New era as Upton Vale Baptist Church receives new Minister

A new era in the history of Upton Vale Baptist Church has begun, with the arrival of the Rev. Simon Clay from Whetstone in Leicestershire as senior minister.

A Yorkshireman by birth, he is an avid Leeds United supporter and rugby fan but he also hopes to regularly support Torquay United in their quest to regain a place in the Football League.

He trained for the ministry at St Hild Theological College in Yorkshire and then at Whetstone Baptist Church in Leicestershire.

Prior to that he was an English teacher, special needs coordinator and then deputy headmaster across primary schools in Kent and Leicestershire before being appointed headteacher of a school for teenagers deemed to have behaviour too extreme for other behaviour schools.

“Leading that school was a highlight of my time in education,” he said.

“I saw some wonderful transformations in the lives of these highly challenging young people.”

On his appointment as senior minister Simon said: “Serving as a pastor of a church like Upton Vale is a real privilege. As Christians, we experience the highs and lows of life together. We walk alongside people when they are celebrating, mourning, worshipping and everything else life gives us. It’s an absolute joy.“

“The family and I are so excited to settle here in Torquay and make the place our home. It will take some adjustment having moved here from the geographically furthest point from the sea!

“I have already discovered that Upton Vale is a warm and welcoming community of ordinary people who seek to support each other in their lives through their faith in Jesus. If anyone wants to find out more then please do get in touch – we have so many different things going on here through the week it would be great to introduce you to our church.”

Simon and his wife Katie have three children – Millie aged 11, Lucie aged eight and Toby aged five.

Alex Kittow, chairman of Upton Vale’s leadership team, said: “We are thrilled to have Simon join us and look forward to working together as a church to serve our community and worship Jesus Christ?”

Simon’s formal induction took place at a special service at a packed Upton Vale on Saturday 14 September,  with the congregation joined by more than 100 people from Simon’s former church at Whetstone and Christian leaders from across Torbay and South Devon.