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Florin has been appointed as the Minister in training at Addlestone Baptist Church (ABC)
since 1st of September 2023. Having first begun a successful career as the Head of Internal Audit and qualified accountant with the UK Government,
Florin felt God’s compelling call to enter the ministry at ABC and recently started a Master’s in Theology to pursue full accreditation as a Baptist minister.
His roots go back to Romania where he was born. He was 14 when the Romanian Revolution took place in 1989 ending the Communist regime after
42 years in power. He became a Christian at the
age of 23 when he also met Ramona, his wife and together they have 4 wonderful children.
Since he became a Christian, Florin had a heart to serve others and to introduce people to
the new faith he found in Jesus. Alongside full time working as a Police Inspector, he held various volunteer roles as a church Pastor, Preacher, founder of the Police Christian Association,
Christian Radio and Youth Leader. Coming to the
UK in 2011 he brought the same serving attitude
to ABC where he initially volunteered as a Deacon.
He has a passion to see people flourish in their
faith and he looks forward to making new friends
and connecting with people from all background
in our local community. |
Ever since Brian became a Christian he had a strong desire to serve God in some way and when asked to stand as a Deacon many years ago it very much fitted in with what he believe to be a calling from God, a desire that not only drives him to be obedient in serving our Lord, but to be of service to all at ABC, whether that be in practical or spiritual matters. Through God's grace, Brian is equipped with gifts of leadership, service and administration which God has used for the building up of the fellowship and glorifying of His name. God is continuing, via the working of His Holy Spirit, to develop these and other gifts in Brian, not for Brian's self gratification but that glory and praise might be given to Him. |
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Since being at ABC Sarah has enjoyed serving in a number of ways. She was a Sunday School teacher, helped run holiday clubs, Saturday morning clubs and was part of the leadership team that launched the Little Oaks Parent and Toddler group. She now serves as our church treasurer. "It has been a real privilege to see some of the young people continue in their faith having left Sunday School and I look forward to seeing more do likewise in the future," Sarah comments. "Addlestone has been our home for the past three decades and I have grown to love the town. There is a real sense of community, particularly within our immediate neighbourhood. I have developed good relationships with many of my neighbours, and these relationships have shown there is a great opportunity to make a difference by making Christ known through the local church. I hope that we can continue to serve this community in ways that make Christ's gospel message known." |
Jacquie's heart is to see ABC being a praying and listening church, and she is keen to help develop the prayer life of the church. Having completed a Pastoral Assistant course through the Diocese of Guildford, Jacquie also heads up the Pastoral Care within ABC, supported the rest of the team. Jacquie comments, "There's a saying, 'If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat' and that was exactly my experience - I got out of my comfortable boat and put my foot on the water and found that Father God equipped and enabled me to do the role He'd called me to - and it's been exciting!"
Jacquie is also developing her calling to teaching and preaching, and regularly participates in our Sunday services. |
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