Meet our staff members

Revd Dr Richard Briggs

Principal

Richard has been Principal since 2024. Before that he was an Associate LCT Tutor for 3 years. He teaches the Old Testament and a range of other subjects, including Preaching, New Testament and Leadership. He has taught Old Testament in the North East for over 20 years, and in the past has also worked in a range of church and mission roles. His church leadership experience has included ministry in a traditional parish, in a new church plant, and in the Community of St Cuthbert at St Nics Durham, where he was also acting vicar for a year. He has written several books on Old Testament topics, including ‘The Lord is My Shepherd: Psalm 23 for the Life of the Church‘ (Baker Academic, 2021), and is an Honorary Fellow in Old Testament in the Durham Department of Theology and Religion. He is currently writing a theology of the book of Psalms.

Click to view a full list of Richard’s publications

Julian Ward

Director of Business and Finance

Julian leads the business and operational areas of Lindisfarne College of Theology.  He is a Reader in Durham Diocese (East & West Rainton) and an Alumnus of Lindisfarne, having gained his BA in Theology, Ministry and Mission in 2016. He trained as an accountant and ran his own Direct Marketing Company for 25 years. He and his wife Vanessa have two boys, a horse and two cats. Julian plays the piano, the organ and the piano accordion. He also enjoys hill walking, running, caravanning and Scottish Dancing.

Dr Melody Briggs

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Melody teaches biblical studies (New Testament and also biblical interpretation and hermeneutics), Christian Doctrine, and also oversees Lindisfarne’s Mission Studies course. She has worked in the field of theological education for over twenty-five years and has taught in a variety of settings, including churches, mission teams, a range of theological colleges and courses, and Durham University’s Community and Youth Work course. She is the author of a book titled ‘How Children Read Biblical Narrative’ (2017), and a Grove Booklet, ‘Interpreting Bible Stories for Children and Young Teens’ (2016). She is currently researching how children’s workers in churches handle scripture. Melody is married, has three grown children, and one aging dog.

Dr Caleb Gordon

Director of Postgraduate Studies

Caleb teaches modules on ‘Christian Faith and the Environment’, a range of doctrinal and ethical topics, and our introductory course on ‘Scripture, Prayer and Theology’. He also oversees all the work of dissertations and independent study projects. His academic background is in history, philosophy, and theology, and his current research investigates the potential application of aesthetic approaches to environmental ethics and theology. Caleb is also very interested in the ways that the Church develops, teaches, and discusses environmental theology. Originally from Alaska, he currently lives in Newcastle with his wife, Hannah, and their young child and their dog.

Revd Dr Tiffany Conlin

Director of Contextual Learning

Tiffany teaches Pastoral and Practical Theology and oversees core elements of context-based learning, including placements in churches and other sectors. Ordained a priest in 2006, Tiffany served in the Diocese of Ely as an Assistant Curate, Chaplain at Fitzwilliam College and then as Director of Pastoral Studies at Westcott House Theological College. Since moving north in 2014, Tiffany has enjoyed chaplaincy roles in hospital and three prisons. Her research interests include the dialogue between Practical Theology and the Arts, and Christian responses to substance misuse, trauma and institutionalisation. 

Jenny Burton

Academic Administrator

Jenny is LCT’s Academic Administrator, and has been working at Lindisfarne since it first began. She oversees the running of all our study programmes as well as many aspects of college life. She is the first port of call for all student enquiries and information about the BATMM and MATMM programmes.

Revd Tracy Reynolds

Learning Support Lead

Tracy is the Learning Support Lead for Lindisfarne. She has a creative arts background, working in education for many years as course tutor and programme leader in Theatre and Media Studies. Mostly working with adults returning to education and also with students with learning disabilities, Tracy has always been interested in inclusion and has worked on a number of projects to try and encourage wider participation amongst those for whom written language is particularly difficult. She has been an actor, director, teacher, writer and parish priest. Lately she has been discovering and exploring visual arts in printing and mixed media and discovering connections between art-making, writing and faith.

