Langham Leadership

Steve Osei-Mensah (Chair): Steve has been on the Langham Partnership Board for a number of years. He is also a member of the board of MAF UK and MAF International. Steve has 34 years of business leadership experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. He has been a partner with both PwC & EY in consulting, a director/in senior management in the financial services industry (Barclays, L&G, & Cap Gemini), and a managing consultant in the Executive HR space. Steve is the Work Forum Director for LICC (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity). He combines this with his trustee roles and is also a mentor / coach and Ambassador for The IoD (Institute of Directors). Steve was recently ordained (September 2021) and serves as a part -time curate in a group of three parishes in Sevenoaks where he lives with his wife Emma. They have two grown daughters. Steve is passionate about aviation and is a qualified private pilot with UK and US licences.

Alan Johnston: Alan holds Non-Executive Director roles in the Financial Services Sector. After reading Economics and Accounting at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Armstrong Watson and remained with the firm throughout his career, latterly as Senior Partner, before retiring in 2018 after over 30 years with the firm. Alan is vice chair of the PCC of St. James Carlisle and a member of Chapter of Carlisle Cathedral. Alan is married with three children and eight grandchildren.

Stephen Mackay: Stephen has lived in Africa, Canada, Hong Kong and across Europe.  He served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers before becoming a Civil Engineer designing power stations and skyscrapers.  A theology degree followed by an MTh led to a working partnership with theological publishers in Spain.  The history and work of OMF in East Asia has also been a lifelong interest.  He is married with two adult children and appreciates the rich mix of cultures at All Souls, Langham Place.

Keith Mallon: Keith studied maths before embarking on a finance career in London with PWC where he started married life before moving north to Sheffield. Having spent time in commercial training and various Finance Director and general management roles, he and his growing family responded to their hearts’ desire to support mission. After 20 years in business he applied his skills to leading the finance structures and teams of Operation Mobilisation around the world in 112 countries and was part of their International Executive. He and his children compete for the number of countries visited – he stands at 70+ but the 3 grown up daughters are catching up rapidly. In 2014 he returned to commercial life with his family base in Sheffield where he has an active consultancy business. He and the wider family are involved in local church life and love to lead small groups and participate in marriage ministry whenever possible.

Gillian Phillips: Gillian has a background in teaching and market research. For the past fifteen years she has worked as a consultant to several mission organisations in developing new forms of governance, conducting assessments of effectiveness and relevance and developing coaching as a tool for mission support. She is currently Chair of the international board of SIM. She attends All Saints, Ecclesall, in Sheffield where she lives. She is a widow with four daughters and many grandchildren.

David Ball: David is Director of the Group-based Open Learning Discipleship (GOLD) Project. He also works as a consultant for SEAN International where he links with church-based training organisations across Asia. David was born in Kenya. He studied Biblical Studies at Sheffield University where he met his wife, Angie. Since 1994, David has been involved in training Christians in their context of ministry. He and Angie spent 15 years in India as Crosslinks mission partners before returning to the UK. In India, David worked with several colleagues who had been sponsored by the Langham Partnership and saw at first hand the influence of John Stott’s ministry in equipping leaders for the Indian church. From 2009-2015, David was Director of Open Learning at Trinity College Bristol out of which the GOLD Project has formed. Since he was sixteen, David has been riding motorbikes and is actively involved in the Christian Motorcyclists’ Association. He and Angie are actively involved their local church in Bristol. David believes that the strength of the church’s life and witness depends on the equipping of all God’s people for mission and ministry in the world. He believes that Langham Partnership has a key role to play in this.

Dr Desta Heliso: Desta was born to a Christian family in rural Ethiopia. He is married to Joanna Jeffery and they have six children, three of whom are biological (Sophia, Ezra and Charis), and three adopted (Melkamu, Mekdes and Keab).  Desta received a diploma in theology in Ethiopia and then taught at a theological school, where he also served as Director and co-ordinator of ministries for over 300 congregations in his home area. He came to Britain and completed his PhD after which he returned to Ethiopia and joined the faculty of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST) as lecturer. After serving as Acting Dean of Studies, he was appointed Director in 2008, a position he held until the end of 2015.  Desta has now left EGST after 16 years of service. He and his family have moved back to the UK for family reasons. Desta continues to lecture part-time at theological institutions and work on academic research projects as well as running a new not for profit organisation called SOPHOS AFRICA.

This variety of experience across different countries, cultures, sectors and business sizes also helps him to bring fresh perspectives that he can share with the organisations that he works with. He is currently CEO of Beacon, a challenger SaaS platform looking to change the landscape of online advertising by driving transparency, increasing data accuracy and reducing fraud. Nigel also holds a number of business interests including non-executive directorships, board advisory positions and charity trusteeships.

Judith Sawers: Judith and her husband, Will, work with Wycliffe Bible Translators supporting national translation teams in central Africa, and as part of Wycliffe’s member care team in the UK.  Judith’s degree in Biblical Studies and Linguistics and a call whilst in her teens to serve God cross-culturally led them in this direction. Her work now focuses on publicity and prayer-raising for the Central African Republic through networking and social media, and supporting colleagues in raising personal financial support in the UK.  Her experi ence of the gaps in training and resourcing of the church in central Africa has made her very much aware of the potential for Langham’s ministry there, as in so many other challenging situations around the world. The combination of both a new generation of Bible teachers and mother-tongue Scriptures seems one of the most powerful tools for the development of mature churches worldwide! Having recently moved to west Devon, she is enjoying building relationships in the community there and seeking God’s place in the local Christian family.

Mary Evans: Mary taught mathematics for two years at a Manchester comprehensive school before studying for four further years at LBC. She then continued on the staff at LBC/LST for the next 30 years becoming vice-principal for the last few years. During that time she had experience as a visiting lecturer for varying lengths of time in Pakistan, India, Brazil, Rumania, Croatia and Zambia as well as in Canada and Australia. She has also had the opportunity to visit mission work, often involving theological colleges, in Ecuador, Ghana, Nigeria and Niger. Her involvement on the councils of Bible Society, Global Connections, EA, Latin Link and SIM (not all at the same time!) has also been fairly extensive. She taught Old Testament Studies for three years at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa. Mary has authored several books including the BST commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel and the Tyndale Commentary on Judges.

Nigel Bridges: Nigel has over 30 years leadership experience in the consulting and technology sector.  His career has included significant UK and international experience in managerial and executive roles including Divisional Director, Managing Director, COO and CEO for larger corporates and smaller SME’s.  After graduating from City University (now Cass) Business School Nigel started his career in management consulting and business development in the UK and Hong Kong; before moving into general line management.  His corporate career saw him managing ever larger business unit across the UK and Europe including a number of turn-arounds.