Andy Partington, PhD, is the founder and International Director of Novō Communities and the author of Hope in Addiction.
Novō Communities brings freedom from addiction by empowering God’s people to create transformational communities that offer healing, wholeness, and hope. Novō mentors leaders, trains teams, and strengthens programmes with the Beyond Addiction recovery manual.
Hope in Addiction (Moody Publishers, 2023) brings together personal stories, compelling research, and ministry experience to address the role of the church in the age of addiction.
Andy has served as Director of Yeldall Manor, as Director of Training at the London School of Theology, and in church leadership in the UK, Bolivia, and Nicaragua.
For much of the last 20 years, Andy and his wife, Mickey, along with their five children, have made their home in Latin America.
Trudy Makepeace has a remarkable story of transformation. A former addict and ex-offender turned minister, missionary and author.
Her first book Abused Addicted Free is about her life journey overcoming abuse, addiction and crime. Her second book Ministering to Addicts was written to help others minister to those in addiction, and for churches and organisations that are willing to open their hearts and doors to those stuck in addiction.
Trudy has also worked as a support worker and manager of a drug rehabilitation home. For the last seven year she has ministered in a thriving work as an Evangelism and Outreach Pastor and organising community events. Her ministry is marked by compassion and passion, with an emphasis on hope, healing, freedom, with signs wonders and miracles following.
She is an ordained minister with Elim Pentecostal Churches and a partner with CFaN Evangelism Alliance.
Survive and Thrive
Foundations for lifelong thriving in our calling and how to avoid burnout
Steve helps lead the national coaching team within UK Vineyard Churches, supporting pastors and leaders’ wellbeing. He finds joy in guiding others in their personal lives and ministries. Rooted in faith, Steve is passionate about encouraging discipleship. Steve and his wife Elaine have celebrated 46 years together, with three children and five grandsons. They moved to Bracknell to help with childcare, and Steve still enjoys playing football with his grandsons.
Practicing Trauma Informed Ministry
Samy is married with two grown sons. He has dedicated his career to charitable work, holding roles from worker to board member. With 35 years in the field and 24 years in senior management, he is also a trained psychotherapist specializing in trauma and addiction. A qualified clinical supervisor and leadership coach, Samy is passionate about helping those in distress and supporting others who do the same.
Gaining Compassion for Addictive Processes
Maike is a Counselling Psychologist trained in Internal Family Systems therapy. Her research focuses on recovery pathways and Recovery Capital-based approaches for peer-led addiction recovery services. This talk will highlight a compassionate outlook on addiction, introduce scientific recovery models, and present addictive processes within a ‘mindbody’ framework. An expert by experience will co-facilitate and share her work.
Maike has also designed a mental health school for church environments. She has led and has worked in various mental health and addiction services, both nationally and internationally.
Unpacking the Bible with Recovery Eyes
How to avoid giving easy religious answers to hard recovery questions
Stuart Leitch has been walking with people in recovery for over 20 years. He used to lead a Bristol church that hosted a 12-step recovery project which changed his life. For the last 14 years he has been working for the charity inHope developing and running the Life Course, which has been used by hundreds of clients looking to make lasting changes to ‘live well in recovery’. Stuart is married with 5 children. He loves the great outdoors and does a bit of horology in his spare time.
Building Churches with Broken Lives
Putting recovery principles and people in the centre of church life and leadership
Jim Harper, leads Hope Church Worcester. Married to Josephine they have two grown up children. Jim serves churches across the nation helping them to build Church with and amongst some of our most deprived communities. In his talk, Jim will explore how many of us run projects or churches that serve those in and out of addiction but what if we built churches with those same people as core members and leaders. He heads up Encounter Camp which is a 5 day camp for people with life controlling issues such as homelessness, addiction, and mental health struggles.