Revd Canon Dr Alan Bartlett

Associate Tutor, Denominational History and Principles; Mission and Ecclesiology

Alan is Clergy Development Advisor for the Diocese of Durham. He is also a Visiting Fellow at St John’s College Durham and a non-residentiary canon of Durham Cathedral. Previously he was vicar of St Giles’ Durham with Sherburn and Shadforth for nine years and before that was Tutor in Anglican Studies, Church History and Spirituality at Cranmer Hall and Director of the postgraduate programmes. He served his curacies in Newcastle. He is the author of Humane Christianity (2004), A Passionate Balance (2007) and Looking through Jesus (forthcoming). He is also Chair of the Lindisfarne Board of Examiners and a Member of the Board of Trustees. Alan is married with two adult children and two not very adult dogs!

Revd Dr Michael Beck

Associate Tutor, Introduction to Preaching; Theology, Ritual & Pastoral Care

Michael has more than 30 years of experience as a parish priest in a wide variety of contexts including locum hospital chaplain, police chaplain, area dean and Durham’s Director of Reader Ministry. He was Reader Formational Tutor with Lindisfarne until retirement in July 2016. Michael’s major academic interest is in preaching (his DMIn is in this area), and also in bereavement studies and music. He is married with one adult son and enjoys reading (especially military history), musical theatre and gardening.

Revd Andrew Bowsher

Associate Tutor, Developing Mission and Ministry

Andii is currently Chaplain at Northumbria University. Previously he was parish priest in South and West Yorkshire in urban contexts and university chaplain in Bradford. He was also a lecturer in Practical Theology at St John’s Nottingham. When he’s not wrestling his grandsons or amusing his granddaughter, he likes to walk the beach at Cullercoats with his wife or have coffee with her in Jesmond. Currently he’s writing a daily office based on the Lord’s prayer and researching how Christian students transition to university in addition to the ‘day job’ of co-ordinating a team of differing faiths trying to engage a large secular university.

Revd Dr Julia Candy

Associate Tutor, Introduction to Aspects of Pastoral Care

Julia was ordained priest in 2011 in Durham. After her curacy she has served as both a parish priest and healthcare chaplain. Prior to ordination, Julia was a university lecturer in Psychology. Her PhD examined the role of political conflict and socio-economic status upon children’s development of national identity and sectarian attitudes. Currently her main areas of interest are psychology of religion (particularly exploring the prevalence of stigmatising attitudes towards mental health and disability within the Church), philosophy of religion, liberation theology, and interfaith dialogue. Julia is an avid reader, particularly Russian and French literature, loves attending the theatre and visiting art galleries. She regards herself to be the Pet Shop Boys’ biggest fan. She is married and has a young son.

Revd Dr Hannah Cleugh

Associate Tutor, Denominational History and Principles; Introduction to Worship

Hannah is Vicar of Monkseaton St Peter in the Diocese of Newcastle, having served her curacy in Oxford, as a university chaplain in Durham, and then as Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Ely. She is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. A Reformation historian by background, Hannah’s research interests focus primarily on Anglican identity and ecclesiology in the seventeenth century, and also on how those questions play out in the contemporary Anglican Communion. She is married to David, who is also ordained, and they have one daughter and two spaniels.

Caleb Day

Associate Tutor, Introduction to Christian Ethics; Advanced Topic in Christian Ethics: Political Theologies

Caleb is from New Zealand and is currently a postgraduate researcher working towards a PhD in theology at Durham University. His research is an analysis of methods in evangelical theological ethics, with a specific focus on gender and sexuality. Caleb’s education includes a Master’s in theological ethics at the University of Notre Dame in the US, a BA(Hons) in sociology in New Zealand, and several years of community development as part of Stillwaters Community in New Zealand. Caleb is married to Hilary and they live in Newcastle.

Revd Tim Ferguson

Associate Tutor, Spirituality and Discipleship

Tim is currently parish priest in St Oswald’s Walkergate and St Martin’s Byker. He was ordained in 2005 and has been a curate in Ponteland, parish priest at the Venerable Bede Church in Benwell, and Chaplain to Hild Bede College in Durham University. In recent years he has developed an interest in contemplative spirituality since becoming a spiritual director in 2010. He is married and has two boys, and enjoys running.

