Meet the Team

Northstowe Church Network is shaped by many people: ordained and lay, adults and children, long-standing Christians and people newer to faith.

We believe leadership is something to be shared and grown. The Holy Spirit is at work in all God’s people, so each of our communities of hope is developing its own leadership, while our Trustees hold responsibility for the Network as a whole.

"Leadership involves establishing a clear vision; sharing that vision with others so that they will take action; providing the information, knowledge and methods to realise that vision, while balancing the differing interests of all members and stakeholders."

Our Minister

Revd Dr Beth Cope, Pioneer Minister for Northstowe

hello@northstowe.church

Beth has lived in Northstowe since 2018, working alongside local people and church partners to grow what is now the Northstowe Church Network. She loves new-build communities — noise, dust and all — and has a particular passion for helping people find connection, ask big questions and discover faith at their own pace.

Before training for ordination, Beth was a computational mineral physicist and completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge while raising her family in the nearby new town of Cambourne. She later trained as an Anglican Pioneer Priest through the Cambridge Theological Federation, with experience across Anglican and Baptist churches.

As part of our ecumenical partnership, Beth is commissioned to minister across our Anglican, Baptist and United Reformed Church traditions. She is also trained in Asset-Based Community Development and is studying for an MA in Theology, Ministry & Mission (Pioneer Track) with CMS/Durham University.

Alongside her ministry in Northstowe, Beth works with the Diocese of Ely as the Bishop's Adviser for New Housing and nationally with Churches Together England's New Housing Areas group on questions of church, mission and new housing, helping connect what we are learning here with other new communities.

She chairs the Northstowe Church Network Trustees and loves working with local residents, schools, community organisations and people exploring faith for the first time.

Our Trustees

The Trustees are responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the Northstowe Church Network charity. They work with Beth and our wider leadership teams to support the Network’s worship, mission, pastoral care and community partnerships.

Will Addison: Church Warden

Will lives in Over with his wife and two sons. He values the Network as a safe and open place to ask questions about faith and enjoys exploring new ways for people to support one another in growing their connection with God.

As Warden, Will has a particular role in supporting the life and leadership of the Network and is also closely involved in the Compline Community.

warden@northstowe.church

Becky Eccleston: Treasurer and Eco Champion

Becky is a mum, wife, former teacher, sailor, coffee drinker and lover of the outdoors. She enjoys using her gifts and experience to solve problems, make things happen and support the life of our church family.

As Treasurer, Becky oversees the charity’s finances. She is also our Eco Champion and helped the Network achieve its Eco Church recognition.

treasurer@northstowe.church

Michelle Kemp: Trustee and Safeguarding Officer

Michelle lives in Northstowe and has a real passion for the community. Away from church life, she enjoys reading, crafts and kayaking — and can often be found paddling on the Ouse.

Michelle leads on safeguarding for the Network and is the person to contact if you have a safeguarding question or concern.

safeguarding@northstowe.church

Leadership across our communities of hope

Our communities are not programmes delivered by a central team. We want them increasingly to be shaped and led by the people who belong to them.

Pathfinder Church

Pathfinder Church is shaped by a growing team of lay leaders, musicians, children and families, working alongside Beth and the wider Network.

Its relationship with The Pathfinder Church of England Primary School is particularly important. Church and school share a commitment to helping children, families and the wider community explore faith and grow together, while remaining distinct organisations.

Church–School Link Team

Beth, Rachel Addison and Hannah Mellows form our Church–School Link Team, helping to nurture the relationship between Pathfinder Church and The Pathfinder School.

The team works with school staff and governors to strengthen connections between church, school and households, and to explore opportunities for shared worship, community life and faith development.

Beth also serves as a Foundation Governor, with particular involvement in the school’s Christian character and SIAMS work.

Children’s leadership

Children are not simply participants in this relationship. Through the school’s Worship Gang, children help review, plan and lead Collective Worship, bringing their own ideas and helping adults notice what matters to them.

That same commitment shapes Pathfinder Church: we want children and young people increasingly to contribute their gifts, questions and leadership to the life of the community.

Little Explorers

Little Explorers is led by a team including Beth, Hannah, Rachel, Becky, Kaitlin and Saffron. Together they create a warm and playful space for babies, preschool children and their grown-ups, using hospitality, play, stories, songs, creativity and simple prayer to explore faith together.New helpers and new ideas are always welcome.

