About us- Leaders

Pastor - Martyn (and Susan) Cooling

Martyn was born to missionary parents in Thailand. In 1981 (having been back in the UK some years) he moved to university in Manchester (UMIST) where he spent 6 years studying chemical engineering and carrying out research.
During this time (while attending the same Christian Group) he met Susan, a Manchester University mathematics undergraduate from Sheffield.
They were married in 1985 and in 1987 on completing his research at UMIST they moved to North Wales from where, after 16 years, God led them to live and serve in the Oswestry area.
They have three sons.
It was through hearts attentive to God's leadership, a number of "chance" encounters and a surprising network of shared friendships, that Martyn and Susan felt that not only was God calling Martyn to pastoral ministry, but his calling was to be located in Mottram. In November 2011 the church agreed and Martyn and Susan began full-time ministry on 1 January 2012.

Church Elder - Peter (and Barbara) Copestake

Peter and Barbara have been members of Mottram Evangelical Church since they moved from Aintree Village near Liverpool in January 2003.
They have been married since 1965 and have two married children and four grandchildren. 
Barbara is a member of the Pastoral Support Team and Peter plays bass guitar in the worship group. They are both retired from full time employment.
Peter and Barbara also serve as representatives of Operation Christmas Child. 
Peter is involved in worldwide mission as a Director of Operation Mobilisation - Samaritan’s Purse International - and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the UK.
Peter is also a Director of Lifecentre Hattersley and a Trustee of Couriers for Christ - UK (a charity working in Romania).

Church Elder - Tim (and Barbara) Verrall

Having made a career move from London in 1978, Tim and his wife, Barbara came to live in Mottram to be part of what God was doing at (what was then) Mottram Congregational Church.
Tim soon became involved with the project that transformed the old chapel into a more usable building, now known as Mottram Evangelical Church.
Tim works as a Clinical Prosthetist, but manages to find time to play bass guitar in the church worship group, keep up with the events of the F1 racing calendar, watch some historic racing at Oulton Park, cheer on the England Rugby team and keep his garden tidy, amongst other things.
Barbara is a physiotherapist and plays flute, pennywhistle and keyboard in the worship group.
They have a daughter who is married and works as an art teacher at a school in Fleetwood, where her husband is also a teacher and the Director of Sport.

MOTTRAM EVANGELICAL CHURCH IS A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE (NUMBER 6856759) AND A REGISTERED CHARITY (NUMBER 1129418)