Canon Dr Jem Hovil trained as a science teacher before an internship in a church in Cambridge. He then studied theology at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and did his curacy at St Barnabas, Kensington, which included exposure to majority world training needs, reinforced by study through a part-time master’s degree. Jem moved with his family to Uganda in 2000 to work with the Church of Uganda where he helped develop their pastoral training, alongside a doctorate in practical theology through Stellenbosch University, South Africa. From a Kampala base and as field director for a UK charity, his work in grassroots training took him elsewhere on the African continent as well as to Asia and Latin America. He moved to South Africa in 2007 to continue that work before a return to the UK in 2013. Jem is a Mission Partner of Crosslinks, an Honorary Canon of St Stephen’s Cathedral, Shinyanga, Tanzania, and has Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Bath & Wells. He enjoys fly-fishing in wild places, travel and spending time with his wife and children.

Peter is dedicated to building the local church and has been growing St Mary’s church, Wootton, Bedford as vicar there since 2002. He has served on the leadership teams of a number of other churches, as well as working for a number of years leading and promoting the ministry of the Proclamation Trust, which equips leaders in preaching ministry. Peter has significant prior experience in business and finance, including time with Barclays in Botswana and London. His contact with BUILD and the Church of Uganda was forged through a sabbatical at Uganda Christian University as visiting lecturer there. Peter’s first degree, in History, was from Cambridge, and his second, in Theology, from Oxford. His PhD on the Church and the English Reformation through his study of Peter Martyr Vermigli, is from Edinburgh University. Peter is actively involved in a number of other church and charitable bodies. He is married with three children and makes time for a range of interests that include rowing, reading and a spot of baking.

Andrew is our treasurer. Having graduated with BSc First Class Honours in Statistics from The University of Bath, Andrew started his career with the global investment bank Salomon Brothers. He spent 17 years in the world’s financial markets as a trader and investor and co-founded Strategic Asset Management Ltd (SAM), a Bermuda-based investment management company. In 1995 Andrew left SAM to pursue personal interests. He was the Founder and Chairman of Entrust Foundation (now E3 Initiative), which BUILD Partners grew out of, and led that work for a number of years, both from the UK and from South Africa, where he lived for a number of years. He has been married to Monique since 1994 and they have two daughters.

Glenn is an Associate Minister at St Ebbe’s Church, Oxford, and co-leads the evening congregation. For nine years he taught at the Johannesburg Bible College in South Africa, while ministering at a church plant in Soweto and then in an Anglican parish on the edge of inner city Johannesburg. He is married to Lizzy, the head of a Christian primary school, and they have two children. Glenn loves reading and supports, through the highs and lows, Ireland at rugby, England at cricket and Liverpool at football.

Andrew Symes is a graduate of Cambridge University and has studied at All Nations Christian College in Ware, St John’s College in Nottingham, and University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He worked in South Africa for 13 years, as Lay Ministry Training Coordinator for a rural Anglican Diocese, as a curate in a large suburban Anglican church, and then on the staff of a small interdenominational college in Port Elizabeth focussing on providing affordable and relevant training for ministry for leaders of churches in economically disadvantaged communities. He returned to England in 2006, and was co-pastor of a church plant on a housing estate in Northampton before becoming senior editor of the Anglican Mainstream website. More recently he has been involved in establishing the Anglican Network in Europe, a ministry of Gafcon. Andrew is married to Camilla, and they have two children who are now young adults.