About Biblical Counselling UK

Our Vision

Biblical Counselling UK is seeking to serve Christ by fostering and supporting church members, pastors and teachers who are passionate about the transforming work of Christ that is accomplished through personal ministry of the Word.

We are committed to Christ-centred change, enabled by the Spirit, through the ministry of the Word, in the local church.

Our vision is to serve the local church through:

  • Education in the principles and practices of biblical counselling
  • Identifying and developing resources for both formal and informal biblical counselling
  • Equipping Christians in personal ministry of the Word
  • Supporting a network of churches and individuals involved in a biblical counselling ministry
  • Helping church leaders to identify people, both inside and outside their churches, who can provide a biblical counselling ministry

While our vision includes the ambition to work toward a network of trained and experienced biblical counsellors involved with local churches, we know this is still a long way off.

Such a network doesn’t currently exist and so we regret that we aren’t able to offer advice on personal problems or to provide recommendations of biblical counsellors.

Even so, there are other places we can turn and so we have put together some guidance which may be of help.

 “Can you help?”

Our Beliefs

Staff Team

Steve Midgley, Executive Director
Over the past 10 years Steve has been involved in teaching courses in biblical counselling at Oak Hill College and leads the Biblical Counselling UK team. He is on the boards of both CCEF and the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Formerly the vicar of Christ Church Cambridge, Steve continues to serve the church family there. Before ordination he trained as a psychiatrist.

Andrew Collins, Director of the Certificate Course
Andrew has spent many years working as a consultant psychiatrist in Belfast alongside part-time work providing biblical counselling. He is an elder at his church in Portadown, Northern Ireland. He tutors on the BCUK Certificate Course in Belfast. In collaboration with others, Andrew is responsible for taking the lead in developing the Certificate Course and other advanced skills training.

Anna Goodwin-Hudson, Assistant Administrator
Anna has completed a number of biblical counselling courses with CCEF and BCUK, and now has the privilege of serving the BCUK students in an administrative capacity. 

Sydnie Jordan, Senior Administrator
Sydnie has studied online with CCEF and has experience in church administration.

Andrew McKenna, Head of Communications
Alongside his role at BCUK Andrew works part-time as a musician and music instructor. He also serves as a trustee of the Music Ministry Foundation. Andrew is responsible for BCUK’s external positioning and leading our messaging, including oversight of our website.

Amanda Naves, Director of the Church-based Intern Scheme
Originally from Canada, Amanda studied at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and trained with CCEF before moving to the UK in 2016. She is involved in a number of ministry areas within her local church, including pastoral care.

Ruth Roberts, Executive Assistant to Steve Midgley
Ruth has studied on BCUK’s Certificate Course alongside working 1 day per week as Steve Midgley’s Executive Assistant. She has worked many years in this role for Steve in his previous capacity as Vicar of Christ Church Cambridge and now works for BCUK. Previously Ruth was a primary school teacher.

Tarita Smallwood, Director of Finance and Development
After working in public practice she spent eight years as the Women’s Pastoral Worker at Christ Church Cambridge before switching to being their Finance and HR Manager. She continues this role alongside her work for Biblical Counselling UK.  She holds a Certificate in Biblical Counselling with CCEF, has studied on the Cornhill Training Course and is involved in pastoral care in her local church. She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW.

Helen Thorne, Director of Training and Resources
Helen is an experienced speaker, counsellor and author whose recent books include Hope in an Anxious World, Walking with Domestic Abuse Sufferers, Purity is Possible, Real Change and Real Change for Students. She has completed CCEF’s certificate courses and holds an MA in Applied Theology.

Wendy Whiffin, Finance and Operations Administrator
Wendy has studied on BCUK’s Certificate Course alongside her previous role as Operations Manager for Bishop Hannington Church. Prior to that Wendy held a variety of roles in the areas of office management and operations. Wendy is responsible for supporting Tarita with the financial management, operations, HR and development work for BCUK.

Board of Trustees

Mike Warren, Chair
Mike is Vicar of St Peter’s Tunbridge Wells. He has completed the BCUK Certificate Course and serves as the chair of trustees for BCUK.

Allan Beckett
Allan runs Carnelian, a Christian based executive search business. He is an elder at his FIEC church and is based near Canterbury. He has completed the BCUK Certificate Course.

Katherine Cornes
Katherine and her husband have recently retired after many years in parish ministry and are now based in Eastbourne. She has completed the BCUK Certificate Course. 

Joanna Jackson
Joanna is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and serves as the Director of Counselling at the All Souls Counselling Service in central London. She has completed a number of biblical counselling courses through CCEF.

Sally Orwin Lee
Sally provides biblical counselling, discipling and mentoring in local churches across the North West. She is a Recitation Instructor and Consultation Facilitator for BCUK.

Fred Paton
Fred is a qualified accountant by background and has recently retired. He is based near Banstead where he serves as a deacon at his church. He has completed the BCUK Certificate Course.

Abigail Richardson
Abigail is a qualified counsellor who has worked over several years with both adults and children. In more recent years she has increasingly seen how the Bible speaks to all of life and has completed the Dynamics of Biblical Counselling module with BCUK. Abigail now serves alongside her husband who is the pastor of their small local church in London. She continues to use her counselling skills to support individuals within her local church and provides counselling to the wider body of Christ.

Roxana Stanciu
Roxana is the Chief Operating Officer for CARE (Christian Action, Research and Education) and co-leader of the European Politics and Society Network which is part of the European Leadership Forum. She is based in London.

Christine Robinson
Christine is based in London and for many years was the manager of The Living Room, a community room and high street presence for her local church. She has completed the BCUK Certificate Course and serves as the board secretary.