Our Team
Ordained Staff
Rev Noel Sharp
Superintendent
Noel is from Leicester, and his faith grew through MAYC, MethSoc and Greenbelt. He has been a care assistant, a social worker, a polytechnic chaplain and has worked for Christian Aid. Noel is married to Elaine, is a father and a grand-father. He joined the Wirral Circuit in 2022 and was appointed as Superintendent in September 2024.
Rev Dan Woodhouse
Circuit Minister
Dan is from Nottingham. His passion in ministry is for creating spaces where people can build deep, lifegiving, and mutually supportive friendships. He has been a part of intentional communities set in his previous manses in Leeds and Brighton. Most of the Brighton community moved to the Wirral with Dan and are working together to create an intentional community here. To relax Dan enjoys playing and painting Warhammer and continues to learn the fiddle.
Rev Ruth Dowson
Circuit Minister
Ruth is a daughter of the manse so has moved around the country, including a period of time in Heswall as a child. Her roots eventually were put down in Lancashire. She joined the team as a probationary minister in September 2023 and is working with the Ellesmere Port churches – Hope Farm, Little Sutton and Trinity.
Ellie Griffin
Deacon
Deacon Ellie is married to Luke and mum to three teenagers Tess, Erin and Zac. She has been a Deacon for 14 years and during that time has ridden motorbikes, won a belt in boxing and got dreadlocks in her hair. She loves people of all ages and persuasions and serving God wherever and with whomever she is called to do so. She loves to laugh and play and to share stories. She is looking forward to serving on the Wirral and finding out what God has planned for the coming years.
Rev'd Phyl Fanning
Circuit Minister
Phyl is a supernumerary minister who moved to Wirral after a varied ministerial career, including as an army chaplain. He is a keen small-boat sailor, so enjoys being near to the sea.
Our Team
Circuit Steward Team
Peter Colyer
Circuit Steward
Peter has been a Local preacher in the Methodist Church since 1980 and a Circuit Steward in the Wirral Circuit 2011-18 and again from 2021. Additionally, Peter is Chair of the Circuit Lay Staff Management Group and the Children & Youth Management Group as well as serving as a Safeguarding Trainer for both the Methodist Church’s Foundation and Advanced courses.
Peter is also a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for the Liverpool City Region and currently Course Director for Green Badge Tourist Guide course in Chester.
Sam Hepworth
Circuit Steward
Sam is the Church and Community Lay Worker at West Kirby and the Property Steward at St Luke’s. She began working for the church in 2021 after a career in teaching and school leadership. Originally from Yorkshire, Sam moved temporarily to Wirral for work in 1994, and has never looked back! She is training to be a local preacher, and she joined the Circuit Stewards team in September 2024.
Craig Price
Circuit Steward / Treasurer
Craig is the Circuit Treasurer and one of the Circuit Steward team. His particular role is in contributing to the financial strategy that enables us to resource mission and ministry in the circuit. He is always keen to way to find ways to make our financial, governance and administration responsibilities as easy as possible to enable us to concentrate on what should be the “main thing” instead of “keeping the show on the road”. Craig is a preacher within the circuit, and beyond the Wirral, currently serves on the Methodist Church’s Faith and Order Committee.
Kathy Thomas
Circuit Steward
Kathy Thomas, Steward at Prenton Methodist, Circuit Rep to Synod and now a Circuit Steward. I have recently retired after 37 years as a Primary school teacher. I have belonged to the Methodist church all my life becoming a member at 15 to be a Sunday School teacher. For many years I was the JMA secretary at Tranmere. I am a Brownie Guide leader and The Chair of trustees for Birkenhead Scout District.
I have always been involved in organising: church fair, coffee mornings, meals, quizzes etc. I hope that my skills will enable me to be of use on the circuit team to help our circuit move forward and grow in all directions, within the New North West District.
Cate Warbrick
Circuit Steward
Cate joined the team at St Luke’s Hoylake in February 2018 as Church and Community Lay Development Worker after a long career in NHS management and leadership. Her role is to primarily identify areas within the both the church and the community that need support and to facilitate this by recognising people’s gifts and enabling them to use them. Cate is training to be a Worship Leader and her driving passion is supporting people, teams and organisations to grow to all they can be.
Pete Wildman
Circuit Steward
Pete was born in Liverpool and spent most his life there, working as a teacher and later as a director of a Christian housing association for ex-offenders. In 2002 he and his wife Dot moved to India to work for 12 years in an international school, where he was responsible for communications, marketing and fundraising. He returned to the UK in 2014 and now serves the circuit as a local preacher, Circuit Steward and coordinates much of the circuit’s online presence.
Our Team
Circuit Lay Staff Team
Steve Cooper
Circuit Manager
As Circuit Manager Steve is responsible for all day to day financial and property management including contributing to financial reporting, circuit governance and the circuit’s oversight of church governance returns. Steve is a local preacher regularly contributing to the circuit’s online worship, He is also the Treasurer of the Liverpool Methodist District and serves the district and Methodist Connexion in a number of ways.
Emma Sofayo
Children and School's Team Lead
I have 3 major passions in life. Faith Family and Football!!
FAITH – My faith is at the centre of my life and it is a privilege to be sharing the Gospel message with the children of our local communities
FAMILY –I come from a close family and got married in 2015. I inherited two sons and in 2016 our daughter joined the family!
Football – I am a Merseyside Red and I am just so excited to have Klopp at the Kop!!! I love nothing more than an afternoon watching the football and getting excited as Liverpool win again!!!
Jack Watson
Circuit Safeguarding Officer
I have lots of passions as well as youth work. I love music and am a musician, performing with choirs and solos shows across Merseyside, I am an actor who works with a local theatre company performing in schools across Liverpool. Like Nick I am a massive geek who loves Star Trek and like Rachel I have a deep love for coffee and can normally be found with one in my hand. As well as being on the Youth Team, I am the Circuit Safeguarding Officer.
Tim Edwards
Lay Worker
Tim is community worker at Moreton Methodist his role is to help the church develop its mission and service in the neighbourhood. He has over forty years’ experience in youth and community work having run a youth centre, play centre and worked as a residential social worker with the children with disabilities team.
Tim is also a local preacher and steward at Church @ the Cross Birkenhead. He has a passion for contemporary worship, puppet ministry and modern Christian music. Married to Denise for over 40 years they have five grown children and four grandchildren.
Rachel Gray
Children and Schools Team
When I’m not in work or organising my children’s hectic social life, I like nothing more than to be baking or cooking and singing along to the radio. Due to my love of all things food related, I consider it my duty to visit as many local coffee shops and bakeries as possible, in the interests of Quality assurance. I also love reading (while drinking coffee) and watching films, which can vary from classics to science fiction and fantasy.
Petra Dye Davies
FUSS Lay Worker
After spending over twenty years in the construction industry, Petra finally made the career change to what she had always wanted to do….supporting families and building communities through practical support and based on God’s love for everyone. The FUSS project demonstrates this perfectly and in times gone by, recycling school uniforms within the community would happen in every street. Nowadays we need a bit of encouragement and the Circuit enables this all across the Wirral, reaching over 11,000 families to date.We look forward to celebrating our 10th anniversary this year.
Alison Thomson
Church and Community Development Officer at Trinity Ellesmere Port
Alison previously worked for Methodist Housing Association in their Care at Home scheme. She is a member of Little Sutton Methodist Church.