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Meet the Elders

 

Allan Smith

Born in January 1943, Allan is an original Essex man. He was brought up in a Baptist family in Dagenham and was converted at the age of 7. The family attended a local London City Mission Hall and Upney Baptist church in Barking. In 1966 Allan married Roselyn Ashton from Bognor after meeting her on a Christian camp. They started their married life by buying a house in Hempstead, Gillingham and although they have moved twice they still live in Hempstead. They now have three children and five grandchildren.

When Allan and Ros settled in Hempstead they joined a small local church which happened to be closing down and so they started an FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) church.

After a personal revival and a revival of other church members, the church evolved into Hempstead Christian Fellowship and in 1988 into New Life Community Church.

Allan was called to 'full time' ministry in 1976, turning his back on a career in the travel business, and has ministered extensively in the UK, USA, Europe and Africa over almost 30 years. A visit to Saranda in southern Albania, from Corfu, in the early 1990's, began a link with that country that has involved the church in taking much needed aid and support. Allan and Ros, who has herself learnt Albanian, now visit twice a year to bring financial aid and ministry to the churches there.

Allan has become established as the longest serving church leader in the Medway towns, and has gained the respect of ministers from most denominations. This culminated in him being invited to become Chairman of 'Churches Together in Medway', a position he has held for the last 5 years. Allan has recently stated that he believes his long term future is with NLCC and he looks forward to whatever the Lord has in store.

David Sharman

Born, bred and educated in Gillingham, David followed an engineering apprenticeship and studied accountancy before going to Moorlands Bible College in Devon the year before our youngest elder, Robin was born!!

David was baptised at 11 and stared preaching at 15. He has two sons, Christopher and James and became a Grandfather for the first time in 2005.

He pastored a small evangelical church for 5½ years before joining New Life Community Church's forerunner, Hempstead Christian Fellowship in 1974.

In commerce David reached the dizzy heights of Systems Project Manager for Payroll, before retiring at 50 in 1992 (which makes him about 134 years old now) after a serious Crohn's Disease attack. Despite struggling with Crohn's since he was 17, he has continued to serve the Lord with vigour, along with his wife for 36 years, Susan.

David has been Chairman of Trustees for the charitable trust under which NLCC operates for many years, and is appreciated as much for his humour and loyalty as he is for his heartfelt advocacy for Christians under persecution worldwide. He also keeps the church abreast of political and legal issues in the UK, which impact the ability to preach Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Robin How

Robin is a true “Man of Kent” having been born in the Medway towns. He was educated at Chatham Grammar School and in his younger days was an angelic choir boy in a local Anglican Church. He married a young lady from Bristol, called Joy, and they have two sons Tom and Josh and now live in Parkwood, Rainham. Robin's day job is as a forensic audio engineer, but the rest of his time is taken up with his family or serving the Lord and New Life Community Church. The whole family are an integral and important part of the church.

Robin has been a member of the church since his teens. He is an accomplished musician playing both the keyboard and drums, but not at the same time! One of his claims to fame in his younger days is playing drums for the American Christian singer Don Francisco when he toured the UK. More recently he has been responsible for getting musicians together from many other churches, across the denominations, to worship together. His main eldership responsibility is to oversee our praise and worship groups, taking the main worship leader role in most meetings. Robin is very much loved by the church members young and old, maybe because he gives out a whole lot of love to them.