Reverend Sam Luscombe
Curate
I’m one of the curates at St Stephen’s and I love the privilege of serving the ‘fine city’ of Norwich! I’m married to Matt, and we arrived in Norfolk in 2019 with our two kids, Miriam and Josh. In spite of arriving just before lockdown (not ideal timing!), we have very much enjoyed getting to know the city and the very beautiful county we now get to live in.
I did my ‘vicar training’ at St Stephens, so was really thrilled to be able to stay on as part of the clergy team once I was ordained. I love the wonderful mix of people here, united by the desire to follow Jesus, and seeking to extend a welcome to everyone who walks through the doors. I have a particular passion for preaching and teaching, and have enjoyed the opportunity to do more of this here at St Stephens, and you might spot me doing the odd shift in our community café. I also enjoy (in no particular order) time with family and friends, chats over tea and cake, walks in the countryside and by the sea, baking, books, theatre, and a good charity shop rummage!
David Daynes
Church Warden
Janet Terry
Church Warden
We moved to Norwich two years ago and soon decided that St Stephen’s was the congregation we chose to join. I wanted to be part of the worship, the fellowship and the work in the community. In my working life I engaged with young people and families at risk of social exclusion and it’s that mindset and skill set which I bring to my new role in the church. That and what I learnt in raising four children! For me it’s always about the people; everyone being equal in the eyes of God and having the imprint of God the creator. So I hope to serve the congregation and the community in any way I can.
Lisa Fifield
Operations Manager
Lisa has many hats on when she is at St Stephen’s but her main role is as the Operations Manager, looking after the day to day running of the church. Lisa and her husband Ian have been worshipping at St Stephen’s since 2017 and they knew immediately that this was where God wanted them to worship and serve. She loves that St Stephen’s is unique in that it brings together an amazing bunch of people, all different in their own ways but united by love for God. In a previous career, Lisa was a research scientist for British Sugar, developing new products, where she had a forklift and front-loading shovel driving licence and was in charge of 3 very large boilers!
Clare Melia
Community Worker
Clare has been part of St Stephen’s for ten years and has been our Community Worker for five years, working with anyone who needs our help. She enjoys being among people, learning together, drinking tea and eating cake! She loves the bustle and friendliness of St Stephen’s as well as the encouragement, team-work and commitment to journey alongside one another in life. Most of all she loves the tea that comes in tea pots and cute cups and saucers!! Clare loves the TV series Heartland, despite being slightly intimidated by horses and her favourite Bible verse is Psalm 27:4- “I’m asking God for one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty: I’ll study at his feet”.
Beckie Ward
Café Manager
Beckie has been the Café Manager at St Stephen’s for six years and she enjoys various aspects of this role- spending time with people and the very practical nature of serving in the Café. She loves the variety at St Stephen’s, in terms of ministries operating out of St Stephen’s as well as the volunteers and customers who all have such different life experiences. During her years at St Stephen’s, Beckie has been drawn back time and time again to the Bible verse Romans 12:1- ‘So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering.’ Fun fact about Beckie: she has recently released her nurturing side at home by propagating and raising hundreds (literally) of succulents!
Annette Uzoigwe
Assistant Café Manager
annette.uzoigwe@ststephensnorwich.org
I am one of the assistant managers in the Café since August 2022 and have since then loved to work in the St Stephen’s community with people from various walks of life and backgrounds. This has been added to the cultural diversity in which I live daily – being born in The Netherlands, married to team vicar Austin from Nigeria, and living with our three children in the UK.
Besides working in St Stephen’s Café I am a Licensed Lay Minister in the Tas Valley Team Ministry and play occasionally the organ for services.
A bible passage that has given me guidance and strength in all my life circumstances is Proverbs 3:5-6 –“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”.
Andy Rose
Book-Keeper
Andy is our bookkeeper, assisting Sue our Treasurer, and has been at St Stephen’s since September 2017. He has always enjoyed producing financial reports to help people determine the best way forward and he loves that his role doesn’t require him to sit in the office all day looking at a computer screen – Madeline has always encouraged him to get away from his desk and enjoy being with the people at St Stephen’s. In fact, it’s the people that he loves most about St Stephen’s; fellow members of staff, the congregation, volunteers and customers in the Café as well as the visitors who drop in.
A fun fact about Andy is that when he started secondary school, his mum said he needed to remember everything at school so he took this one step further and learnt the whole of his first year class register, he can still recite the 31 names!! A memorable Bible verse for him is Malachi 3:6 “For I the Lord do not change;….” which has been especially relevant in the past few months of change.
Sam Roberts
Assistant Children’s and Families Worker
I grew up in a family that had a great time doing things together and I love that I can provide activities and space for other families to do the same. I have been working at St Stephen’s since 2022 and enjoy that I do something different every day. My main role as Children’s and Families worker involves running Little Fellowes which is our toddler group, Lego club and the Sunday morning Children’s group and I get to work with a great team of volunteers who make all these groups possible. I also manage our website and Social media as well as making lots of the posters and graphics for the church. A bible verse that inspires me is “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” Proverbs 22:6
Sam can do a very good bird impression and has confused many people at bus stops and during the hymn ‘How great thou art’.
Dave Humphreys
Lay Minister