Nigel Juckes - Rector

St Agnes is an amazing place. Though my family and I came to the church at the beginning of 1993, the leadership that I brought did not interrupt the flow of what God had been doing from the mid 1980's (and perhaps before).
 
Certainly my predecessor had laid a strong foundation of personal faith in Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord, and the leadership and much of the parish had worked its way through "Called to Serve", with an emphasis on the priesthood of all believers. The influence of John Wimber had led to an openness to the Spirit. And our alignment more recently with the Anglican Mainstream, highlights our commitment to the scriptures as God's word, revealing himself and his truth to humanity.
 
The church has experienced growth from a number of factors, including:

Building extensions. The 'stone church' building was more than doubled in capacity in 1993. Our 09h00 has since outgrown this, and in 2006 we demolished our old hall and put in its place an Auditorium and Children's ministry centre to accommodate further growth. Alpha - has been a part of our life from 1996
 
Focus on young people. The decision to employ a Children's ministry worker to further develop this work at the end of the last decade was an expression of our commitment to young people, followed in 2005 with the appointment of a Young Adult pastor. Out Youth ministry staffing preceded these appointments.
 
The forming of a structure to create the capacity to involve as many of the congregation in ministry, that has enabled us to reach and care for many more than just a small team of workers could have done. Our commitment is only to employ people who are committed to empowering others to minister.
 
We were exposed to the move of the Holy Spirit that was known as the Toronto Blessing which led us to a deeper dependence on the Holy Spirit's power. We have experienced life, healing and deliverance from His work among us.
 
Exposure to and involvement with New Wine and Willowcreek especially have enriched our life which seems to be constantly adapting and developing.

We have a small Council of elders who oversee all the leaders of the ministries and seek to give leadership under the Lordship of Jesus to a church of amazingly creative people, ready to engage in all sorts of aspects of ministry and service. These are all listed on this website and as you will see include a particular heart for the poor, despite this being an affluent suburb of Durban.
 
Nigel Juckes

Peter Russell - Associate Rector

Jennifer and Peter Russell were married in 1978 and a few years later moved up to Durban from Cape Town.  Peter had previously studied at University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, majoring, ironically, in Theology and Psychology, with the idea of becoming a psychologist.  “Ironically,...” as at that stage in his life, Christianity and church held little appeal for him.  Once settled in the outskirts of Durban, Peter engrossed himself in his work in personnel management and industrial relations, while Jennifer took herself off to the Durban campus of UKNZ to study Environmental Science, finishing off as an ecologist.  It was near the end of this phase of their lives that Peter started attending St Agnes and Jennifer followed suit. 

Their son, William, then arrived on the scene and phase two started: parenting.  But, raising a child is not all that much different than raising a puppy, and William grew up jostling with dogs, horses, cats, poultry, snakes , mice... 

Over the years involvement in St. Agnes grew and a little more than five years ago, Peter was asked to take on the position of Associate Rector at St Agnes to share some of the load with Nigel.   

Now, many years later, young William is living & working in Johannesburg, Peter has been ordained and Jennifer has returned to university to start a Masters' degree.  And the Russell household has shrunk to merely a couple of Salukis and three cats.  Both Peter and Jennifer look to phase three in their lives with great enthusiasm!

 Antonio Coppola - Young Adults Pastor