Robert Jones - Director of Development

Robert Jones has been Director of Development since June 2006. Before that he served as a parish priest in parishes and team ministries in Kidderminster, Dudley and Worcester. He was Rural Dean of Worcester East for six years and Executive Chair of the Board for Mission, and is an Honorary Canon of the Cathedral.  His particular interests are in mission and the World Church, liturgy and music for worship, as well as Christian ministry and discipleship in the ordinary events of everyday life. As Director of Development he heads up the work of the Department of Training and Development, but also has the responsibility to bring together the work of all the departments of the diocese for the sake of mission.  

Tel: 01905 732812, Email.

Stephen Winter - Assistant Director of Development (Discipleship)

Born the son of a farm manager and educated at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and Southampton University, Stephen Winter taught in Zambia between 1978 and 1984 before training for ordination and then serving in churches on Birmingham housing estates between 1988 and 1998. Stephen then joined the Worcestershire Industrial Mission with whom he worked for six years before being appointed to his current position in the diocese in 2004. He lives in Bromsgrove with his wife, Laura and their daughters, Bethan and Rebecca.

Tel: 01905 732812, Email

John Green - Director of Ordinands

John is currently Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Director of Continuing Ministerial Education for curates in the Diocese of Worcester.  He served his curacy in the Hereford Diocese and went on to be Assistant Chaplain in the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. His next post was in a local ecumenical project in Stevenage in Hertfordshire ,where he was in charge of a united congregation of Anglicans and Methodists. During this time he was invited to become recognised and regarded as a Methodist minister. After a move to a Worcester city church he eventually became DDO. He is married with three children and enjoys cooking especially Indian cuisine, walking and regular visits to the gym.

Tel: 01905 732814, Email

Ron Hesketh - Vocations Officer

Ron was born a Scot and raised in Liverpool, where he attended a Jewish Grammar School! After graduating at Durham University he experienced a call to ministry and trained for ordination in Cambridge and Cardiff. His initial curacy post at Holy Trinity, Southport was followed by an appointment as Chaplain to the Mersey Mission to Seamen. In 1975 he was commissioned in the Armed Forces, experiencing many ministries both in the UK and overseas. These many duties have been accompanied by membership of the General Synod, election as a Canon of Lincoln, and appointment as a Queen's Honorary Chaplain. In the Queen's New Year Honours List 2004 he was made a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. And with a variety of interests he has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Chartered Management Institute.

From September 2006 he has been the Vocations Officer encouraging many to explore their calling and what it might mean.   

Tel: 01905 732818, Email

Sheila Banyard - Warden of Readers

Sheila has been Warden of Readers since 2003, but has been involved in Reader ministry and in ministerial training in the diocese for much longer. From a background in education and historical research, she began full-time parish ministry in London in 1982 before moving on to work in two different school chaplaincies, one in Sussex and the other in Worcestershire. Returning to a parish role in this diocese in 1995, she is now Rector in the Droitwich Spa Team Ministry where she works with a large group of colleagues, lay and ordained. She has a particular interest in practical theology and is currently working on a project about collaborative leadership.

Tel: 01905 794952

Doug is Director of Reader Training and a parish priest in Droitwich Spa. He has particular interest in New Testament studies, and the development of worship. He trained for ordination at St John’s Nottingham, and has served in Gloucester and Worcester dioceses. Among his interests are films, reading, photography and blogging, and evenings out with friends.

Tel: 01905 98929

Judy Baker - Department Administrator

Judy came to the Diocesan Office in 2005 from previous work both as a teacher and administrator in schools.  In addition to helping with administration in the department she is responsible for CRB & child protection administration for the diocese.

Tel; 01905 732812, email

Richard Bywater - Secretary/ Admin to the Director of Ordinands

Richard's role involves giving support to the DDO in his work discerning vocations to the ordained ministry and delivering initial ministerial development (IMD) to newly ordained priests. This support ranges from stuffing envelopes with reminders to curates about IMD events to developing software to log and track candidates for the ordained ministry through the discernment process. The work is in marked contrast to Richard's previous lifetime career as a systems analyst and trainer in the cutthroat world of business (including five and a half years in Saudi Arabia).

Tel: 01905 732814, email