that, maybe September. I’ve mostly been in Baptist churches – I grew up in one in east London. But I had a short spell at an Anglican church in Dorset.

Tell us a few interesting things about you…family? hobbies? Other volunteer roles within or outside the church?

I’m married with two children and I serve on the livestream and Xplorers rotas. I enjoy cooking, Golden Age detective fiction, European history between about 1100 and 1930, electoral systems and, my own very niche delight, comparative constitutional design.

Is there anything we can pray about for you and/or your role?

Yes please! Staying on top of things can be a challenge at times; but the MST is particularly vulnerable to sudden spikes in workload. We all of us operate pretty close to capacity, so surprises are not welcome! Having the grace, patience, wisdom and capacity to cope with the expected; for all of us to keep well; and most importantly, that the work we help other people do to bear fruit.