Staff and Leadership

Please find below an introduction to our church leaders and members of staff.


Iain Baker – Vicar		Tom Chapman – Curate
Iain has been Vicar at St Thomas’ since 2003. He met and married Jane at St Thomas’ Church, and they have two children. He is passionate about sharing Jesus with people and explaining the message of the Bible. When he’s not working, he loves photography and camping.		Tom joined us in the Summer of 2022. He grew up in Wellington near Telford, and joins us from theological college in Oxford. He loves rugby, cricket and most other sports.


David Shemilt – Church Elder		Alan Stanton – Church Elder
David has many roles in church life. He leads services and preaches from time to time. He also chairs the governors of bot St Thomas Academy and The King’s Academy. He also manages The Wade Centre. David is married to Sue.		Alan has come to St Thomas Church with his wife Sylvia for many years. He shares in the church leadership and sings in the music group. Alan also oversees our Growth Groups.


Graham Sansom - Church Elder		Pat Cooper - Church Warden
Graham joined us in 2014. He had previously served in church leadership for many years in the UK and twelve years in Albania. He shares on the church Eldership team.		Pat has been coming to St Thomas Church for about 10 years, and has been warden since 2016.


Chris Ward - Church Warden
Chris has been a part of the church family for about 10 years. He has been warden since 2022.

If you would like to contact the Church then please visit the Contact Us page.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

Sundays
Please do join us any Sunday when the church family meets together and praises our Lord God. We hope that through visiting with us you will experience the hope, love and joy that comes from a community of people who love Jesus.

What Happens?
Coming to church for the first time might be a bit scary. So here’s an idea of what happens to make it easier to step through the door!
Our main service is 10.30 every Sunday.

You’ll join us in the church building – which is warm and has comfortable seating. We can happily move chairs to make access easier or for a wheelchair.

Our services include a mixture of traditional and modern music, prayers and a Bible reading. In our 10.30 service, children leave after about 20 minutes to have fun and learn something about Jesus in groups for different ages. The people remaining listen to a talk about the Bible reading. We finish with drinks in the church hall – and children come back to their families there.

At 10.30 we share communion together on the third Sunday of every month. Then, after the service has finished, anyone who wants is welcome to stay for lunch. We each bring food to share with everyone – but there’s always plenty for guests to join in too!

All Age Services
On the first Sunday of every month, our whole church family meets together for an ‘All Age Service’. These are informal and interactive for all ages. Pretty much anything can happen – but people join in with as much or as little as they like – no one is put on the spot or embarrassed! This fun lasts for under an hour, and is the perfect first introduction to Church services for adult and children.

How to get here
If you are travelling by car there is some parking available in the church car park and also plenty of free parking on the road outside. (There is a single yellow line on the road – but you can park there all day on a Sunday.)

If you need a lift to church, contact us and we’ll be delighted to help.

Getting Connected

Small Groups While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our Growth Groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Growth Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a Growth Group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Other Ministries We also offer the following ministries:

St Thomas Toddlers
Foodbank
Friday Soup
Luncheon Club
Holiday Club
Community Choir
Social groups
St Thomas Nursery
St Thomas School
The King’s School

Get in touch with us to plan your visit If you would like to come and visit the church building beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Find us St Thomas’ Church is on The Avenue, Kidsgrove, Stoke on Trent. The postcode is ST7 1AG.