Church Leadership | Linwood Baptist Community Church

I joined LBCC as Senior Pastor in February 2024 having been Assistant Pastor at a church in Nelson before that. I am married to Lorna, and we have two adult children and a 10-year-old.

I came to faith when I was 23 years old having had a supernatural encounter with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. I felt the call to become a Pastor early into my faith journey but that took 20 years to become a reality as God worked on me.

I left school without an education and moved to New Zealand from England in 2000 to be with Lorna, who I had met on holiday a few months earlier. Together we have run businesses, and I finally got an education, and now have a degree in Theology, and a diploma in Pastoral Leadership through Carey Baptist College.

In my spare time I love to hang out with Lorna and our kids, play guitar and ride my daughter’s motorbike. I have a genuine love for Jesus and His kingdom. I feel very blessed to be called to a church as real as LBCC.

I was fortunate to grow up in a Christian home and decided to follow Jesus when I was a teenager. God has been faithful throughout all the ups and downs, and many challenges of life. I am now retired but worked most of my life with people with disabilities in various roles.

The Lord called me to Linwood Baptist Community Church over 10 years ago, and around 8 years ago to be an elder. It’s great being part of this whanau and see what God is doing amongst us. I love spending time with my family. I enjoy the mountains and walks and coffee with friends. My passion is to see us all grow in faith and love, becoming more and more who God created us to be.

Hi, I'm Jimmy, I was asked to consider eldership at LBCC more than 12 years ago,
by the then Pastors Trevor and Jillian. Me and my wife Wast bought our house close to the church, and have found it very convenient to assist in the ministry of the church. I have come from a technical background, having spent 29years serving with the Rhema Broadcasting Group, mostly engineering and technical servicing of their about 40 transmission sites. During that time I was privileged to enjoy the hospitality of many local Christians at their home, and experienced many different churches around the country. My passions are to see tools well used in the service of the kingdom. I keep an eye on the logistics of making stuff happen on the technical side at church. I'm also on the property committee looking at the new build around the church for social housing. I feel a bit like Nehemiah who look at building Jerusalem's walls.

I help with the music ministry too.

I commenced attending LBCC in 2010 and became an Elder in 2015. Following retirement from Aged Care Nursing in 2019, I was asked to take on the General Practical Management. The two roles often merge in that I am involved in the leadership and guidance of LBCC as well as everyday function. I appreciate the relaxed ‘homely’ vibe of LBCC and interacting with the people who ‘are the church’, plus people from the local community who come to visit for various reasons. I subscribe to the motto- ‘Come as You Are’.- My desire is to see people live in the freedom of meeting and knowing Jesus, find healing in all aspects of life and continue to grow in their faith journey, increasingly learning and living the disciplines of a Christian Lifestyle as taught in the Bible.To relax- I enjoy pottering in my garden, walking on the beach and ‘escaping reality’ in a good book.

Discipleship Facilitator.

My role encompasses leading groups, facilitating discussions around Discipleship and is still developing.

I am married to Ivan and have 6 adult children and 4 granddaughters. My interests are playing guitar, gardening, walking, reading, baking and catching up with family and friends.. I am studying part-time in Spiritual Direction a 2 year course in which I am half way through. I love smelling roses, being in nature, watching the wildlife and enjoy the beauty of each season although Spring and Autumn are my favorites

Community Outreach Facilitator

God was calling me to Linwood Baptist Church and back to Him for quite a while before I stepped through the doors in 2016. I have been on a healing journey with Jesus ever since. Ministry work began shortly afterwards connecting with people in our immediate community and starting an Addiction Recovery Group. I believe fully in the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ and His promises to give freedom and full life with His peace, love and hope. I have 2 young Tamariki and enjoy taking them on adventures, having fun going on walks and spending time with nature.

Group Facilitator.

Hi I'm Karen, I'm the trauma coordinator. This includes the Triumph through Trauma course, which we are producing a manual for in 2025, and one of the facilitators for Women at the Well.

These groups help people navigate the depth of their faith whilst learning tips, tools and techniques to travel their healing journey. I am a widow of seven years with 3 adult children, 13 grandies and 3 great grandies.

I enjoy learning new things, reading, writing and craft. I love going to the pool, op shopping and rummaging at garage sales. I navigate physical disabilities which have slowed me down recently so am looking forward to more writing time and continued connection with friends who along with my Lord sustain me. I love good meals around the table with lively discussions and can't survive without music and my daily game of online scrabble.

Kids Connect Facilitator

(Children's Leader)

Hi, my name is Jackie and I lead Kids Connect program which is our Sunday Morning kids time Our Kids Connect is a small group which allows for plenty of interaction and fun. We cater for children from preschool up to early teens. We stay in church for the first half hour or so then go out for our children's program. We have a short lesson based on a bible story then morning tea and a craft/playtime. Parents with babies are welcome to join us as long as the parent stays. During the week I work in admin so I love the contrast of spending time with the kids on a Sunday morning. Apart from trying to keep up with our 6 grandchildren, my other relaxation is trying to maintain order in the garden, usually unsuccessfully!

bob & dianne jaegar

We both love praising our Lord Jesus. We enjoy getting together with our 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. We like going for walks and riding our bicycles. We appreciate visiting with our church family. Dianne loves listening to Christian music all day long. We both enjoy working in our garden and Bob especially enjoys growing veggies. He also spends a lot of time doing art work. We are retired, however, we know our Lord's work is never done.

I was blessed with parents who loved and served God as Salvation Army officers.

I am very grateful for my 4 children and families (10 grandies) all living in Canterbury.

I came to Linwood Baptist 4 years ago .I connected with Karen B and led by her vision, 4 of us started the Triumph Through Trauma groups.

I enjoy playing scrabble and doing jigsaws and puzzles.

I am a visual person. I love flowers, colour and butterflies.

My passion is connecting with women; journeying together, learning, encouraging and growing.

God has led me on a fascinating journey and I am so grateful he teaches me about His creative ways through art, drama, worship, dance, flags, prophetic intercession ,poetry ,praise, dreams, pictures and visions. God is not boring! His word comes alive and I know I serve a risen, vibrant, creative, Holy, Awesome God.

Lorna gower

Hi, I'm Lorna. I'm the wife of Tom and I have 3 wonderful children. Wills, Lizzie, Nate and an added bonus family member, Juan who is Lizzies boyfriend. I love them all very dearly. I'm a Nelson girl who has been a business owner for much of my life here in NZ and the UK. I enjoy watching birds, fish keeping, and my 2 cats, "Aslan and Jet". I collect antiques and oddities, and sometimes you can find myself and Tom metal detecting, searching for the mysteries of the land. I am a compassionate and intuitive person, who loves to understands the deeper complexities of how people work. - My upbringing, I have been deeply involved in the new-age, and occult , but in 2004 after a dramatic supernatural encounter with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I walked away from my past and my eyes were opened to the reality of Christ and His word.

Staff & Leaders

Tom Gower

Yanny Webb-Walker

Jimmy Sears

Evelyn McKenzie

Church Staff

Sue Rock

Liz Cropp

Karen Bernhardt

Jackie