Compline Community

The Compline Community is usually hosted by Rachel and Will Addison or by Beth, but increasingly shapes its own rhythm of prayer, discussion, hospitality and Communion meals. It has grown particularly through people seeking a quieter, more reflective community, and also welcomes friends from other Christian traditions into shared prayer.

+ The Lakes Centre and Chapel by the Lake team

Developing the future Northstowe Lakes Centre and Chapel by the Lake requires a different kind of leadership alongside the day-to-day life of the church. The Trustees have therefore appointed a Build Committee to lead the next stages of this major community project, working with our architects, planning and professional advisers, community partners and future users.

The committee includes:

Ben Grey — Chair
Tristan Pithers — Vice-Chair
Becky Eccleston — Treasurer
Tom Mellows
Revd Beth Cope
Ateeq Nasir — representing Northstowe Muslims
Kate Nation — representing Turtle Dove Cambridge CIC

Ateeq and Kate bring the perspective of our anchor tenants and key delivery partners, helping ensure the Centre is shaped collaboratively around the needs of the communities who will use it.

+ Keeping connected with the wider Church

Being ecumenical means that good relationships beyond Northstowe matter. Different people help us maintain our relationships with the wider denominations and structures to which the Network belongs.

Rachel Cope and Rachel Addison

Anglican links and Diocesan Synod and Deanery representatives (repectively)

Both Rachel Cope and Rachel Addison help connect the Network with the wider Church of England. Rachel Cope is the youngest member of Diocesan synod, and brings a particular interest in the voice of younger people, inclusion, ecumenism and care for creation.

Tristan Pithers

United Reformed Church link

Alongside his work on the Lakes Centre project, Tristan helps maintain our relationship with the United Reformed Church and supports communication between the Network and the wider URC.

We continue to develop these roles as our ecumenical relationships grow, and are especially seeking a Baptist rep.

Ecumenical Support Cabinet

Our Ecumenical Support Cabinet brings together representatives of the Network and its three formal partner traditions. It helps sustain the relationships behind our Local Ecumenical Partnership, offering shared wisdom and advice when significant questions affect the Network, its denominational relationships or its developing work.

The ESC is currently made up of representatives from:

Northstowe Church Network CIO (Revd Dr Beth Cope)
the Diocese of Ely on behalf of the Church of England (Revd Sarah Gower)
the Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church (Revd Janet Tollington)
our Baptist partners (Revd Mark Burleigh)

The ESC advises and supports the Network, but it does not replace the Trustees, who retain legal responsibility for the governance of the CIO.

[How our ecumenical partnership works →]

+ Growing New Leaders

We particularly value opportunities for children, young people, students and people exploring new ministries to develop their gifts.

Worship Gang

At The Pathfinder Church of England Primary School, children in Years 5 and 6 work with Beth and other adults to review, plan and lead Collective Worship. They are encouraged not simply to help adults deliver something already planned, but to notice what matters to children, ask how worship could be better, and turn their own ideas into action.

Students on placement

We regularly welcome ministry students from the Cambridge Theological Federation and other training pathways. Placements allow students to experience pioneering, ecumenical and community-based ministry while bringing their own gifts and questions into the life of the Network.

They work under a formal ethics agreement:

These placements are part of accredited academic study and often include reflective work based on real interactions in ministry. As with all Durham University Common Awards programmes — including Revd Beth’s own MA research — any conversations or encounters used for theological reflection are always anonymised. Names and identifying details of individuals, families, churches, or communities are never included. If you have any questions about how placements work or how reflections are handled, please speak to Revd Beth.

We have recently had trainee ministers from Ridley, Westcott, and Westminster colleges.

Young volunteers

We have also enjoyed supporting young people undertaking Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteering, helping with hospitality, practical preparation, children’s resources and community activities.

Want to be part of it?

There isn’t a closed list of “church jobs”.

Some people lead worship. Some make coffee. Some listen well, make music, welcome children, organise spreadsheets, pray quietly, help with practical jobs, bring professional expertise or spot something that nobody else has noticed yet.

If you are becoming part of one of our communities, we would love to discover what you bring.

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