Our Trustees

Jem trained as a science teacher before serving in a church in Cambridge and testing a call to full-time ministry. He studied at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, prior to ordination in the Church of England and a curacy in London. That time included exposure to training needs in the majority world and a masters dissertation on alternative patterns of theological education, which was followed by a move to Uganda with his family in 2000 to work with the Education Directorate of the Church of Uganda. That role in grassroots church leadership development was coupled to doctoral research in theological education and curriculum design through Stellenbosch University. From 2004, and his Kampala base, his training work took him to other countries in East and Southern Africa, as well as to parts of Asia and Latin America as a field director for a charity. Jem moved with the family to South Africa at the end of 2007 to continue that work before returning to the UK in 2013 to live in Bath, where he grew up. He has Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Bath & Wells, and is an Associate Mission Partner of the UK-based mission agency BCMS/Crosslinks (which he has been with since 2000). Jem is a landlocked surfer who also loves fly-fishing in wild places, travel, spending time his wife and three children, and walking the dog.

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.