John Jebaseelan Baskaran

Associate Tutor, Introduction to Christian Doctrine and History; Theologies of the Majority World

John is a Methodist minister from India who is currently pursuing for his PhD at Durham University on Gregory of Nazianzus. He was a pastor in Mumbai for six years and later taught theology at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune for three and a half years. After graduating with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Philosophy, he received his Bachelor of Divinity from Union Biblical Seminary, Pune and his Master of Theology from Trinity Theological College, Singapore. His research interests are patristic theology with a focus on the fourth century, Greek church fathers, patristic epistemology, theological language and imagery, and the activities of the Wesleyan Missionary Society in India. He preaches in Methodist churches in and around Durham on Sundays.  John is married to his wife Priya, a Christian counsellor, and they have two young children.

Andrew Moss

Associate Tutor, Introduction to Worship; Research & Reflection; Words and Music in Worship

Andrew is a Senior Research Administrator in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Durham University. His research focuses on the intersection between theology and the arts in the modern church with a particular emphasis on improvised music. His broader research includes the relationship between music and worship, jazz religious cultures, and contemporary music theology. Andrew is a member of the International Network for Music Theology.

Andrew has held various roles at Lindisfarne and is currently a Personal Tutor and an Associate Tutor and on the MA programme. Before joining LCT, he was an Associate Tutor in Theology and Religion and Music at Durham University and worked for St Giles Church in Durham Diocese. Andrew is married to Jennifer and they have two young children.

Revd Jim Roberts

Associate Tutor, Mission and Apologetics in Contemporary Culture

Jim has been a secondary school teacher of Religious Studies since 1978 and taught in every kind of school imaginable. Since ordination in 1994 he has been attached to St. Michael-le-Belfrey church in York doing a whole variety of roles. He was a Diocesan Adviser for the Decade of Evangelism. In 2006 he started G2 a Fresh Expressions ‘church’ in the local gym which he led for the first three years. It continues to flourish and now has two sites with c.200 attending. In his retirement from teaching he has been chaplain on cruise ships and at various churches in Europe, His wife, Shirley, is a retired research scientist and they have two children.

Jack Voigt

Associate Tutor, Elementary New Testament Greek; Continuing New Testament Greek

Jack teaches Greek at LCT and is a PhD candidate in Theology at Durham University. His research interests, include the Synoptic Gospels, Christology, Second Temple Judaism, and apocalypticism. Prior to his time at Durham University, Jack studied at Anderson University (BA Biblical Studies) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (MA New Testament). He has served in a variety of ministry contexts and roles. Jack lives in Durham with his wife Nerel.

Revd Mary Yasini

Associate Tutor, Theologies of the Majority World

Mary has been a Curate at St Cuthbert’s Church and Holy Trinity Church, Darlington since 2023. She holds a BA in Philosophy and Theology from Durham University and a Common Awards PGDip in Theology, Ministry and Mission. While training for ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge, Mary completed an MPhil in Global Anglicanism and World Christianities with Jesus College, Cambridge University. Mary’s passion for global theologies led her to spend six months living and studying at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in partnership with the World Council of Churches and the University of Geneva. Mary is married to Diego, and they cook lots of Persian and Mexican food together in their spare time.

Mike Chater

Chaplain

Mike is an LCT chaplain, and a Reader for almost 40 years. He trained in Liverpool Diocese and served in two parishes there before moving to Durham 20 years ago where he is part of the ministry at St John’s Church, Neville’s Cross on the edge of the City of Durham. Professionally, Mike was a Chartered Civil Engineer specialising in road safety. In retirement, as well as serving in St John’s as Reader and churchwarden, Mike offers spiritual direction through St Antony’s Priory. He is a trustee of the Institution of Civil Engineers Benevolent Fund, and volunteers at Locomotion, the railway museum in Shildon. He is married to Nicky and has two adult children, a cat and a dog.