Kentish Express Ashford & District
Husband-and-wife team welcomed by Baptists
MP and deputy mayor welcome couple at induction service
A packed congregation saw Ashford Baptist Church’s new ministers inducted during a special service last Saturday.
Husband-and-wife team Lorna and Rob Sylvester were welcomed to their new roles at the church in St Johns Lane, Ashford.
Margaret Woollven, Baptist Church secretary and trustee, Ashford MP Damian Green and Ashford deputy mayor Cllr George Koowaree were among the speakers who welcomed the Sylvesters to Ashford during the induction service.
The couple are both ordained Baptist ministers, and are the first married couple to co-lead Ashford Baptist Church.
Their daughter, Ruth, is currently completing her gap year with development charity Smile International in Uganda, but will be returning to the UK to read Chemistry at University College London in September.
Rob is originally from Cambridge and Lorna is from South Wales. Rob worked for 10 years as a commercial finance manager, before training for the ministry at Oxford University.
Lorna worked first as a teacher, then as a community outreach leader in Birmingham, before training for the ministry at Bristol Baptist College.
Since 2006, the Sylvesters have been serving together as ministers at Preston Baptist Church in Paignton, Devon.
Rob has also served as a Baptist network minister in South Devon, providing support to local pastors and their families. Lorna has served on the South West Baptist Association Ministry Group, and has been involved in encouraging women in leadership.
The couple said they were looking forward to taking up their new roles.
Margaret Woollven said: “Lorna and Rob are joining a church that is eager to grow in its ministry to the people of Ashford and the wider world.”
They take over from former minister, the Rev Gregory Marlam, who retired in November 2013 after 15 years in Ashford.
Ashford Baptist Church has been established for more than 360 years.